Thread: HF English Wheel

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I have a Harbor Freight english wheel and I like it. This is the only english wheel I've ever used, so I can't give a comparison of different machines. Maybe if I was making my living doing that kind of work every day I'd want a different machine, but, like most Harbor Freight tools, it's fine for the hobbyist's personal use.

I had wanted an english wheel for a long time and had collected some plans for building one, but the $500+ for just a couple of the wheels always kept me from pursuing that project. Then Harbor Freight came up with this machine about the time I was building the hood for my roadster, so I bought one. Got the whole thing and all the extra wheels for about $350 back then.

I had cut the panels for my hood and attempted to shape one of them by rolling it around an oxygen tank - didn't work. So I tried wrapping the other one around a telephone pole - didn't work either. I ended up with a pair of panels full of bumps and creases, so I threw them in the scrap pile. A couple days later I bought my HF english wheel. When I got it home and assembled I naturally wanted to try it out, so I grabbed one of those discarded hood panels and started "wheeling". It turned out pretty nice, so I rescued the other one and "wheeled" it, too. Those hood panels are on my roadster now!

I have seen an article somewhere on polishing the wheels and how to make the HF frame more rigid, but I haven't found it necessary yet. Maybe if I was "wheeling" heavier gauge metal (my hood is 20-gauge) I would need the reinforcement... I have found no issue with the wheels. If I was wheeling aluminum and intended to polish it later, I might want to polish the wheels, too, but they're fine as they are for panels that will be sanded and painted later.