# Games Wheel - Wheel of Fortune style.



## darsev (Feb 3, 2012)

One of the fellows running the youth at church asked me to build them a "Wheel of Fortune". He was really vague about what he actually wanted, but the gist of it was this. They had lots of games they played but could never decide which one, so he wanted something that could spin around and where ever it landed was the game they were going to play, and that something was like a "Wheel of Fortune". Oh and also he wanted to be able to change what was written on the wheel for when they had different games to add in to the mix. This is what we ended up with. I am just taking it to the undercoat stage. He is going to finish of the decorations himself - when he works out what that is going to be.

The wheel itself is broken up into 12 sections, and the divider between each section is D moulding that has been rabbetted, allowing for a triangular insert to be put in or out. He can write up/decorate these inserts whichever way he likes, and being removable he then has a lot more options. (Pictures 1 - 4)

The axle was the biggest sticking point for me. I saw someone on this forum recently build something similar, but as hard as I looked, I couldn't see what he used for an axle. I did some general web research with not much more luck on this topic. I ended up getting a bicycle hub and axle, and putting it inside a split collar which was then bolted to the frame.(Pictures 5 - 7) This spins real nice. The first time I set it up, a flick of the finger and the wheel spun for 40 seconds. It is tightened down a bit more now and probably runs for about half that time. I also put 2 guide wheels running on the back of the wheel to keep it spinning on roughly the same plane. The ply that I bought had bowed a lot more than I was expecting.

Any way, they are all very happy with it. Delivery will be this weekend and they are planning to use it for real the following weekend. The more they see it, the more they think of different ways to use it. I'm happy that they are happy.

Darryl


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## gmercer_48083 (Jul 18, 2012)

Darryl, Excellent Work! I made a Roulette Wheel and used two 1/2" ID x 1-3/8" OD bearings (the type used on lawn and garden wheels) and a 1/2" bolt for an axle on mine. I wanted to use a bicycle axle as you did but couldn't find one. I am looking forward to see your finished product.


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## streetdoc (Dec 27, 2007)

Built something very similar for our church's Fall Festival. I used a 12" lazy susan bracket for the axle.


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

Nice work Darryl.


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## firstmuller (Aug 28, 2014)

Looks very nice. I am sure they will get use out of it.
Allen


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## mgmine (Jan 16, 2012)

Very nice job it will be used for many years to come, I hope you burned your name on the back!.


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## billyjim (Feb 11, 2012)

Nice job Darryl.


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## Programer (Jan 10, 2015)

Very nice Darryl! Looks like you had fun.


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## darsev (Feb 3, 2012)

gmercer_48083 said:


> Darryl, Excellent Work! I made a Roulette Wheel and used two 1/2" ID x 1-3/8" OD bearings (the type used on lawn and garden wheels) and a 1/2" bolt for an axle on mine. I wanted to use a bicycle axle as you did but couldn't find one. I am looking forward to see your finished product.


Gary, 

it was a bit of an adventure finding a bicycle axle to use! I asked around for old bike wheels. Everyone used to have one, but not when I asked. I then had a mate that knew where to get 2nd hand wheels for $4.Did that, but had major issues getting the axle out of the wheel. Then went to a bicycle shop. Because of the way I had gone about it, he took half a second to declare it was impossible. After searching through his stock to find one with enough thread exposed to bolt on a wheel, I bought a new one from him for $20. That was the hardest part of the whole job!

Darryl


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## darsev (Feb 3, 2012)

streetdoc said:


> Built something very similar for our church's Fall Festival. I used a 12" lazy susan bracket for the axle.


Stanley,

How did the lazy Susan bearing go? I looked at them, but dropped the idea because they were designed to run horizontally and this needed to go vertical.

Darryl.


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## streetdoc (Dec 27, 2007)

darsev said:


> Stanley,
> 
> How did the lazy Susan bearing go? I looked at them, but dropped the idea because they were designed to run horizontally and this needed to go vertical.
> 
> Darryl.


Worked fine, used a ball bearing model. Had to lubricate it to get it to spin long enough. We only wanted 4-5 seconds with 500-600 kids coming through. The person that ran the station said it worked great.


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