When Scott built the for our boys, I contributed one piece.   A wooden steering wheel that I bought at a craft store.  It quickly fell to pieces with all the abuse the boat bed got.  I should’ve known better…

Years later Scott decided he was tired of looking at that sorry broken wheel so he took matters into his own hands.  He constructed a ship’s wheel.

Although he wanted an excuse to build a steamer, he found a way to construct the wheel without bending the wood…

Process:
Handles were carved on the lathe.  The rounded pieces were cut on a bandsaw.  He staggered the cuts as shown in the second picture.

MATERIALS USED:
Handles - Redwood.  It was a FAST solution for a ‘toy’ steering wheel.  Had this been constructed for a true boat, he would’ve used an exotic hardwood, such as ipe.
Wheel – Hickory
Center – Jatoba