My wife is directing Fiddler on the Roof for her school, and as you know if you’ve seen the show, the lead character, Tevye, is a milkman who uses a horse-drawn wagon to carry his products. We’ve been unable to find one to borrow or rent, so I’m building it.
I’m starting with these instructions:
…either build a small box, open at the top, or if you already have a 3’W X 4’L X 1’H platform built, turn it upside down. Build a simple frame under that box and along the edges out of 2X3 inch lumber with the handles extended forward enough for your Tevye to hold them and walk in front of the inverted box. Now bore holes for a single axle through that “under frame” made from 2X3 inch boards (drill them stacked together, before assembling the frame for easy axle alignment) and put a wooden axle (1 inch dowel rod) through the holes that extends far enough past the sides of the box to attach the wheels. Purchase a couple of 36 inch wooden wheels made for landscaping accents (they’re relatively cheap and usually found at landscaping stores and maybe even Harbor Freight Tools). I bought six of them there a while ago for $15 each. In any event, a quick “Google search” should give you ideas where to look. Slide those wheels onto the axles and pin them to prevent them coming off (but still able to turn freely), and then add a simple structure to the top side of that wagon box…
What the writer doesn’t explain fully enough is just how to attach the wheels. I have wheels like the ones he mentions (these are the exact ones), and a dowel that fits almost perfectly in the center hole, but I’m trying to figure out how to hold them on.
A slight complication is that I need to be able to take the wheels on and off for transportation and storage. So simply gluing them on (which probably wouldn’t be durable enough, anyway) is out.
There’s also the question of whether the wheels should be fixed to the axle, so the axle turns in the frame, or the axle is fixed to the frame so the wheels rotate on the axle. I think with the wheels needing to be detachable, it probably has to be the latter. (Or maybe both the wheels and the axle are free to rotate?)
Here are a few pictures of my actual wheels. They originally had a sort of hub in the center (visible on the vendor’s site in the link above) that served no useful purpose in my application, so I removed them. (Click on the image to see all three full-sized.)
My only thought has been some sort of cotterpin-like dowel through the axle, but I’m not sure that could hold the wheels on tightly enough without wobbling. An actual modern metal cotter pin would be anachronistic, unless it were hidden.
However I attach them, I’m thinking that I’ll wrap the axle with Teflon tape at the bearing points, whether at the wheel hubs, the frame, or both.
Although this doesn’t have to be a Broadway-quality build, or last forever, it has to be used by middle-schoolers (who are not noted for their gentleness) for several rehearsals and three performances without falling apart or calling attention to itself by wobbling or having stuck wheels in the middle of the show. The only weight it will bear is some empty metal milk cans. The actor playing Tevye may sit on the front edge, but he won’t stand or dance on it. (At least he’s not supposed to!)
Caveats: I am not a professional carpenter, and have only rudimentary tools and working space. I should have no problem building the box as described above, but I don’t have access to advanced tools such as, for instance, a lathe. The school has a 3-D printer, but I don’t know how to use it, and getting access might be tricky. So it would a Plan C or D, not A or B.
The show is in May, but I’d like to have this finished in the next week or two. I’m starting on the rest of the wagon today.
Thanks for any suggestions!
