My great wheel, which (according to the person I bought it from) dates from 1780, has the spokes attached by small pegs/dowels. I need to repair several of them, which is what is holding me up from actually trying to play with it. It looks like repair will involve using a small drill to drill out the broken peg, probably drilling all the way into the spoke, through the rim, then insert appropriately-sized dowel, cut off and smooth down to surface of the wheel itself. (The moment of panic hits when I contemplate drilling into wood that is as old as the USA, essentially. I plan on bracing the spoke *very* carefully, to be certain there is no shifting while drilling!)
Checking my copy of "How to be Owned by an Antique Spinning Wheel" (by Peter H. Fowler, Petaluma, CA: Unicorn Books and Crafts, 2003), this is the best way to repair broken spokes. He adds the caution to use carpenter's glue to hold anything needing glued. He also notes, "Very old great wheels have the rim held by wooden pegs. The pegs are not to keep the rim from coming off radially but from slipping axially so do not need heads." (p.32)
Good luck!
Hi, Stitch in Time
Phiala pointed me at your blog, since I've made a couple of these rim wheels and they've worked. I also, in the USA, have collected and examined a lot of rim wheels from the lat 1700's-1900. If they haven't been repaired, the rims are held on by tapered wooden pegs. The top of the peg starts at about 1/8-3/16 of an inch and the tapered length is about 1 inch (found from broken rim/spoke). Make them from split wood for strength-to hold them in the vise, use a longer length and work the end. I use a draw shave or knife to smooth them. The spokes are located carefully on the rim to be sure the whole thing will not wobble. This doesn't always mean the spokes are in the exact middle of the rim. Old wheels show some spokes are off center. Then mark the spoke positions from the inside and push the spoke out of the way to gimlet a small hole from inside out on the rim. The spoke holes are predrilled in the center of each spoke. The pin holes should end up leaving at least 1/8 of an inch of the pin outside of the rim when you are done. Some of the wooden pin MUST stand proud of the rim, by a tiny amount, 1/16 inch or so. That is all that holds the old rims on, no glue that I can see. Rims that were repaired with iron nails show nails loosening and damaging the wood around them. Hope this helps. Lois Swales