Make your own new steering wheel from Birch Multiplex, by Jan

Description of Jan

I made a new steering wheel for a George Richard Unic L2 from 1926. For this I used a sheet of 15mm birch plywood. The original steering wheel was no longer usable because it was completely eaten by woodworm and literally fell apart. Now the steering wheel can hopefully last another 98 years. The body is also completely made of wood covered with sheet steel and will be the next challenging job. Hopefully I will have it back on the road before its 100th birthday.

How I made this project

I first made a compass for the router and then 2 rings of 30mm. Wide and 15mm. Thick milled from a sheet of birch plywood, I then rounded off the rings with a half-round milling cutter and milled the recesses for the aluminum center piece. Then I screwed the aluminum center piece to one ring and glued the two rings together with D4 wood glue. Then I sanded the handlebar and first put it in 2 layers of epoxy and then finished it with 2 layers of dd lacquer with a UV filter.

Dimensions of my DIY project

The outer diameter of the handlebar is 460mm.