The Step by Step guide to making your own UW

_{Take the tyre off ! You're not going to get far with it on !}

_{Measure diameter of the wheel as accurately as possible. Then Remove all the spokes - since you're not going to be using them the faster method is to cut them. You should be left with a shiny round rim.}

_{Now you'll basically need to cut a circle out of the wood. The easiest method is using an electric jigsaw, although you could conceivably cut it by hand with a host of conventional straight saws and then sand until round. Now you have to spoil your perfectly circular disc by cutting a slot big enough for the inner-tube value to poke through. Give yourself a good clearence to get your pump's pipe on the valve.}

_{Okay you could see this one coming ! Position your perfect wooden disc in the center of your nice shiny rim. Ensure its perfectly in the center then screw the rim to the disc. Using the existing spoke holes putting one screw in every hole. You might want to counter sink the screws such that the plywood doesn't split}

_{Shortened crank technology ! Just cut off the chain ring of the right hand crank, and shorten the left to match.}

_{From the center, measure where you'd like you're pedals to appear, by estimating the 'imaginary crank length' - I think I opted for around 140mm, since this was similar to my unicycle, although my UW is 26", you might want to consider a smaller crank length for smaller wheels. Then drill/jigsaw out the wood to the size of the cranks - requires a bit of thinking about ! I did mine in parallel, since it seemed like a good idea at the time - but there's no reason not to chose other angles.}

_{Now this is where we'll discover your true woodwork skills. First you need to size you're metal plates so they'll cover most of the crank, except the head - where the pedal is going to go. Then, chisel out to the same thickness of the plates the area of the plates - both sides of the wheel ! Easier said than done. Checking as you go that you're making the perfect crank sandwich, ideally your plates will fit flush against the surface whilst just touching the cranks. Ideally the thickness of the two plates and one crank will be the same as the wood - it was in my case, if its not you'll have to do something clever to adapt the overall thickness.}

_{Place your plates in your carefully chiseled out spaces, then invest in some super glue, lots of super glue. Completely surround the cranks in glue, splatter it all over you plates, then whack em in ! Give 'em some time to dry.}

_{Get screwing !}_{Carefully drill your glued plates ( you may want to do this before you stick 'em ) nicely countersink the screws and there you go, we're nearly there.}

_{Tyre & pedals on and that's it you're ready to rock and roll. Just to show you I'm not making this all up, here's my 'real' wheel pictured against my wonderful drawing. Now all you have to do is learn how to ride the darn thing. Try the beginner's guide_{for starters. Good luck !}}

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_{Take the tyre off ! You're not going to get far with it on !}
	_{Measure diameter of the wheel as accurately as possible. Then Remove all the spokes - since you're not going to be using them the faster method is to cut them. You should be left with a shiny round rim.}
_{Now you'll basically need to cut a circle out of the wood. The easiest method is using an electric jigsaw, although you could conceivably cut it by hand with a host of conventional straight saws and then sand until round. Now you have to spoil your perfectly circular disc by cutting a slot big enough for the inner-tube value to poke through. Give yourself a good clearence to get your pump's pipe on the valve.}
	_{Okay you could see this one coming ! Position your perfect wooden disc in the center of your nice shiny rim. Ensure its perfectly in the center then screw the rim to the disc. Using the existing spoke holes putting one screw in every hole. You might want to counter sink the screws such that the plywood doesn't split}
_{Shortened crank technology ! Just cut off the chain ring of the right hand crank, and shorten the left to match.}
	_{From the center, measure where you'd like you're pedals to appear, by estimating the 'imaginary crank length' - I think I opted for around 140mm, since this was similar to my unicycle, although my UW is 26", you might want to consider a smaller crank length for smaller wheels. Then drill/jigsaw out the wood to the size of the cranks - requires a bit of thinking about ! I did mine in parallel, since it seemed like a good idea at the time - but there's no reason not to chose other angles.}
_{Now this is where we'll discover your true woodwork skills. First you need to size you're metal plates so they'll cover most of the crank, except the head - where the pedal is going to go. Then, chisel out to the same thickness of the plates the area of the plates - both sides of the wheel ! Easier said than done. Checking as you go that you're making the perfect crank sandwich, ideally your plates will fit flush against the surface whilst just touching the cranks. Ideally the thickness of the two plates and one crank will be the same as the wood - it was in my case, if its not you'll have to do something clever to adapt the overall thickness.}
	_{Place your plates in your carefully chiseled out spaces, then invest in some super glue, lots of super glue. Completely surround the cranks in glue, splatter it all over you plates, then whack em in ! Give 'em some time to dry.}
_{Get screwing !}_{Carefully drill your glued plates ( you may want to do this before you stick 'em ) nicely countersink the screws and there you go, we're nearly there.}
_{Tyre & pedals on and that's it you're ready to rock and roll. Just to show you I'm not making this all up, here's my 'real' wheel pictured against my wonderful drawing. Now all you have to do is learn how to ride the darn thing. Try the beginner's guide_{for starters. Good luck !}}