RockinRiviDad Posted April 17, 2020 Share Posted April 17, 2020 (edited) I have a bad feeling that Bob Scanlan is no longer in business. I tried his number & email & both are no longer in service. I was hoping he could answer my Q & no luck. Maybe u guys can help. The walnut wood kit he sold me looks great. But now I am working with a wood worker to make me a matching real wood walnut steering wheel & shifter knob to replace the cracked faux wood on the Rivi steering wheel. The woodworker doesn’t think my wood kit is made of walnut. He said the wood grain/pattern resembles Teak & not Walnut?? Can any of u tell from this picture if that assumption is correct? Second & third pix are of an actual piece of walnut (2nd pic) & teak (3rd pic) from the woodworkers shop. Has anyone here ever tried to get a real wood ring made for our steering wheel?? Edited April 17, 2020 by RockinRiviDad (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1965rivgs Posted April 18, 2020 Share Posted April 18, 2020 Dave, The veneer in your console does resemble teak...but the way grain presents in a piece of wood is dependent upon what section of a log it originates in and how the log is sawn. "Quarter sawing" a log produces more waste from the log but also produces pieces that have a straighter grain. I`m not a woodworker but it is my understanding that the straighter the grain in a piece of wood the more stable it is regarding humidity and temperature swings. Oak exhibits particular character when quarter sawn because it produces "medullary rays" which are quite attractive. Do an images search for quarter sawn oak and compare it to straight sawn oak and you will see the difference in grain, its quite dramatic. I`m sure quarter sawing Walnut would produce a straighter grain but I dont think it is as dramatic as in a wood like oak. My point is that quarter sawing any particular wood species produces a different appearance, especially in grain, compared to straight sawing. Tom Mooney Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KongaMan Posted April 18, 2020 Share Posted April 18, 2020 "Walnut" is somewhat non-specific. There are several species of walnut, and much variation between individual billets of wood in each species. Is your wheel walnut? No idea -- but you can't say it isn't just because it looks different than another piece. FWIW, it looks like it might well be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockinRiviDad Posted April 18, 2020 Author Share Posted April 18, 2020 Thank u Tom. Interesting. I will look that up. The little bit of literature that came with the Bob Scanlan does describe “quarter sawn walnut” just as u mentioned Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KongaMan Posted April 18, 2020 Share Posted April 18, 2020 Quartersawn is stronger when bent parallel with the grain. That why they use it for guitar necks. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockinRiviDad Posted April 18, 2020 Author Share Posted April 18, 2020 4 minutes ago, KongaMan said: Is your wheel walnut? No idea -- but you can't say it isn't just because it looks different than another piece. FWIW, it looks like it might well be. Thank u. But I may not understand your comment. No. I can most certainly say “my wheel is NOT walnut”. Because it’s plastic. It does NOT look like it might be wood. I wanna have a “real” wood wheel made. But I would like it to match the rest of the wood in my car. So I am trying to figure out what wood the Scanlan kits are made of. The back of his business card says “Correct Quarter-Sawn Walnut”. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric's.64.Superwildcat Posted April 18, 2020 Share Posted April 18, 2020 Although I've never obtained a quote for the work I have to believe it would be incredibly expensive to have a walnut steering wheel custom made. Have you looked at OE walnut wood steering wheels online or from others on this forum? The advantage is that is is guaranteed to fit, and I believe you can purchase the walnut steering wheel, hub, Riv emblem and horn bar for pennies on the dollar when compared to a quantity-1 custom piece. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RivNut Posted April 18, 2020 Share Posted April 18, 2020 (edited) There is a video on you tube that shows some guys making a real wood rim for an older Buick using the steel frame after all the plastic was removed. They made it for Corky Coker's 1954 Buick. Edited April 18, 2020 by RivNut (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockinRiviDad Posted April 18, 2020 Author Share Posted April 18, 2020 1 hour ago, Eric's.64.Superwildcat said: incredibly expensive to have a walnut steering wheel custom made. Have you looked at OE walnut wood steering wheels online or from others on this forum? I believe you can purchase the walnut steering wheel, hub, Riv emblem and horn bar for pennies on the dollar I have an OE Rivi faux wood wheel, collar & cap. It was kindly gifted to me years ago by a friend. Thank u again @arnulfo de l.a. I am missing the horn bar, some hardware & the acrylic faux wood is cracked in multiple spots. In this condition, this wheel can be easily bought for about $500. Maybe more. I thought about sending it to a pro to have it fixed. Then I found out what a friend is being charged for that service ($1200) & I almost fell & hit my head 😆. THAT is “incredibly expensive”. Fixing it myself is still an option if I buy the epoxy repair kit. But then I wondered if I could have one made from real walnut wood & have it match my interior deluxe wood kit. I made some calls & found a local wood worker that claims he can do it. It’s not gonna look exactly the same. But at an approximate quote of $200 how could I not try that? So here I am trying to figure out what wood my interior kit is made of so I can move forward in having one made. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KongaMan Posted April 18, 2020 Share Posted April 18, 2020 Why not take the car to the woodworker and let him figure it out? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockinRiviDad Posted April 18, 2020 Author Share Posted April 18, 2020 thx Ed. Here the cool video u mentioned. That is one great looking wheel. For $200, I don’t think mine will be to that quality. But I’m sure it’ll end up in better condition than it is now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockinRiviDad Posted April 18, 2020 Author Share Posted April 18, 2020 3 minutes ago, KongaMan said: Why not take the car to the woodworker and let him figure it out? I just spoke to him today. Taking him the car would be nice. But I’m not gonna tow it there just for that 😆 . Working out some pesky electrical gremlins right now. He’s local & might come by if 1) I can’t drive it there due to my electrical issue or 2) the wife isn’t home to catch me breaking the social distancing order Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KongaMan Posted April 18, 2020 Share Posted April 18, 2020 1 hour ago, RockinRiviDad said: I just spoke to him today. Taking him the car would be nice. But I’m not gonna tow it there just for that 😆 . Working out some pesky electrical gremlins right now. He’s local & might come by if 1) I can’t drive it there due to my electrical issue or 2) the wife isn’t home to catch me breaking the social distancing order Take the lid off the console. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockinRiviDad Posted April 20, 2020 Author Share Posted April 20, 2020 Rumor is someone here already had a REAL wood wheel & shifter knob made & posted pix of it. If so, I can’t find the pix anywhere. Do any of u guys know the guy or remember seeing the pix or where they posted the pix? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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