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By Keith Farless, Owner of Highland Restoration, Inc.
The tugboat Luna was the first diesel electric tugboat. Built in 1930 by noted naval architect John Alden, she worked Boston harbor until the late 1980's when she was abandoned on the Charles River and allowed to sink. Many of Luna's parts were stolen, including the steering wheel. For more about the story of the Luna, (and for the opportunity to support the restoration by donation or volunteering) visit the Tugboat Luna website.
I took on the wheel reproduction as my graduation project at the North Bennet Street School. All I had to work from were two photo's taken in 1958, and the original John Alden specifications. The boat was speced to have a 48 inch mahogany wheel with a brass hub. Research told me that the hub was probably made of bronze, since brass was too soft to be used to steer a 97-foot tugboat. Holly was used for the inlay.
By analyzing the photo's the specifications and through research at Mystic Seaport Museum, I was able to determine how the wheel was probably built. I determined the hub diameter to be 7" through photo analysis. Edson Corporation likely made it. Since those hubs are no longer in production (6" hubs are the largest they currently sell), I had to design and make a new one. I started by making an engineering drawing. The next step was to turn some wood casting patterns for the hub and the back plate. I sent these to a foundry, which cast bronze blanks. The blanks and the drawing were sent to Marblehead Engineering, which made the hub.
The wheel was built on three full size layout boards. The first wood portions to be built were the spokes. Various patterns jigs and construction operations can be seen below. The wheel has been donated to the Luna Restoration project.
Period view of the pilot house, showing wheel and, incidentally, a period waterfront street scene, somewhere on Mystic River. |
Pilot house view the other way, showing a glimpse of the wheel, one of just two views available for guiding reproduction of the wheel. |
Finished reproduction pilot wheel for the tugboat Luna. The wheel has been donated to the Restoration. The inlay is holly. |
Bronze wheel hub, custom cast and milled, front side. |
Bronze wheel hub, custom cast and milled, back side. |
Turning mahogany spokes. |
Spoke in cutting jig on the table saw. |
Scribing out circular moulding for the wheel with the router. |
Shaping the circular mouldings with the router. |
Two mouldings. |
On the assembly board. |
Fully assembled. |
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