From 'Old Occupations: Wheelwrights', by Mary Carter - Family Tree Magazine October 1992

Wheelwrights obtained their wood by different methods. Some went to the saw mills or the timber merchants. Others actually went to the woods - especially if working on a large estate - and chose their own wood. This was a skilled operation. The wheelwright not only needed to know his trees - oak (for wheel spokes), elm (for hubs and planks) and beech (for felloes), were favoured - he also needed to investigate the position of the branches which, when lopped, would leave knots and therefore shorten the usable lengths. He would also need to know the type of habitat, for different soils affect the nature of the wood produced.
    Once the wood had been selected, a process known as "barking" took place. If felled at the correct time of the year, the bark stripped off easily with a barking knife. The bark was then stacked in a tent-like arrangement for drying. Eventually it was sold to the tanner for leather making.
    Originally, trees were taken to the wheelwright's yard and a sawyer employed to cut them into planks and usable pieces. Later, sawpits were established. These were deep pits with supports on top, over which the trunks were rolled. One man stood in the pit and one on the top of the trunk and the saw was worked backwards and forwards between them.
    Most wheelwrights specialised in one particular kind of vehicle and different designs appeared in different areas. Some crafts dealt in lighter, domestic carriages, such as "governess carts", gigs, and the occasional smart coach which would be drawn by four matched horses, knows as a "four-in-hand". He might also be required to make fences, gates, ladders, horse boxes and even coffins!
    For most wheelwrights, the making of the wheel was all important and the maxim was "start from the centre" - that being the hub or nave. Elm was the wood of choice: a wood whose strong cross-grained fibres would not allow it to split when under strain. The hub made, the blacksmith (who always worked closely with the wheelwright) would attach iron bands to give added strength. They were driven on, red hot, and then plunged into cold water for shrinking. The wheel was then marked for mortices which would accommodate the spokes. A brace and bit was used to cut the holes and a buzz employed to chisel them out.
    The wheel spokes were fashioned with a draw knife and a spoke shave and then driven home with a massive hammer. The ends of the spokes were then marked off for shoulders and tongues which would fit into the felloes, which were curved to take two spokes each, were usually made of beech, ash or elm, and cut out with a bandsaw. The final procedure was the fitting of iron hoops (strakes) round the circumference of the wheel. This was again the work of the blacksmith. It was a skilled operation and he had to ensure that the fit was neither too loose nor too tight and only years of experience would result in a job well done.