GORGEOUS 32" MAHOGANY antique boat yacht Spoke ship wheel nautical collectible

Description

CLIENT TESTIMONIALS
** Susan Hilfiger
**Billy Payne chairman of the Augusta national golf club also president & CEO of the 1996 Atlanta Olympic games
A very satisfied client who now owns an antique Empire chest of drawers
**Ernie Romero attorney,Wisconsin
Bryan Stahl gave me the white glove service . He was pleasant,friendly,courteous,and prompt in arriving on time.he is excellent at replying to text's and email's his inside delivery went very smoothly. super careful with all details. He was not only on time but he wanted to deliver it right away! I loved that about him the furniture came wrapped up as he put it "as if it were explosives" if you are looking for quality fine furniture look no further. Bryan is the right choice for you. he is an expert at what he does and a true professional dedicated to his passion in fulfilling your furniture needs. you can always rely on him . It was an amazing experience A+++ LOVE IT!!!!!
**Tom Clark ,New York
Hi Bryan, We got our piano bench and it looks great with our piano. Its even nicer than we thought. Appreciate the thoughtful and careful packing couldn't break a carton of eggs as well as you wrapped it. Just perfect all around. Hope we can keep in touch. I have an old piano stool I might want to have restored Looks like your the man Thank you again Bryan for all your help.
**Joyce,Illinois
Hi Bryan It was so nice meeting you this morning. The piece is beautiful, i am still in awe. Thank you so much for the impeccable delivery as well. I would like to visit your show room sometime soon To see what other goodie's you have (: Thanks again
**Rachel Bruneman, Illinois
I love its so much! Thanks for everything. It is gorgeous and exactly What I was looking for.
**Rob & Corinna D'costa,Illinois
Thank you for sending your Business cards & the note . The dresser looks great,it was a pleasure meeting you and your children. I would not hesitate to Recommend your services ,and We will be sure to keep an eye on your Ebay store!  Spectacular museum quality
Antique ship wheel....Circa1810
it could date from 1795-1830  I am not sure of the exact time frame this was made
My client Ebay member "condor361".... had this to say after buying a 1920's cedar chest I restored...."Beyond perfect service" & "The chest is really, really great, a job well done"
I restore fine antiques...I was thrilled to acquire this fine piece.I restored this wheel, all by hand, it is absolutely gorgeous It is solid "Cuban Mahogany"...
Some history about Cuban Mahogany....it is virtually extinct, it is known for its stunning grains, beautiful colors  and being a strong dense wood. It faces extinction since craftsman & cabinetmakers from the 1700-1800 loved it so much it was all used up. A handful of trees remain worldwide that are being rescued/harvested  from the bottoms of swamps, when they are gone there will be no more of this prized wood left on the planet.  I have salvaged some from antique furniture pieces...This wood I treat like gold, it is priceless!!! The mahogany which is grown today doesn't hold a candle to this old antique wood.Cuban Mahogany lines the walls of some rooms of the White House, that fact alone speaks to the desirability of this great wood!
If you do some calculations...you will find that the wood for this ship wheel was harvested around 1775, that means the tree which wood have been about 225-250 years old at the time the wood was harvested...which makes this wood date from Circa 1500-1595 as a conservative estimate!!!
I love the blackened  highlights and all the character in the wood including, some age related cracks, one spoke has a old crack, all of the cracks are age related, very old and stable! The crack on the spoke is stable, dings,naturally blackened areas in the wood itself  & around the hand wrought nail heads due to age related corrosion.  The character in the wood is superb!! By design, I left all of this character & incredible patina in the wood.
When I acquired this beautiful wheel it looked so lifeless, it was covered by many, many layers of finish which had darkened to a very ugly opaque state. The finish was in extremely poor condition, it was badly checkered, leaving islands of finish, almost like scabs everywhere. I believe the saltwater & weathering caused these islands of finish to look like scabs. I have see tens of thousands of finishes, but never one quite like the aged finish on this. As it turns out, the many thick coats of varnish were a blessing in disguise, it protected the wood quite well over all these years allowing it to be rock solid and ready to bring to full glory.
The Rock river courses right through the heart of Janesville, Wisconsin. Perhaps the wheel was on a boat which traveled on the Rock river. The Rock river does eventually connect to the Mississippi river which connects to the Gulf of Mexico!!. ....
The solid brass nave (hub) in the center of the wheel was painted over with a poorly done gold paint, hiding the beautiful solid brass! I restored this wheel from top to bottom. I carefully removed the brass nave, then completely by hand scraped the mahogany wood to remove the thick opaque finish and open the pores, this technique allows the wood to showcase all of its beauty and makes for a spectacular finish, versus paint stripper. Of course this method requires great attention to detail & very meticulous hand work, needless to say it's very time consuming, I then hand scraped & sanded every square millimeter  of this piece. I literally spent several days just hand scraping &sanding this wheel, preparing it for the beautiful hand rubbed natural finish.
Like many fine antiques from this period, there are no makers marks, I assure you I would have found them if they existed!! I cleaned the solid brass nave and polished it..but was careful to leave all of the pitting and patina it has acquired over its nearly 220 years of life. I think the pitting looks fantastic, it adds to the character of the wheel. When I separated the 2 halves of the nave I found a screw installed into a spoke which was hidden under the nave. I have studied the history of wood screws as someone who restores fine antiques, many to museum quality just like this wheel. This screw was obviously hand wrought Circa 1795-1825.  The machine bolts on the nave securing the 2 halves together are original, they are iron, I buffed them. I like the contrast they make with the brass, I think it looks awesome and adds tons of character.
The nave has been carefully polished, I chose to not seal it with a clear coat. It will gradually tarnish over time, just as I have planned! An interesting detail which shows hand work...the cover plate of the nave only lines up one way, the screw holes only perfectly align in one position...obviously hand cast/tapped Look carefully at the wood graining & character..it is second to none. I restored all of the wood with many, many coats of hand rubbed varnish over the natural wood, no stain was applied. The multi-coat hand rubbed varnish gives the wood gorgeous depth, beauty & protection. The wood grains are now showcased just as the maker intended!!! The nave slides over a shaft which eventually makes connections to control the rudder. You can see it would have a metal key inserted into the slot to tightly wedge & secure it to the shaft. The nave has a 1" diameter opening measured on both sides/each opening of the nave, of course this 1"diameter excludes the slot for the key.   It is quite possible you could use this on your yacht/boat! I have every reason to believe that it would function beautifully.
Of course, it could also be displayed like a fine museum piece in your home/office....I have restored it to museum quality!! You will find many ships wheels out there, I guarantee there will not be a more beautiful one!! I have a Hepplewhite Gentleman's Chest Circa 1775.. which is incredible, it also features "Cuban Mahogany". Cuban Mahogany has long been known as the "King of Woods"
Provenance: Interesting history.......I acquired it from a business man in Janesville, Wisconsin. For privacy reasons,I will not use his last name but call him Mr. L. the first letter of his last name. He owns 3 different businesses/buildings in Janesville, Wisconsin. Mr. L recently bought a house for investment purposes which is located  near his businesses.He did not realize there was a secret room in the basement until after he purchased the home. He told me he noticed there was a window but it had no light coming in like you would expect, he investigated further, and lo and behold there was a wall built to seal off a room, he said he told the woman who sold him the home about the secret room, she had no idea the room even existed, it was sealed off so well. He accessed the room and found many antiques & collectibles that obviously had been there for decades. He kept many of the items, the rest he is selling off. The room has a dirt floor, I told him to go back and check with a metal detector, also I joked he should check for dead bodies!! He told me the exact address of the home, I have no reason to doubt his story. Mr. L has no idea why the room was sealed off and left filled with antiques & collectibles, I bet he will be going over it with a fine tooth comb after our conversation!!!
The wonderful ship wheel was calling my name..begging for some fine restoration, I new it had the makings for greatness, frankly I did not know it had such beautiful wood until I held it in my hands, I bought it based on one poor photo online, my mother lives in Janesville, Wisconsin and she picked the wheel up for me, I was elated when I held this wheel in my hands..... A labor of love, what a joy to restore this beauty, what stories this wheel could tell....I returned this wheel to its full glory worthy of any museum....perhaps it is calling your name! I am proud to offer it to you!! Check out my other listings, you will be impressed!!!
All the best, Bryan
UNITED STATES & INTERNATIONAL BUYERS...SHIPPING DETAILS... The "buyer" will be required to "sign" for this shipment upon delivery! INTERNATIONAL BUYERS...SHIPPING DETAILS...The buyer will be responsible for any import fees such as duty, import taxes or other costs incurred during shipping imposed by other countries!!.....The "buyer" will be required to "sign" for this shipment upon delivery!
Dimensions(inches)
Spoke handle tip to spoke handle tip...32
Diameter of wooden wheel...24 1/4
Diameter of brass nave/hub...4 1/2
Diameter of spoke handle tip...1 1/4
Thickness of brass nave/hub...2
SHIPPING TO LOWER 48 INITED STATES...to provide the ultimate protection & safe transport this will ship via UPS FREIGHT to your curbside location. The buyer will be responsible to uncrate the wheel & move it to the inside location. This takes about 1 week to arrive anywhere in the LOWER 48 STATES. It will be delivered by appointment!