Posted by John Collins (194.164.148.207) on September 21, 2002 at 07:15:27:
In Reply to: A question for John Collins posted by grim on September 21, 2002 at 04:03:52:
Hi Grim,
I can only quote from existing documents e.g.Fischer's ". It is a wheel which is twelve feet in diameter, covered with an oilcloth", and Gravesand's "It is a hollow wheel or kind of drum, about fourteen inches thick, and twelve feet in diameter; being very light as it consists of several cross pieces of wood framed together; the whole of which is covered over with canvas, to prevent the inside from being seen." Wagner, in one of his diatribes against Bessler, writes "The wheel currently set up in Merseburg, which is covered with linen cloth, has various openings ~ that have been left around the axle and are bandaged over with pinned-on strips". Others have also described inspection holes visible in the sides of the wheels but no where does it categorically state that there is any difference between each side of the wheel, so I assume that no comment to that effect means that there was nothing obvious.
I hope this helps, I think I can see why you ask the question.
Regards
John
: Hello, John. In J.B.'s illustrations, we get a front view and an end view, the end view depicting an apparently segmented wooden rim and the front view depicting the canvas or oiled cloth covering the interior works. In your extensive research, is it revealed that both sides are covered with canvas, or are we dealing with one side being canvas-covered and the other side (potential rear-view of illustrations) made of wood or planking?
: Thanks, grim