I am contemplating making a steering wheel.  Wood has been a foundation in maritime history since the beginning of time and I feel that my boat needs more wood accents.  I would like to make some from possibly teak or probably mahogany.  The steering wheels that we most commonly sell are the Momo or a close copy, but I am gauging if there would be any interest in a wood steering wheel, with brass fasteners, along the lines of the Grant pictured but similar in size and shape to the Momo.

Thanks in advance,

Joe

MAN!  ive been thinking of making the same thing, out of mahogany.  ive got a few pieces laying around, collecting dust.  i thought id make one for myself and see if anyone was interested.  good luck joe!  im sure itll come out very regal when finished. 
keep us in the loop....

We should talk. I've got some Mahogany laying around...
I like the center section...with the except of the holes.

If you guys are going to do this build it for nos and trim to fit in right and make them leather wrapped as well options are good


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what do you mean exactly....i dont have nos...or trim on my wheel.  you say "fit in right"....im trying to learn what the current short comings are, if any.  thanks

is this an example of how...not...to do it?

What Jim is saying is, integrate switches into the steering wheel for trim up/down and N2O so that it looks intentional rather than an afterthought scabbed on.  Yes, some boats will not have use of any buttons while others might end up with a plethora of switches and buttons, looking like an F1 steering wheel.

The question is, how many switches/buttons are needed?  Does the steering wheel need to accommodate diverter up/down, launch control, timers, N20, reset, etc?  Is it better to actually integrate the buttons/switches into the steering wheel itself?  On all of the wheels that I have installed, a panel was fabricated to mount all of the switches and was mounted between the steering wheel and the column.  I was thinking about making a selection of panels that offer different switch/button configurations.  Having dangling wires that could get caught on something or impede steering, as it wraps around the column, has always bothered me.  I would like to hide the wires.

The more I think about producing steering wheels with all the different button configurations, the more I see my catalog approaching the magnitude of Grant.  Like Ben, I have been thinking of doing this for myself for a few years now, but the thought of new products is always on my mind.

Woodwork would require some setup, but is doable.  Most likely, I would alliance with Ben on this one.  Stitching leather is currently beyond the scope of my capabilities.

I do some leather work as well..

Stainless rivets are a good idea.  I think stainless would be way too heavy for the center section though.  SolidWorks analyzed the weight of the center section at 1.34lbs.  The majority of steering wheels used in performance boat applications are constructed from aluminum, including the Momo and the one Jim posted.  I like the look of tumbled or polished with hard anodizing or polished with ceramic clear.

An aluminum center would be preferable to chrome (I'm thinking boating here), but what you are proposing isn't "performance", it's cosmetic. If you are making a performance piece, wood isn't a good choice. Define what you REALLY are making NOW, because success or failure will depend on successfully marketing it. Saving weight on the center (not using stainless), but using wood is an obvious contradiction for a performance piece.
Just my .02

. Yes this is how we do it now. But if Joe milled a steering wheel out for custom control it would be super clean.


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I would buy one in black stain... only dirverter buttons of course... #idrinktoomuchfornos