Build a Wheel of Fortune Wheel

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The centerpiece of the game show "Wheel of Fortune" is the large spinning wheel with its cash, prize, Lose A Turn, and Bankrupt spaces. The wheel's design is based on that of a casino wheel of fortune or money wheel; similar but smaller game and prize wheels are used for trade show promotions. Although several designs of prize wheels, game wheels, and wheels of fortune are available commercially, you can make your own wheel of fortune; the steps below offer instruction in how to do so.

Steps

Things to Consider Before Building Your Wheel

  1. Determine what you will use your wheel for. How you intend to use the wheel will determine how large you need to make your wheel, whether you will orient it horizontally or vertically, and whether you will paint your spaces on the wooden wheel itself or create a cardboard overlay.
    • "Wheel of Fortune" changes the layout of spaces on its wheel for each round from the first through the fourth, increasing the value of the top money amount each time. If you want to duplicate this, you will need to create cardboard overlays for each round of play.
    • If you plan to use your wheel as a prize wheel at a trade show, you may want to paint your spaces directly on the wheel and use stick-on labels to represent the prizes. You can also use this arrangement if you plan to use your wheel to randomly select categories for a game, much as was done in the original Melody Roulette round of "Name That Tune."
    • If you plan to use your wheel for multiple purposes, you may either want to use your wheel with overlays for each purpose or design your wheel to be reversible.
  2. Decide whether you want your wheel to be oriented horizontally or vertically. The television game show "Wheel of Fortune" lays its wheel horizontally because the vertically oriented wheel used in the show's pilot versions was difficult to show on camera. If you're using your wheel with a small group of children who can gather around you, you may want to orient your wheel horizontally as well. If you are using your wheel in a large classroom, a trade show booth, or for a panel presentation at a show or convention, you will want to orient the wheel vertically so that everyone in the back can see it.
    • Although the game show gives each of its players his or her own pointer, a single pointer is sufficient, and all you'll need for any usage other than playing "Wheel of Fortune."
  3. Determine how large you want to make your wheel. Your wheel should be large enough for spectators to see, but not so large that players will have a hard time spinning it or that you will find it hard to transport.
    • For a small wheel set up horizontally in a small classroom, or for a wheel set up vertically in a trade show booth, a diameter of 18 to 24 inches (45 to 60 cm) should be sufficient.
    • For a medium-sized wheel used in a medium to large-sized classroom or in a small to medium-sized panel room, a diameter of 24 to 36 inches (60 to 90 cm) would be better.
    • For use in a large room, you can make the wheel as large as 48 inches (1.2 m) in diameter, although it will require help to cut out the wheel shape.
  4. Determine how many spaces you want to have on your wheel. This will have an impact on how readable your wheel will be at a distance.
    • The wheel on the American version of "Wheel of Fortune" has 24 spaces; each space is the width of 3 spaced peg handles. A children's version, "Wheel 2000," had 3 spaces that were twice the width of the other spaces, giving it only 21 spaces.
    • American casino wheels of fortune typically feature 54 spaces (grouped into 6 groups of 9), while Australian versions feature 52 spaces.
    • The number of spaces for game and prize wheels used in trade shows varies; commercially available versions may have as few as 6 or as many as 24. The number is usually an even number that divides evenly into 360, the number of degrees in a full circle.

Building the Wheel

  1. Measure your sheet of wood and cardboard (if used).
  2. Find the center of your pieces. Find the halfway points on each side, mark them, and draw lines connecting the midpoints on opposite sides together. Where the lines cross is the center of your wood or cardboard sheet.
  3. Drive an anchor into the center point. For the plywood sheet, hammer a nail through the center mark. For the cardboard, push a thumbtack through. In both cases, drive the anchor through the sheet so that the hole is present on the other side.
  4. Tie a string to the anchor. The length of the string should be the distance from the center of the sheet to the center of one of the edges.
    • For the cardboard overlay, you'll want the string to be 1 to 2 inches (2.5 cm to 5 cm) shorter, so that the overlay will have a smaller diameter than the wheel itself, to allow space for the peg handles.
  5. Tie a pencil to the other end of the string.
  6. Draw a circle with the pencil, keeping the string taut. This will mark the outer edge of your wheel.
  7. Cut along the edge of the circle. You can cut plywood sheeting with a jigsaw, scroll saw, or band saw. You can cut cardboard sheet with a good pair of heavy-duty scissors.
  8. Sand the edges of the wood smooth.
  9. Turn the wheel over.
  10. Mark off the sections for the wheel spaces. Draw a line from 1 edge of the wheel to the other, through the center. Lay a protractor over this line so that the 0/180-degree marks line up with this line and the hole in the center of the protractor's straight edge is over the center hole of the wheel. Mark off points every interval of degrees, then flip the protractor over, realign it, and mark points at the same intervals on the other side of the wheel. Use a ruler to align 2 opposite points with the center and draw a line from 1 edge, through the points and center, to the other.
    • To determine the degree interval, divide 360 by the number of spaces you plan to make. If you plan to have 12 spaces on the wheel, dividing 360 by 12 gives 30, so the correct interval is 30 degrees. You would mark points along the curved edge of the protractor at 30, 60, 90, 120, and 150 degrees.
    • If you are making an overlay for your wheel, mark the lines on your overlay, not the wheel itself, although you may want to have some reference points on the wheel to align the overlay with it.
  11. Put in the peg handles. The method differs slightly, depending on whether you use dowels or nails for the peg handles. Doweling should be from 1/4 to 1/2 inch (0.62 to 1.25 cm) in diameter.
    • If you are using doweling, cut the doweling into 3 1/2 to 4 inch (8.75 to 10 cm) lengths. Drill at least 1 hole per wheel section line about 3/4 inch (1.87 cm) in from the edge about halfway through the wood. To guide your drill bit, use a drill jig or drill press to keep the bit perpendicular to the wood surface, and wrap the bit with tape 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) from the tip to mark when to stop drilling. You can pound the dowels into the holes with a mallet; you may first want to apply glue to the end of the dowel to be sunk into the hole to ensure it stays in place.
    • If you are using nails, you only need to mark the appropriate points with a pencil and then drive in the nails with a hammer. You can mark 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) on the nail with a marking pen or nail polish and then drive the nail to this mark with a hammer. Nails from 10 to 20 penny length are recommended.
    • You need to have at least 1 peg handle per section on your wheel so that the pointer will stop within a section when the wheel slows to a stop and not rebound to a previous section. More peg handles mean more friction and will cause the wheel not to spin as long. If you plan to use overlays with varying numbers of spaces, use the overlay with the most spaces when determining how many peg handles to place and where to place them.
  12. Mark and drill holes for attaching the lazy Susan to the wheel. Do this on the side you marked to cut out the wheel itself, using the lines radiating from the wheel's center as a guide.

Building the Support Stand

  1. Cut out the primary support from a 2 x 4. This is the part of the support that the lazy Susan will attach to.
    • If you're going to orient the wheel horizontally, this piece should be the diameter of the wheel plus at least 6 inches (15 cm).
    • If you're going to orient the wheel vertically, this piece should be at least 12 inches (30 cm) longer than the wheel diameter if the supported wheel is to stand on a table, and at least 24 inches (60 cm) longer if the supported wheel is to stand on the floor. Add the radius of the wheel plus another 3 to 6 inches (7.5 to 15 cm) if you plan to have the pointer assembly above the wheel.
  2. Cut the foot pieces from 2 x 4s. The arrangement again depends on whether your wheel is oriented horizontally or vertically.
    • If you're going to orient the wheel horizontally, you'll want a horizontal piece at either end. These pieces should be long enough to keep the wheel from sliding around when spun.
    • If you're going to orient the wheel vertically, you'll want to make a criss-crossing foot piece with a length roughly equal to the wheel's diameter. You can either cut into the centers of the cross pieces so that all 4 ends rest evenly on the ground or add feet to whichever of the 2 pieces will be closer to the primary support so that all 4 ends rest evenly.
  3. Attach the foot pieces to the primary support. You'll want to screw the foot pieces to the primary support for greater stability, but before you do, drill the screw holes into the wood to prevent the wood from splitting when you turn the screws and countersink the holes so that the screw heads will be flush with the wood surface when fully tightened.
    • Screws should have a shank from 2 1/2 to 3 inches (6.25 to 7.5 cm) to ensure secure assembly.

Making The Pointer Assembly

  1. Cut a 6-inch (15 cm) piece of 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) dowel.
  2. Cut a notch halfway into 1 end of the dowel.
  3. Cut a rectangular piece of heavy plastic 6 inches (15 cm) long by 2 inches (5 cm) wide. This piece will serve as the flapper of the pointer assembly, the part that strikes against the peg handles as the wheel turns. You can cut this piece out of a gallon milk bottle.
  4. Affix the flapper to the dowel. Insert the plastic into the dowel slot at a right angle. You can hold it in place with wood glue or by drilling small holes through the dowel and plastic and looping wire through them.
    • You can dress up the pointer assembly by cutting a triangular-shaped piece from the scrap left from cutting out the wheel. Drill a hole halfway through the piece, then place it over the slotted end of the dowel after affixing the flapper and glue it in place.

Assembling the Wheel of Fortune

  1. Paint or stain the wheel, stand, and pointer assembly. This will help to preserve the wood, while making the wheel of fortune more attractive.
  2. Screw the lazy Susan to the primary support. If you're orienting the wheel horizontally, the lazy Susan should be mounted in the center of the primary support. If you're orienting the wheel vertically, the lazy Susan should be mounted anywhere from 1/4 of the way down from the top to right at the top, depending on whether you want to have the pointer above or below the wheel.
    • Use screws from 1 to 1 1/2 inch (2.5 to 3.75 cm) shank length. You may again want to pre-drill the holes.
  3. Screw the lazy Susan to the wheel.
  4. Drill a 1/2 inch hole in the primary support for where you'll place the pointer. Be sure to place the pointer so that the flapper touches the peg handles when the wheel spins.
  5. Attach the pointer to the primary support. You may want to apply wood glue to the end of the dowel that will go into the hole you drilled before tapping it in with a mallet.
  6. Affix the overlay to the front of your wheel if you're using one. You can hold it in place with rubber cement.

Video

Tips

  • If you've made your wheel to play a version of the "Wheel of Fortune" TV game, you can also make special prize spaces and card tags to stick onto the wheel temporarily with rubber cement and be removed when the player lands on the space and guesses a letter in the puzzle. Watch the show or visit the Wheel of Fortune website or a fan site to learn what special prize spaces and card tags the show currently uses and has used in the past to get some ideas as to what you can use in your game.
  • If you plan to disassemble your wheel for storage, make provisions for storing the screws that hold the wheel to the lazy Susan so you can find them again when you need them. One possible solution would be to keep the screws in a resealable plastic bag and strap it to the primary support with several rubber bands.

Things You'll Need

  • Sheet of 1 inch (2.5 cm) thick medium density fiberboard (MDF, particle board) or plywood
  • Cardboard/poster board sheeting (if creating overlays)
  • Straightedge/ruler/yardstick/meter stick
  • Protractor
  • 2 x 4s (at least 2, possibly 3)
  • Lazy Susan wheel
  • Power drill
  • Drill bits
  • Drill jig (optional)
  • Hammer/mallet
  • Nails or doweling
  • Wood screws
  • Wood glue
  • String
  • Measuring tape
  • Jigsaw, scroll saw, or band saw
  • Sandpaper
  • Pencil
  • Tape
  • Spray paint

Sources and Citations

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