I tend to jump around a little bit as I am machining parts when I can get away with it.  Typically though you try to do things in bulk so you can be efficient and accurate by reusing the same setup and tool settings.  Tonight I felt like turning a wheel down to its final dimensions so I did.  I had previously completed the center hole drill, bore, and ream as well as facing to the appropriate width and turning the outer dimension.  Before I did all of that the rough wheel casting looked like this:

Each Shay wheel is approximately 4″ in diameter.  This is what the wheel looked like when I started this evening.  I had to also create a stub axle to mount the wheel .  It is important that once the wheel is mounted to complete all turning before removing the wheel as it is impossible to mount it exactly the same again.

2 and a half hours later I had the wheel turned.  The tread is at a 2 degree angle and the flange has 10 degree slopes on the sides which is quite time consuming.  There are these things called IBLS wheel standards that must be followed in order to run on club track.  Fun little things like the flange maximum width is .156, flange depth .187, and the radius between the tread and flange is .094 radius plus or minus .015.  Lots of calculating and checking to make sure you have a legal wheel.  I am pretty sure I hit the standards but I might be close on the radius.

The final step was to round the flange and front edge with a file.  I am sure my next one will go much faster.