Pedal to the Metal!

Often I try to make handles that are related to the theme of the automata i'm making.  Of course the things you need to consider are that the handle needs to be a skinny piece when finished. Lately the last couple of projects have been a more simple wooden handle. I guess my imagination took a COVID vacation!

So for the current chicken on a unicycle I decided to make a unicycle pedal for the handle. I decided to use brass to build a sturdy pedal as I wanted it to rotate when the handle was turned. The photo below shows the pedal in construction. A 1/8" brass tube with two 1/4" brass strips were soldered together. The pedals are pieces of maple 1" x 1/4" x 1/4".  I drilled a small hole through the brass endplate into the maple on each end and soldered a small brass pin in  to hold the maple in place. I didn't feel glue alone would be sufficient over the long term with the stress the pedal might be under. I ground the extra pin and solder off the ends. I then did a little pyrography to to put treads on the maple and painted it all.

Here is the finished pedal in place!