I always fancied a traditional helm for my boat April Love, so when I saw this decrepid old wheel in a scrap yard, I haggled and bought it for £4. After checking that it fitted my tapered Morse steering shaft, I set about stripping off and discarding the wooden fittings. (pics 1 & 2)

Next I scraped and picked at the peeling black enamel until it was all removed. (pic 3)

I tore strips off sheets of emery paper, grades ranging from medium to very fine, and spent hours sanding the alloy casting, finishing off with an old leather belt soaked in metal polish. (pic 4)

I rummaged around in the garage until I found a discarded table leg made of lovely beech wood. From this I was able to turn 5 new handles. (pics 5 & 6)

An old oak drawer provided a block from which I made the centre, and the fancy drawer knob became the bezel, after some polishing. All the wooden parts then received 4 coats of varnish. (pic 7)

Picture 8 shows the helm fitted, just in time for Christmas