Hellebore + How do you refinish it

[Nash Bap <nashbap@domain.elided>]

Hello:

My 1975 Montreal came with a Hellebore steering wheel with silver spokes and the horn tabs in each spoke.

I am hoping that somebody has experience in refinishing the wheel. Mine has a couple of cracks that run circumferentially in the rim about 1/16 inch wide. I also find that if I press really hard I can close the gaps a bit. While I am reasonably familiar with restoring wood I am not sure about how to handle the cracks. Should one fill the cracks with some sort of adhesive first and then apply wood filler or will wood filler alone work.

Also, why do these crack in the first place? Is this where the joint was when the wheel is manufactured? Anybody know how wooden wheels are manufactured? There must be a metal rim inside , so how is the wood placed on it?

Any insight would be appreciated. Thanks.

Regards,

Nash Bapasola

1975 Montreal,1981 GTV6
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