[pjc50]

Wheels are one thing, axles and their bearings and lubrication are another.

> take a large piece of wood and whittle away until you have a wheel

This does not resemble the actual construction of any but the smallest wooden wheel for toys.

[fastball]

You don't think this is how they built the original wheels?

[pjc50]

I'd prefer to rely on archaeological evidence rather than retroactive first principles; for example http://www.culture24.org.uk/history-and-heritage/archaeology... which shows a panelized wheel. I see SciAm have an article on the difficulties of a useful wheel too: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-it-took-so-lo...