I see that some are interested. Here's how I did it. First, I ordered a black "jumbo"-sized pool noodle on Amazon. This is 3.5 inches in diameter, which is bigger than your standard department store pool noodle. These have one-inch holes in the "center". A standard wine cork is only about 15/16 inch in diameter. So I also ordered some #10 (1-inch diameter) over-sized wine corks from here:
https://eckraus.com/10-straight-corks-superior-grade-12-count/
I used some styrene tubing from the hobby shop to line the axle holes that I drilled out. One could also use hollow cylindrical coffee stir sticks if they had them.
First I cut the cork to the width I wanted the wheel to be. I used a forstner bit on my drill press to drill a 1-inch hole in a two by four the exact depth I wanted for the width of my wheel (7/8 inches). Then I just dropped the cork in the hole I drilled and cut the top off flush with a thin hand saw. A tooth pick or straight pin can be used to fish the cork back out of the hole.
To slice a piece of pool noodle to the correct width. Set the cork on a work bench upright like a can of beans sitting on a cupboard shelf. Lay a razor blade flat on top to the cork so that it over hangs the side of the cork by 3/4 inch or so. Pin the blade in place by holding downward pressure on it with your finger. Stand the pool noodle on end on the work bench next to the cork. Bring the pool noodle in this position into the razor blade. rotate the pool noodle so that the blade makes a slice completely around the pool noodle at the exact height of the cork. The blade will not completely cut to the center of the noodle so finish the cut with a bread knife using the slice you made with the razor blade as a guide for your knife.
Glue the cork into the noodle by smearing the outside of the cork in hot glue. Spread the glue evenly on the outside of the cork with a scrap of foam or cardboard. Let the glue cool a bit so it is still soft and sticky but won't melt the foam of the pool noodle. Open the hole in the pool noodle wide with your fingers and set the cork in it without allowing all the glue to be squeezed out one side.
Measure the center of the cork-noodle wheel carefully. The center is not likely to be the center of the cork because pool noodles do not usually have perfectly centered holes. Drill the appropriate size hole in the exact center of the wheel. Line the axle hole by inserting a piece of bushing material like a plastic tube. Use super glue around the outside of each axle hole to hold the bushing material in place.
Don't worry if you mess a few up because you still have a lot of pool noodle and corks left to try again.