Sunday, September 9, 2012

Lathe 2.0

I've been looking everywhere for a Pre-Unit front wheel bearing sleeve/spacer (part #37-0761) for my '61. Sourcing some Pre-Unit parts has gotten a lot more challenging since Keith Moore passed away. Having a lathe does however open a door or two. Sourcing 1" cold rolled stock on a weekend is apparently the new problem. The big end is actually 1.0625" so not even 1" stock would work. I worked around that. I found a 1" x 8" bolt at Ace Hardware. The sleeve I "borrowed" as a pattern from English Stephen's parts stash is on the right (Shhh, don't tell him).



Fast forward a few hours... My shiny new part #37-0761 is on the left. What-do-you-know. I did learn something at Highland High School after all.



If I ever start building bikes for a living I just jumped from $2.00 and hour to about $1.25 once you factor in my rusty machinist chops and cleanup time.



That said, the added capability is priceless. It's cool to finally make a part that doesn't has some obvious flaw like you get making crap with hacksaws and files. Hell, it was kinda fun. Thanks again Mike!

4 comments:

english stephen said...

I'm impressed - that is fantastic!

Flathead45 said...

Looks like you're better at it than I am. You will have to give me some lessons...

BitMonkey said...

Judging by the bezel you made for my '51 I'm not sure I buy it. That piece is the raddest.

Vorhese said...

rad

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