Getting back into cycling

[otto_kretschmer]

Got the forks painted again. The tire fits without rubbing so I'm ready to put the bike on the road except I can't find the locknut for the headset.

Its laying around somewhere. I'm having one of those senior moments but if I can't find it I may just make one on the lathe. The threads are 1x24 so that shouldn't be a problem.

[otto_kretschmer]

I found the locknut. For a long time I've wanted to try sand casting so this is a good excuse to experiment and the only way to learn is to try it.



I got a Folgers can full of brass scrap; 22 cartridge casings, old VW valve guides, and bits of plumbing. A bag of play sand from Home Depot and a jug of kitty litter.

[otto_kretschmer]

I'm just winging it. I took about a cup of kitty litter and crushed it into a powder and mixed it with a amount of sand. I added enough water to make it damp and tamped it around that bit of brass round bar that I used as a form. The mold is sitting outside drying. I don't want any moister in it when I do the pour.

Going to do the melt tomorrow.

[otto_kretschmer]

progress



Did not burn the shop down

[otto_kretschmer]

dum dee dum..

didn't catch on fire

no steam explosions so my mold was dry enough



lessons learned

need finer sand, and more kitty litter or some other, more effective binder

[otto_kretschmer]

I now have a lump of brass that I can work on.

[sc_rufctr]

Damn Otto... Wow, cool

[otto_kretschmer]

Originally Posted by sc_rufctr

Damn Otto... Wow, cool

I was really wondering if this was a good idea today...

My brother made a set of tongs out of rebar to move the iron pipe cap that I used for a crucible. The cap was glowing cherry red. Its his furnace so he did most of the work.

Iron glows cherry red at 1900 F and brass melts at 1700 F so that was my touchstone on the temps inside.

I wore a long sleeve shirt and my steel toe boots and gloves.. just in case I had to do something if something went haywire.

[sc_rufctr]

Jobst, Peter Johnson and Tom Ritchey, Star Hill Rd, Santa Cruz Mountains, 1982

(I was 17 when this photo was taken)

[jim72911t]

Originally Posted by sc_rufctr

Jobst, Peter Johnson and Tom Ritchey, Star Hill Rd, Santa Cruz Mountains, 1982

(I was 17 when this photo was taken)

Look at the headtube on that frame!

[otto_kretschmer]

I skipped a pic of my first cut on the diameter and the drilling and tapping the center hole. Here I'm cutting the flats. I've never done this before so I made a few mistakes but nothing big enough to have to start over.

[otto_kretschmer]

Back on the lathe. Now I get to teach myself how to cut threads.

[otto_kretschmer]

I got a new skill under my belt. Thats always a nice thing. I had some aluminum round bar stock with a slot laying around so I cut off a half inch to experiment with. I may as well make a nut out of aluminum now that I have the threads cut.

[flatbutt]

Nice work Otto. You guys make me feel so unskilled.

[otto_kretschmer]

There is a lot of good "how to" vids on youtube. When my door handle broke on my Suburban I found a step by step guide on how to fix it on Youtube.

[otto_kretschmer]

Finished the aluminum locknut. It works as good as the original Shimano 105 locknut I have.

Its time to put the 4 jaw chuck back in the lathe and finish the brass part.

[rwest]

Originally Posted by otto_kretschmer

Finished the aluminum locknut. It works as good as the original Shimano 105 locknut I have.

Nice work!

[sc_rufctr]

Just because (not my photo or bike).

[sc_rufctr]

Otto... Trust me champ. You'll like this.

[otto_kretschmer]

Finally took the new to me Green Gilmour out for a ride. Its bee sitting around the living room for a while. I rode it to coffee once and had some problems. Those got fixed; bars too narrow and stem too long.

The weather was perfect. The only thing left is I need to get decals. It rides nice. Not like a new modern carbon fiber bike with electronic shifting and disc brakes but still pleasant. I have 32mm tires so there is something to take the bumps.