New parts

Hi Everyone

A while back I designed a few parts that I required for the replica ordinary and put my high school tech drawing skills to good use and drew up several detailed drawings of the parts that I required. I then posted off the drawings to my customer in Tokyo whose mate owns an engineering shop for him to machine the parts. Just the other day he sent me some photos of the parts I had designed and soon the parts will be sent back to Niigata so I can continue building again.

First up is the front wheel bearing housing to fork blade connector. The reason I had this part machined from it's original form was so it looks the part when connected to the fork blades that I am going to use. I have some fantastic fork blades and the bearing to fork connector will be shaped to fit inside the bottom of the fork legs and welded in place. They are nice and long will give added strength to this part once welded together, plus they will look similar to the style used in the late 1880s.

Another part that needed to be re made was the adjustable steering head bolt. There was nothing wrong with the one that was supplied with the steering head but once I cleaned up the welding from around the top of the steering pin and yoke the bolt was too short so that's why a longer one was needed to be manufactured. The new one unlike the old one is one made from one piece of steel rather than having the nut brazed to the top.

Another part is the steering yoke steel half rounds , of course nobody will see these as they are inside the top of the backbone on either side of the yoke but they are very important in adding to the strength of the backbone to the steering yoke. Many home builders have not bothered to add such a solid support to the connecting area between the backbone and the yoke and as a result this is where the backbone is damaged or bent. After all the entire weight of the rider puts a lot of stress on this section and it's the main part that holds the frame to the front forks so why not make it as strong as possible. The half rounds will be welded to both sides of the yoke with the overall diameter matching the internal diameter of the backbone then with a couple of holes drilled into the side of the backbone the area will be welded together plus they will be welded from the front and then finished to give a smooth appearance. Sounds like a lot of work , yes it is but worth the effort !.

One other part that I designed was the slotted adjustable cranks, I always wanted to make a nice pair of slotted adjustable cranks and after drawing up a traditional design I then had a New Zealand company laser cut them from 20mm steel plate and the engineer in Tokyo has drilled the axle hole and the cotter pin hole and tapered the back of the cranks to give it a traditional shape. The pedals that are attached to the cranks are a fantastic set of replica Victor ball bearing ordinary pedals made by Victory bicycles in Florida , USA. The cranks should look fantastic once cleaned up and nickel plated. It would have been very simple to use standard cotter cranks from an older bicycle but the main aim of this build is to make it traditional as possible. Therefore that's why I'm taking the time to make every part as authentic as I can as I know the end result will be worth all the hard work.

Pictured above are a few photos showing the parts that have been made.