18 Wheels Of Steel Pedal To The Metal

[Barb Frison]

Oneday during his teen years, a car that ran a stop sign destroyed his bike, and almost destroyed Shafer. While he was in the hospital recovering from a skull fracture, Shafer started wheeling and dealing for a loan to get another bike.

As the sport progressed, and steel held its own, Salsa quickly became a go-to destination for serious off-roaders, among them Peter Gabriel and some of his band members. In 1987, Shafer began sponsoring the first ever all-women mountain bike racing team, and Salsa became an official supplier of stems for the U.S. Olympic time-trial squad.

While artisans everywhere dream about such a golden age, Shafer keeps exploring his own frontiers. With each new piece of his custom pedal steel, he finds ways to better isolate string vibration; to give the instrument added resonance; and, of course, to improve its sheer physical beauty.

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your profile join preferences help search next newest topic next oldest topicAuthorTopic: Chrome PlatingRick Collins

Member From: Claremont , CA USAposted 29 November 2006 08:57 AM profile Knowing very well that price is relative, compared to polishing is chrome plating aluminum much more costly?Many thanks, R.C.Curt Langston

Member From: ***In the shadows of Tulsa at Bixby, USA***posted 29 November 2006 10:03 AM profile Rick, I used to work as a Journeyman Plater/Polisher. Let me tell you this: All things that are chrome plated MUST be polished to a mirror finish. Most folks do not know that the chrome plating itself, must have a brilliant surface to cling to. Otherwise it will look gray and dull, sort of like silver spray paint from a can. Aluminum cannot be chrome plated. It can however be polished and buffed to a brilliant luster. Or anodized. (like the coloring on GFI guitars)Same thing for stainless steel, except it cannot be anodized, just buffed brilliant. Plating uses a rectifier to electro-plate metal. The items to be plated are hung on copper rods with copper hooks, then suspended in a copper, then nickel solution with an opposite charge. Most chrome shops do triple plate(copper, nickel and chrome) The final plate(chrome) is very hard and thin. The silver mirror finish is from the Nickel. Chrome acts as a sealer to keep the Nickel from tarnishing.

Needless to say most of the work and expense in chrome plating is in the polishing and buffing.[This message was edited by Curt Langston on 29 November 2006 at 10:04 AM.]

From: Fremont, Californiaposted 29 November 2006 10:54 AM profile Actually, I worked for a plating company back in the 80's, and they chrome plated aluminum all the time. As long as it was not a casting, but extruded. Curt is otherwise correct. Chrome plating would be more expensive than just a polish job because of the extra labor and material involved in plating. And the best chrome finishes come when after each metal that is applied to the material, you polish that metal to a mirror finish (i.e. after copper you polish, then after nickel you polish, after chrome you give a light polish).A. J. Schobert

Member From: Cincinnati OHIO WHO DEY???posted 29 November 2006 03:42 PM profile Rick you may want to do search for morcycle custom chrome those guys handle small parts and can get you a good chrome job. Maybe pick up a magazine and look in the adds, I myself I love powder coat it has the look of chrome but you can have a color. Donny Hinson

Member From: Balto., Md. U.S.A.posted 29 November 2006 03:57 PM profile quote:Aluminum cannot be chrome plated. Sorry Curt! That's not the case anymore. Chrome-plated aluminum is done all the time now. (The new MSA steels have all the aluminum chromed; end-plates, keyheads, changer housing, etc.) Even plastics are regularly plated today, and one of the newest technologies is doing rapid-prototypes (with laser-activated resins), and plating them to make ultra lightweight chassis and housings for electronic gear.Fred Shannon

Member From: Rocking "S" Ranch, Comancheria, Texasposted 29 November 2006 04:03 PM profile Donnie is certainly right about the MSA Millennium end plates. Both of mine are chromed and they're aluminum.PhredJim Sliff

Member From: Hermosa Beach California, USAposted 29 November 2006 05:25 PM profile Yep - that used to be true of aluminum but the process has changed, and chromed aluminum is very common.Scott Swartz

Member From: St. Louis, MOposted 29 November 2006 10:06 PM profile Ludwig was chroming Supraphonic snare drums back in the 60s (spun aluminum shell), pretty much every old one is pitted and flaking now if you check ebay. What about the process has changed to prevent this?Jim Sliff

Member From: Hermosa Beach California, USAposted 30 November 2006 05:42 AM profile I'm not sure what the new process is, but it has made a difference. I worked in plating back in the mid-70's and chrome was the nastiest, most dangerous of them all. It was also the hardest to control. I'd guess new technology and computer controls ovr parts of the operation are some of the changes, as there were critical timing and tank "reading" issues.Ray Minich

Member From: Limestone, New York, USAposted 30 November 2006 07:56 AM profile Silver plating is neat too, but the cyanide can leave a bad taste in your mouth...

Gold plating solution = 10 troy ounces per gallon...no wonder it's $$$$$.

Flocculant is not a dirty word![This message was edited by Ray Minich on 30 November 2006 at 07:59 AM.]

Waste containers, movable on wheels with a foot pedal to open the lid. Tough and durable, stainless steel or painted. With versions in different colors and the possibility of including more bags are needed for recycling.

If you are looking for a fun toy for your children or grandchildren, then vintage and antique pedal cars may be the perfect solution. There are even adult pedal cars, so you can join in the fun. Old pedal cars may also make a great conversation piece for your outdoor living space or your office.

Some antique and vintage pedal cars may have their name on the side of them. If the vintage pedal car that you are considering buying on eBay does not, then you can still get some important clues. Cars made before 1945 usually have more details than those produced of a single piece of metal after 1945. If the manufacturer made the old pedal car from plastic, they probably made it after 1970. Remember that most vintage pedal cars were molded after vehicles on the market, so that can be an important clue.

I ruined the threading in my crank arm, and would like to weld or braze it back on, instead of buying a new crank set. It is a cheap old bike, so the result does not have to be perfect, but it should be cheap and durable.

Pedal shaft: Steel, maybe even cast iron? I don't know how to tell the difference. It is definitely not aluminium. The material is stronger than the alu in the pedal arm, since the thread is intact. It looks sort of dirtyish / dark gray. Dark gray like some heavy parts in an engine which I believe are made from cast iron. Only slight rust despite a long life. Very far from the look of a stainless bolt.

Welding the pedal to the crank should NEVER be done. Pedal threads are oriented such that in the event of a pedal bearings becoming jammed the pedals will unscrew from the cranks rather than injure the rider. Severe injury is possible if the pedal jams while pedaling at a fast cadence or on a bike that does not have a freewheel or freehub body (e.g. fixed gear).

Note: I agree with commenters that the primary design reason was likely to allow mechanical precession to keep the threads tight during pedalling. The un-threading of a jammed pedal is likely a secondary design feature that may or may not been considered during the inclusion of a left-hand thread. The answer however is not trying to provide a history lesson, or in any way comment on the design history, rather it simply discusses what is lost by permanently fixing the pedal axle to the crank.

If you must repair rather than replace, a helicoil is the correct way to address the problem. A crank would be cheaper than the coil alone, let alone the time to fix it. Chemical bonding (AKA. Glue) is probably the only DIY solution.

Second hand cranks are readily available - I have a box of bit with at least 2 sets and an old bike with another if I needed it. Your LBS will probably have something for a few dollars. Visit you local rubbish tip/recycle center - I can almost guarantee they will have an old, unride-able bike with usable cranks.

It depends on your welding set-up and experience, but I wouldn't bother. Assuming the threads still engage a little bit, I'd get some hardcore epoxy resin (the sort that's specially designed for metal-on-metal; it often contains iron filings). Stuff the crank eye with it and screw the pedal in as far as it goes. Once it's gone off if should be good enough for rock n roll.

Either a helicoil or a replacement crank arm (or set) is a better choice. You local bike shop might have some compatible used cranksets they'd sell for cheap. Or look for some on your local internet flea market. The shops are getting in old bikes as trade ins all the time and might use the parts off those bikes for this kind of job. I'd replace the pedals too, otherwise you risk damaging the crank arm threads again. I think in the long run you'll be money ahead, have a more reliable and safer bike, by not trying to do this w/a patch-welding job. Think about it. The only problem you have is a a damaged hole in the crank arm. A faulty hole. That's not such a big problem, right? So that's what you need to focus on. Don't overcomplicate it.

Most bike petals come in 2 different thread sizes.Get a petal set that uses the larger thread and just use the harder than aluminum steel shaft of the petals to cut the new threads into the crank arm.Brute force simple and should outlast the bike unless you crack the aluminum.Just my 2 cents worth. Hope it helps.Oh yes, lots of thread cutting lubricant like you would use when cutting pipe threads.

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