Brake skimming

Its outside of your area, but I have twice used Supreme Motorcycles of Earl Shilton. Both times Iv been happy with the result. The front brake on my BSA WM20 is really powerfull ( relativly speaking)

Hi,

I don't mean to teach my grandma to suck eggs, but find a place that can skim the drum with the rim ON, as it is pointless trueing a bare hub, then building a wheel on to it, and pulling it out of round, I know it's obvious when you know, but people still do it.

Good luck,

cheers,

Niall

Previously David Cooper wrote:

The very experienced racing bike etc wheel builder who gave a talk to Surrey Branch last Autumn said he'd never had to have a wheel re-skimmed after a rebuild and that out-of-round following rebuilding a wheel probably only affects lightweight bikes with pressed steel drums

I have had hubs go oval several times after being built none of them were lightweight maybe i have been unlucky regards nick

Hi John, try Kevin at Heritage Motorcycles Marks Tey (01206 211954). He has a website if you want to have a look. He specialises in Triumphs but I'm sure he could get this done for you.

emery cloth wrapped around the brake shoes works well i clamp the wheel spindle in my vice then i use the chuck on my pilla drill to drive the tyre and with a piece of studding and a nut adjuster i gently tighten the nut wilst holding a dummy torque bar to stop the brake plate from turning you can feel and hear the emery taking off the high spots until eventually you hear a cotinuous hiss and the brake becomes perfectly smooth and works much better i have used this method many times with no problems regards nick

Previously nicholas_marshall wrote:

emery cloth wrapped around the brake shoes works well i clamp the wheel spindle in my vice then i use the chuck on my pilla drill to drive the tyre and with a piece of studding and a nut adjuster i gently tighten the nut wilst holding a dummy torque bar to stop the brake plate from turning you can feel and hear the emery taking off the high spots until eventually you hear a cotinuous hiss and the brake becomes perfectly smooth and works much better i have used this method many times with no problems regards nick

Yes I've used a similar method, spindle in the vice upright, holding an old brake shoe against the drum whilst spinning the wheel by hand. I use double-sided carpet tape to attach the emery to the shoe, and coat the inside of the drum with engineers blue before I start. When the blue has all gone, you're good to go.

Previously Chris Grimmett wrote:

Previously martin_rowe wrote:

Yes I've used a similar method, spindle in the vice upright, holding an old brake shoe against the drum whilst spinning the wheel by hand. I use double-sided carpet tape to attach the emery to the shoe, and coat the inside of the drum with engineers blue before I start. When the blue has all gone, you're good to go.

Good to stop, surely. [Sorry, I couldn't resist it!]

Anyway, I'm going to try this one as it was new to me.

Ha ha! Yes it's a bit of a workout but I can assure you it works. A beer break halfway through helps.

If you don't know what you're doing then don't try skimming a drum yourself. I thought that I had sufficient knowledgeable assistance, the proper tooling, and followed what seemed to be the correct procedure.

The tragedy is that it only had a bit of surface rust and some light scoring and I wanted the brake to be 100%. I should have left it alone.

The drum began to ring like a bell as soon as the tool touched it and dragged it straight into the surface. A lesson learned. Enthusiastic amateurs can't always do everything they put their mind to...

Previously martin_rowe wrote:

Previously Chris Grimmett wrote:

Previously martin_rowe wrote:

Yes I've used a similar method, spindle in the vice upright, holding an old brake shoe against the drum whilst spinning the wheel by hand. I use double-sided carpet tape to attach the emery to the shoe, and coat the inside of the drum with engineers blue before I start. When the blue has all gone, you're good to go.

Good to stop, surely. [Sorry, I couldn't resist it!]

Anyway, I'm going to try this one as it was new to me.

Ha ha! Yes it's a bit of a workout but I can assure you it works. A beer break halfway through helps.

Dont mind a beer break but i let my drill do the work i cut the emery cloth a little wider than the shoe and retain it using the brake cam itself i use very fine adjustments on the nut the only effort is holding the bar to stop the brake plate revolving! a couple of years back my BSA failed its MOT on the rear brake being oval i took it home skimmed the brake and returned a couple of hours later to the amazement of the MOT tester and it passed regards nick

Previously richard_payne wrote:

If you don't know what you're doing then don't try skimming a drum yourself. I thought that I had sufficient knowledgeable assistance, the proper tooling, and followed what seemed to be the correct procedure.

The tragedy is that it only had a bit of surface rust and some light scoring and I wanted the brake to be 100%. I should have left it alone.

The drum began to ring like a bell as soon as the tool touched it and dragged it straight into the surface. A lesson learned. Enthusiastic amateurs can't always do everything they put their mind to...

an old toolmaker told me if you get ringing like this you should tie rag around the outside soaked in water and it will stop it resonating! regards nick

That sounds like a good idea, Nicholas. I think that it was the resonance that did for it.

The drum was pressed onto a mandrel and well supported. I had thought that a detachable drum would be straightforward but it seems that a built up wheel might be less of a problem, assuming the lathe is big enough.