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Message started by stamper on 04/26/12 at 23:39:34

Title: Straighten Bent Clutch/Break Lever
Post by stamper on 04/26/12 at 23:39:34

1) First buy a new one, no trick is fool proof. If you are successful you have a spare. If not, you can still ride and wait for the next bender.
2) Rub the area of the bend with a wet piece of soap.
3) Heat the lever on a gas burner until the soap is shiny dark brown/ black. This is to soften the duraluminium. (or duralumin if you say so)
4) Throw it in a bucket of cold water.
5) Use a plastic, or hard rubber hammer on a trunk of wood or a block of lead to straighten it back in shape. Or bend it back in a vice. Or both.
6) The hardness will return after some days but the soft lever is strong enough to use.

I have bent one lever 3 times back to the original shape.

I shaped dural sheet by hand in my profession and the day began with softening it as above. I have no idea what the science behind it is, but it just works.

I hope you do not crash your precious thumper and bend the ears, but in case you do, good luck.

Title: Re: Straighten Bent Clutch/Break Lever
Post by verslagen1 on 04/26/12 at 23:53:48

neat trick to tell when the lever is hot enough to be annealed.
aluminum hardens at room temperature.
takes about a week to get to what is called T4
when we send out a sheet of aluminum to be annealed, it has to be returned on ice or it'll harden.

Title: Re: Straighten Bent Clutch/Break Lever
Post by stamper on 04/27/12 at 22:24:55

Dear Verslagen,

The other trick is to heat the dural and write on it with a matchstick
( the wood) If the temp is ok, it will leave a black trail. The soap trick is easier. Use the matchstick if you do not have soap.
(but who does not have a bar of soap in this forum? :-[)

I make limb prostheses for a living and 40 years ago, many where still made from alumininum. The socket was cut out of a sheet, bended into a pipe , riveted and then the shape made with hammers on metal bars or lead. Steel hammers to stretch and hard rubber to shrink. Thank god for plastic, the noise was unbearable. Just wondering why you still need annealed aluminium.

Wondering as well about your name! I am Dutch and verslagen sounds Dutch and means beaten (as in lost). (My name is peter poetsma).

If we have dural bars that are to soft, we keep them in the oven used daily around 200C and after several days they become harder.
I was told that the repeated slow cooling and heating changes the structure to becomes harder.

Its a pleasure to be part of the forum. lots to share and more to learn.
And just because I got me a S40. Good deal!

Went today to pick-up my saddle bags and saddle cushion by the local (horse) saddle maker. Now fiddling a way to keep them from touching the backwheel.

Greetings from Managua

Regards

Stamper (thats Dutch for thumper)

Title: Re: Straighten Bent Clutch/Break Lever
Post by verslagen1 on 04/27/12 at 23:11:38

stamper = thumper 8-) ;D

I'm an aerospace engineer
we make high pressure, high temp aircraft ducting.
as well as various things for all sorts of things.
the tubes are made from sheet too.
huge presses that push sheet stock into platens of rubber.
two guys move the sheet along till it's a tube

I worked with an old german guy, every morning we'd exchange greetings
and his reply was "verslagena, terrible thank you"
initially, I figured that was similar to howlee or gringo in german.
He "called" me enough by that, I adopted it. and to him it meant terrible.
Like many words, it has multiple meanings, somewhere else it means report as well as beaten.
The multiple meanings fits my mood most of the time.

Title: Re: Straighten Bent Clutch/Break Lever
Post by Serowbot on 04/28/12 at 08:46:23

This is great!... I can't wait to try it...

No,.. wait a minute... I can wait... :-?...

Title: Re: Straighten Bent Clutch/Break Lever
Post by stamper on 06/14/12 at 22:55:20

Hi Verslagen,

Indeed, verslagen is as well the plural of verslag what means report in Dutch. Not much used but correct.
Someone asked me by PM why to put the lever in the cold water before bending. (Chris) I know but cannot (Error: You are only allowed to send Personal Messages if you've reached a post count of 10!)
Kury77 (Chris) wants to know. he wants to bend them closer to the bar.

Just fixed a crashbar and windscreen on the bike, super!!!

Title: Re: Straighten Bent Clutch/Break Lever
Post by stamper on 06/14/12 at 23:03:07

Sorry, I realize i can answer here.

dear kury77 (chris), after heating, you have to quench it in cold water to make/keep it soft.

regards,

peter

Title: Re: Straighten Bent Clutch/Break Lever
Post by kuri77 on 06/16/12 at 17:17:12

Thanks Stamper but it kind of goes against what one would think in that cooling it off would make it harder again not keep it soft. Not arguing just saying that's why I PMed you.
Bought a spare in case, so will try your method out next week.

Title: Re: Straighten Bent Clutch/Break Lever
Post by stamper on 06/17/12 at 18:10:23

Hi Kury77,

For copper and aluminium: after heating and quenching it will be soft for some time.

Steel is different.

Success

peter