Hi Everyone,
I am shortly going to be making new fork spindles for my Douglas 2 3/4hp project build, which is fitted with the earlier (pre-1919?) type forks.
I shall probably make them from Stainless 316T (as used by many of the Vincent parts people for fork spindles), and will probably end up writing the CNC programs to make them on our CNC lathe.
The spindles I am using as patterns are original Douglas items fitted to a very original set of forks that came with my bike. Although unrestored and seized up when I got them, most parts looked like they may have been the original Douglas items - lovely time warp stuff, but there was some wear on the spindles and links. Because of the wear on both spindles and blades/yokes, I will make oversize spindles and have reamed the yokes to 11.5m (the original spindles were 7/16" which equates to 11.11mm, so the oversize is approx 0.4mm) - reaming the original yokes was a relatively simple process and the amount of metal removed was minimal, but they look much better for doing so.
Likewise I can see the curved links also have some wear to the holes, so may also make the lipped part of the spindle before the thread a similar oversize to account for this. I should also be making the castellated nuts in stainless as well as cross boring spindles for the split pins. I will make threads 5/16 BSC and use Whitworth hex stainless.
If enough interest I may make a larger batch, which I will offer from our website. If you think you may be interested in a set (or have interest but need variations) then please let me know in the next 4 weeks - my normal email is paul.norman@racingvincent.co.uk
Best wishes
Paul
www.RacingNorton.co.uk and
www.RacingVincent.co.uk
