Re: [CR]RE: wood rim brake shoes

(Example: Framebuilders:Rene Herse)

Date: Tue, 24 Jun 2003 10:31:12 -0400
From: "jamie swan" <jswan@optonline.net>
Subject: Re: [CR]RE: wood rim brake shoes
To: scott davis <francopedia@yahoo.com>
References: <20030624140906.12207.qmail@web13705.mail.yahoo.com>
x-mac-creator=4D4F5353
cc: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org

Speaking of woodies; it occurred to me to make my own. The modern (relative term) ones appear to be made of 3 laminations with scarf joints staggered at 120 degrees. I would guess that they are made from ash but other hard woods might be more appropriate. Larry Osborn: you got an opinion on this? It would involve making a fixture to glue up the layers and another fixture to act as a chuck to hold the rim on the out board end of my wood lathe to clean it up and make the correct profile. I think West System epoxy that boat builders use would be the adhesive of choice. Drilling the spoke holes needs to be done with a fairly high degree of accuracy. I can think of several ways to handle this...

Any opinions, suggestions etc.?

Jamie Swan - Northport, N.Y.

scott davis wrote:
> Some of the early bread-loaf shaped Uni brake pads,
> seem to have fibers (as if made from "recycled car
> tires") and some don't. I've also seen pads made from
> cork. Maybe this was due to necessity rather than
> design as rubber was in short supply during the war
> years????
>
> Since wood and alloy rims were both used in the 30s
> and 40s I'm not sure if the pads were designed to
> brake better on wood or if they were simply the only
> brake pad available at the time.
>
> I would guess that softer pads, such as cork, would be
> gentler on the wood surface. Anyone know if softer
> pads stop better than hard? Ride Woodies! Scott in
> St. Paul MN
>
> TheMaaslands@comcast.net writes:
> > > I don't think there was any special attention
> > given to wood rims
> > > instead of alloy or steel ones.
> > >
> >
> > In a discussion with Scott Davis about Universal
> > Mod. 49 (?) brakes, I got
> > the distinct impression that there was a different
> > pad for wood rims. I don't
> > claim to know the answer (because I don't) but it
> > seems likely that a different
> > pad would be necessary to work on a varnished rim
> > than on an aluminum one.
> > Even if you didn't revarnish and you ran the bare
> > wood, the coefficient of
> > friction between the two materials is quite
> > different. Presuming the enthusiasts of
> > old were as off the deep end as we are, it would
> > make sense that the guys who
> > used wood rims would have figured out the brake pad
> > thing.
> > Stevan Thomas
> > Alameda, CA
> >
>
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