Some comedic relief for you all.. folded lunacycle BBS02/HD wrench

neptronix

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When i first saw this wrench, i laughed because i knew it would fold somewhere near the middle..

Here's a fun picture from facebook..

 
Trying to make a business card with a tool, or vice versa...

The result is a bad tool, and even worse business card. :roll:
 
Curious - besides the photo, was there any description of what happened?

Looks like someone put in a vice and bent it.
 
I'll ask.

But consider that this is meant to torque a drive down hard.. so hard that it creates notches in an aluminum frame ( per the bbs02/HD's design ). If this was operated at an angle, it's no surprise that the fold happened on the letter 'L'.
 
i think like 25-35 ft/lbs is the range one would tighten a lockring. That would be lateral to the spinning direction of the ring. Cant even see how one could bend the wrench axial to the BB shell that far while tightening the lockring. The tool would have to slip off before it bent that far?
 
The poster has a BBSHD with 10,000 km on it and had to pull it to replace gears inside. He was probably battling rust and exerting quite a lot of force.
 
Fella says he built 10 bikes with it.
 
install enough bb units you run into angles frame tubes won’t allow straight wrench to engage the nut

one workaround is to make l shape into wrench so the handle clears frame obstructions

if that’s the case here not a very good job of reshaping the wrench but can understand why someone might attempt it
 
FWIW, I once had a cone wrench that had it's name cut into it like that...it lasted a long time, but eventually folded along a vertical line kinda like that along the L. (forget the name, something like VICT?) However, I wore out the flats of the wrench before that, so it had to be held just right to engage the cone nuts at all. :/ I think it was just too soft a steel (was stamped, and only something like 1/8" thick, just thick enough to fit in the cone nut flats).
 
Since ten bikes had been built using this particular wrench, it works as a general purpose BBSXX tool. There are also beefier sockets on the market, and for an obstinate subject, I'd definitely use the socket

Start with a good penetrating fluid. If you are in a pinch, I've also seen acetone and ATF 50/50% mix used Acetone is fingernail polish remover, ATF is automatic transmission fluid. Let the threads soak for a while.

I've broken bolts and studs in half that were rusted solid (back in the 1980's), by simply adding a long pipe to a stout wrench to get more leverage (Cheater bar). When I showed the senior mechanic, he soaked the rest of them and used an impact wrench, which worked well. There is something magical that I can't quite explain about the rapid slapping motion of an impact driver. Its the air-gun at tire shops that makes a machine-gun sound, rat-tat-tat-tat-tat. (here is a one-minute video)

https://youtu.be/EX-EmWAr-_w?t=30

It provides a dozen light taps per second instead of one big punch. Was the frame steel? was it aluminum? were the threads cross-threaded? Was there galling? Did the installer use locktite fluid?

If the inserted part is steel, and the shell is aluminum, a technique that is very helpful is to heat up the shell. Maybe not with a torch, but an electric heat gun (used for heat shrink wire insulation) couldn't hurt the heat-treat of the metal (do not anneal heat-treated aluminum). Aluminum expands more than steel, so warming the aluminum shell just before you wrench on the inserted part can be very helpful.

The dogbone wrench shown above is handy (flatten it, and you could still use it), but if you are building ten ebikes, I recommend you also buy the socket and use a 1/2-inch drive impact gun for removals. Soak with penetrant fluid, and always start on the lowest setting and raise it until the locking-ring comes loose.
 
neptronix said:
Fella says he built 10 bikes with it.

Wow, used 10 times before it failed! So it's like one of those tools that comes with flat-pack Ikea furniture, then. Only you have to pay extra for it.

Seems like they didn't make up their minds whether it was a functional tool or a promotional item. For what it's worth, promotional items are usually given away for free.

Maybe the company that furnishes motor kits running at double the manufacturer's power rating is just doing the same thing with their tool-- making a wrench rated for half the fastener torque required.
 
It was used for ten installations and appears like it should be used prudently, which it wasn't, obviously. Stainless steel is adequate in the application if it's utilized in a manner where only shear force is applied to it. I've used a "hook-type" wrench with the same thickness for 10 or so applications and it functions fine.
 
2old said:
I've used a "hook-type" wrench with the same thickness for 10 or so applications and it functions fine.

Did you cut weakening holes into it before using it? :mrgreen:
 
2old said:
Stainless steel is adequate in the application if it's utilized in a manner where only shear force is applied to it.

Ha! I missed that it was made out of stainless. Gee, I wonder why not a single one of the hundreds of tools I use in the bike shop is made from stainless steel? Must be a coincidence. And why stainless anyway? Clearly they could have used zinc or nylon or Masonite to get this elite level of performance.

I think whoever thought up this wrench should stick to bottle openers.
 
neptronix said:
2old said:
I've used a "hook-type" wrench with the same thickness for 10 or so applications and it functions fine.

Did you cut weakening holes into it before using it? :mrgreen:

Didn't need to :); BTW, the "shaft" is only 3/4" wide on mine. Also, it cost $35, twice as much as the Luna (purchased before Luna's was available). For < $20 the Luna tool is adequate for a home mechanic, not a shop tool.
 
spinningmagnets said:
There is something magical that I can't quite explain about the rapid slapping motion of an impact driver.
It's similar (for a different reason) to using a tap or die to create or clear threads, where you have to keep backing off and going forward, repeatedly, or else risk breaking the tap or the object in the die.
 
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