El Cheapo Left Hand Drive Freewheel!

[Dee Jay]

I'm back! At ease, gents. :wink: No need to stand up for little ole' me. Please have a seat.

I've been lurking and did a quick search to see if anyone else had already discovered this cool little secret here on ES but I think not so I thought I'd share it

check this out, I just found that the cheapo generic rear hubs that accepts brake drums fits generic single speed freewheels that are threaded from one side all the way through the other side, which means you can have a motor drive a freewheel on the left hand side without elaborate freewheel hacks or buy expensive specialized hubs. You simply screw in the freewheel on its opposite side.

Of course, their threads tightens in the wrong direction so the freewheel will simply unscrew off under load but the hub and freewheel are steel and they're so inexpensive so you can simply weld them together! *twisting my left nipple* :lol:

And I have another idea: an add-on cog that will bolt on to the single speed freewheel to convert it to over-sized cogs when using high speed motors such as RC motors, but this may require some precise machining, if not pricey laser cutting.

If these ideas had already been done or you have better ideas, please let me know. Thanks!

 

[AussieJester]

You've nicked neptronix's avatar well....nearly

KiM

 

[neptronix]

Hehe, i think he actually had his avatar first.. I could be the knicker..

No worries

Interesting concept by the way.

 

[Dee Jay]

"Often imitated but never duplicated, rrrrraah!" ~some rap song~ 8)

Waddup Aussie, good to see you.

it's all good neptronix, you're just gonna have to pay royalties via paypal, ha ha!

 

[spinningmagnets]

I think this is a great find. So far I don't know of anyone who has secured a RH-thread freewheel in a way that I like, to keep it from unscrewing from the left side of a flip-flop hub. The drum brake hub is a great additional option. I think there must be several ways to secure a RH freewheel on the left with either a keyway, set screws, or some other way.

I've heard that most FWs are hardenend, and the $100 Eno could be splined because the inner part is not hardenend. I think it would not too difficult to file two slots into the ID of the more affordable hardenend FWs for the key...

 

[liveforphysics]

Hey! Great to see you Dee Jay!

I love this idea! Like a stoke-monkey in a box!

 

[Dee Jay]

secure a RH freewheel on the left with either a keyway, set screws, or some other way.

glad you found it useful! a keyway is a good idea maybe even 3 or 4 keyways

 

[Dee Jay]

Hey! Great to see you Dee Jay!

I love this idea! Like a stoke-monkey in a box!

hey there, Luke!

I need to catch up on what you ES sorcerers been hacking together these days! Not that I'll understand most of it but whatever he he!

 

[liveforphysics]

Hey! Great to see you Dee Jay!

I love this idea! Like a stoke-monkey in a box!

hey there, Luke!

I need to catch up on what you ES sorcerers been hacking together these days! Not that I'll understand most of it but whatever he he!

This will get you up to date.
[youtube]FJsMDsT8siU[/youtube]

 

[Dee Jay]

This will get you up to date.

Agni on a BMX frame? Scary stuff, as always!

*BGL* (gut busting laughter) For a hot second I thought he was gonna do a full on backflip ! :lol:

Nice one, dude :lol:

 

[John in CR]

SpinningMags,

I've got 10k miles on a RH freewheel screwed on the left side and secured only with epoxy. It's so worn that it's silent at any distance greater than a foot.

 

[spinningmagnets]

Thanks, John, thats very encouraging. I'm looking at a mid-power build next, so epoxy may just be the ticket for me. I've had good luck with JB-Weld in the past.

 

[Dee Jay]

Hi John, how 'bout them CostaRican girls that are just dying to meetchoo! :wink:

screwed on the left side and secured only with epoxy.

Cool, I'll try epoxy, too. Doesn't epoxy melt at a certain temp? It would be nice to be able to remove the freewheel when needed.

 

[amberwolf]

If you use keyways and keys, with longer keys than will fully fit in the keyway, you could still remove the FW by pulling out the keys and then unscrewing it normally. (plus the key will keep it from tightening up so much that you can't undo it basically by hand).

If you can't use longer keys for any reason, then you could just drill a hole in the back of the hub's flange up to the keyway's end, so you can knock the key out with something from the back.


The keyways can be cut with a dremel and/or filed out square, and the keys can be made from any good hard steel, preferably already squared. Since they are really small, you could even do a bit of hardening yourself with just a relatively small hot torch (probalby simple propane would work). Thud or others that do this stuff could tell you for sure.

Or you can use keys from other things if you have stuff that already has small enough ones for the purpose. That's kinda what I plan on doing when I run across the need for this, as I have a couple out of an old car A/C clutch unit, which ought to be small enough to fit in a keyway filed into a freewheel and hub.

 

[Dee Jay]

The keyways can be cut with a dremel

Hey waddup Amberwolf!

Thanks for the input. But me being "me" (a lazy bastard), going the path of least resistance is the Dee Jay thing to do. At least until I can splurge on a nice dremel! So far, I only have two reasons to get a dermel, to make the keyways and to grind off the tamper proof screw heads on my Atari Pong II console. I need maybe just one more reason :lol:

 

[amberwolf]

Cutting frayed ends on shifter and brake cables, so that they don't fray more and thread really easy thru housings, is another really good use for a Dremel. (cutters seem to always pinch them and leave pointy corners or pokey wires that catch on the housings and make them come apart by the time you get all the way thru a long housing).


But you can do it all with a square or triangular file, instead of a Dremel--it's just a lot more work. :lol:

 

[Dee Jay]

OR I can hook a teaspoon to my new dremel and stir the shit out of my morning coffee BOOYA!

HA HA!

As for frayed cables, I believe you can solder the cable before you cut it to get a clean cut. I think I did this a long time ago but can't remember the result.. Maybe I only thought about doing it but never did, *brain fart* HA HA!

[youtube]XaNuB52_Irc[/youtube]

 

[amberwolf]

I've only once gotten solder to stick to the cable without getting it so hot that it stretched easier afterward, and even then the end still cut like a wire does--with the pointy little sides that catch on the housing inside at bends.

Of course, you can file those off, but that's yet another step.

I *have* soldered ends of a cable ok *after* getting it fully installed and tensioned/etc., without harming the rest of it, but that's because the clamped part of the cable at the derailer or brake arm is heatsinking it. I still wind up having to make it nearly red-hot at the part I'm heating it at to get the solder to stick to it (using a tiny butane hand-torch). Maybe now that I have the fat-tipped 80W iron, I could do it without the torch; haven't thought to try since I got it.


I do think that the main effect of stirring the coffee with the dremel is to quickly cool it off, since it will now be thinly applied to all surfaces in the room. :lol:

 

[Dee Jay]

Yeah, 80 to 100 w iron should do it, just like tinning any metal..

Here're another frayed cable tip if you don't want to apply heat to the cable.. I've actually done this (i think) LOL!


Use cable end caps but instead of crimping the cap use strong glue. Crimping the caps is a bad idea anyway because it also crimps cable end which causes the cable to fray once the cap comes. Apply some glue on the cable end and inside the cap, then twist the cap on in the direction of the cable braid. It prevents fraying and keeps the caps from coming off.

You also might be able to save a frayed cable with this glue trick.

I do think that the main effect of stirring the coffee with the dremel is to quickly cool it off, since it will now be thinly applied to all surfaces in the room. :lol:

LOL That won't do then, I love hot coffee in the morning, and sunny side up eggs, thin slices of grilled spam, and sticky rice. Don't forget the hot sauce. Me thinks I'll eat breakfast for dinner.. ha ha.