Does anyone know where I can buy a cotter pin press? Does anyone still manufacture these things? Last weekend, after locating some French threaded pedals for the French-made Duprax cottered steel cranks on my recently acquired 1952 Claud Butler, I went to install the pedals and discovered the left crankarm was loose and could not be corrected by tightening the nut. Fortunately, there is a local Schwinn shop which has been in business several decades, and had a old cotter pin press, perhaps a VAR. I must confess, I'd never seen this tool before, although I knew they existed. I started riding as an adult in 1972. The only bike with a cottered crank I ever owned as an adult was my very first lightweight, a Peugeot UO-8. I kep it only about a year before moving up the a LeJeune F-70 with Stronglight 93, and never had a need to service the rank or BB on the UO=8.
It appears that a press makes the job of removing and installing cottered crank arms infinitely simpler than it would otherwise be. As I've now moved back into the 50's with the CB, a partly assembled Rixie with nice cottered Stronglight, and unbuilt 50's Bates and Late 50's/ early 60's Hetchins frames, I'm going to need to learn to deal cottered cranks.
Just observing the design of the cotter pin press, it appears that if these are now unobtainable, one might be able to modify a large carpenter's clamp to work. Anyone ever tried this?
Regards,
Jerry Moos
Houston, TX