----- Original Message -----
From: "henox" <henox@icycle.net>
>
> I'm unfamiliar as to how the Campy facing guides were used with the NECA
alignment beam. How were they fastened to the beam?
>
>
The guides are left in the shell after facing, and the frame is slid over a mounted spindle perpendicular to the alignment plate. The spindle is very nicely machined, and fits as snugly as the facer spindle. There are two thrust bearings on the spindle that the BB shell is clamped between, allowing for the frame rotation necessary for the alignment procedure while providing a firm mounting for alignment. I assume this set-up was sort of a redundancy feature to best assure the alignment surface would be perpendicular to the thread axis/parallel to the faces. I know it's fallible, though, as I can insert a piece of shim stock under one edge of the shell, retighten the clamping nut, and the headtube will be raised a bit.
I personally would have liked some conical bushings or something that would adjust to the faces, even if not square to the thread axis, or parallel to each other, so the alignment would be relative the thread axis, irrespective of facing, which I see as only a mechanical point, not an alignment one. Picking nits, though.
Jon Schaer
Columbus, OH