At 1/28/2007 10:30 PM -0800, dave martinez wrote:
>Hello All,
>
> I have afew questions regarding the lost art of setting cotter pins.
>
> Any comments on very, very lightly greasing the cotters before assembly?
> Or should the assembly be dry?
The spindle and spindle bore should be clean, dry and unchromed (Sandblasting can help). You want as much friction as possible between the mating surfaces or you will be loading the relatively soft cotter in shear instead of compression.
I recommend anti-seize (grease is Plan B) on the cotters themselves.
> I'm thinking in terms of ease of setting the cotter, and ease of
> disassembly at a later date.
>
> Once the cotter is in, and the bike has some miles under its
> wheels, is it good practice to periodically check it to insure that
> it has set?
If you just hammer it in, that might be worthwhile. If you use a press it shouldn't be necessary.
Mark Stonich;
Minneapolis Minnesota
http://mnhpva.org
http://bikesmithdesign.com