I'm setting up an early 50s bike with appropriate parts, so this meant diving into the collection of bottom bracket spindles (AKA axles). Some came from a defunct bike shop. What struck me was the range of spacings between the internal cones. I tried to measure from the high point where concave bearing survace meets the flat shoulder, to the same point on the other side.
Here are some of the variations I found:
43 mm cone-to-cone 119 mm long tagged #6AB
49 mm ctc 131 mm long tagged EXH
52 mm ctc mostly 135 mm long tags include TDC (on a 52/131), BW 2C, F113, 11-58 (assumed to be date stamp), D670c or D670o
57 mm ctc 137 mm long tags include ATB (in triangle, with T like cross), G, A-166C, Raleigh 16GC, FL 40, and 130 I.W. (I.W. upside down re 130).
Yes, the relative offset of the right side varies, some seem to have enough length for a "full gear case."
So, the questions: What were the super-narrow cones for? Some kind of juvenile bike with a narrow bracket?
Were the 52s for 65 mm. BB shells, and the 57 for 68 mm? (Funny thing is that one of the 57s is stamped Magistroni, which I'd expect to go on a 70 mm BB). I didn't check diameters on these critters.
Ah! I forgot: the ones with herons I take to be Raleigh (duh!), and the one or two with BW I take to be Bayliss Wiley.
Any help would be most appreciated, so I can label the bags with these sorted but still dirty (sordid?) spindles. And find other homes for the ones that are for kidbikes, Raleigh 20s, and other things I just don't find myself interested in.
harvey sachs
mcLean VA