I hate stainless steel :-)

Bill Thomas

Well Known and Active Forum User
VOC Member
I now know there are many types of stainless, Magnetic and not magnetic ?.
But Ron had a lathe and I was one to have a go,
They needed to be a nats bigger where they go in the cases,
But now we can buy bigger ones at VOC Spares.
 

oexing

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VOC Member
We can certainly say Phil Vincent loved stainless steel so he tried it on the prewar tanks as a lasting alternative to chroming - and would not continue postwar for too much hassle so all black then. But the early B kickstart levers were magnetic stainless as I found out after a rust test: One of my levers was luckily stainless so an easy restauration then. Bad thing: I have to have one chromed, expecting some war with platers once again - and surprised if not so .
For marine applications and high temperatures or chemical aggressive stuff you can have the A 4 - 80 types fasteners easily today, not so important on bikes when not used in salt seas underwater for extended times - or having the urge to drive in winter times with all that salt.

Vic
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rust test one day, plain water drops
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Bill Thomas

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VOC Member
Not sure about Chrome on stainless,
I bought one from AUS years ago, one go on the kick start and the Chrome split !,
I don't know about metals and why ?.
 

Robert Watson

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VOC Member
I am not sure of which metal but SS requires a different base plating than standard steel.

I had an SS K/S for a restoration and sent it off with a load of other stuff for chrome and cad plating. All the pieces came back and the first time I just touched the chrome on the K/S it just peeled off in sheets. Suddenly twigging it was SS I called the man and explained how I had messed up and what the material was. He said to send it back with a "quite and easy mistake to make" comment and replated it with the correct base. No charge. Somedays you get lucky!
 

Gerry Clarke

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VOC Member
There are very many grades and types of s/less steel. Fasteners are almost always 303 or 304 austenitic (non-magnetic) and not particularly strong. They will also rust in time if you ride in a very rainy climate for many years, as with my Velo in the '70s through the '90s. 316 s/less will not rust and was used for coronary stents and orthopaedic implants etc. until CoCrMo alloys became more popular. 400 series grades of martensitic (mildly magnetic) stainless can have the strength of EN16T or greater and can possess the strength sufficient for most applications on a motorcycle including Vincent wheel spindles.

Amazing how many pre-war manufacturers used blackened fasteners and how well they give that period look to an old model. Anyone got a kitchen recipe for Parkerising or the like?

Gerry
 

Richard Beard

Well Known and Active Forum User
VOC Member
Classic motorcycling is a broad church IMHO.
It is your bike---feel free to rebuild it as you like or leave it as it is.
My personal approach if rebuilding a bike is to incorporate what I regard as sensible improvements as long as the bike passes the "20 feet" test----that is---when viewed at 20 feet it looks original.
But-- as I say-- just my personal approach---you will no doubt have your own.
 

oexing

Well Known and Active Forum User
VOC Member
Funny how some think about chroming stainless at all. I love the lightly gold tone in polished stainless as contrary to the blue cold chrome. So I replicate most chromed parts in stainless and polish - finished and everlasting, like the ss kickstart above. So when chroming an original early ss kickstart, how is this "original" ?? One exception for me is the chromed exhaust set as stainless in heat gets too brown like on modern bikes.
Again, what place on a motorbike is not suitable for ss fasteners, simple polemics of scaring owners away from ss and thinking about other coatings way inferior to stainless. I would not think the Phils ever accepted that cheap poor black finish , minimum grade was cad or zinc I´d say.
Standard metric fasteners are mostly found in A2-70 grades , 18-10 chrome/nickel percent and durable in typical road use for ages. The A4-80 grade is even better in hot chemicals but a bit over the top for bikes. With imperial there seems to be no clear marks on bolt heads standard, in aviation same, just dots, lines or the like which say exactly what ?? Once more you need secret files to look up for clarification , in metric it is material and tensile strength simple to read - well . . . . Really, lots of old wife stories in this matter for trying to prove something - well , religion again . . . .

Vic
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Bill Thomas

Well Known and Active Forum User
VOC Member
Back in the 70 s We made our own stainless dome headed nuts etc,
On Ron's Old Lathe.
But now they are cheap enough at Bike Boot fairs,
I hate to see threads sticking out.
 
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