'41 Deluxe yokes

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: '41 Deluxe yokes

I would bet that they were pressed and not spun. I still think copper would be easier than brass to press and I like the idea of a stamp for the logo. It does NOT look like it is engraved. If you had a stamp you could probably put the logo on while it was still on the male press or stamp it first, then press it.

The OD of the hubs I have, that should match the cap is 2.473" dia. The lip the caps fit tight to is 2.366". That means the edge of the cap would be .0535" thick after stretching through the die hole with the press piston. Maybe start with .060 copper? (yes, I know I am using more than a legitimate number of significant figures and I am probably using the wrong terms for the manufacturing process). I figure the thickness of the plating on the outside will add some thickness, but so will the paint on the hub. If we use copper we could probably get away with some dense hard wood for making just a few.

[Bird]

Re: '41 Deluxe yokes

I was thinking of stamping the disk then use hardwood in a simple bearing press to finish, just a matter of the right metal.

[TC747paul]

Re: '41 Deluxe yokes

Hank and Bird
i got a the banjo's stripped and ready for nickel plating the strings. thinking of getting the pretzel powder coated
i have not figured out how to post pictures, is there a simple way? i would like to post pictures of the center caps i have a very nice pair, one is a little worn but both are corrosion free.
thanks
Paul

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: '41 Deluxe yokes

You can either email the photos to one of us and we will post them or we can get on the phone and walk you through it. Once you have done it once it is pretty easy.

Hank

I DO NOT recommend posting your phone number!

[woodmw]

Re: '41 Deluxe yokes

Really quite simple:

Click blue box with white letters "Reply to Thread"
Scroll down a little, lower right of screen click box with "Go Advanced"
Scroll down to 'Additional Options' section
About half way down this section, click the box that says "Manage Attachments" in bold text
A new window, smaller, should appear in the upper right of your screen
In the top section, 'Upload Files from your Computer', click the top box that says "Browse"
A File Explorer type window will appear. Find the picture file you want to post, select it, click open
The file location and name will appear in the box
Continue until you have selected the photos you want to post
Click "Upload"
Add any text for the post in the text box
Click "Submit Reply"

If problems uploading, i.e., files don't appear, they are probably too big. The lower section of the small screen lists some accepted file sizes
If this happens, you will need to use a picture editor to reduce the file size

Note:
If you are using Internet Explore, the formatting of the posting screens seems OK. I normally use Firefox, and the 'Additional Options' section is scrambled
This is true for the 'Advanced Search' screen also

[TC747paul]

Re: '41 Deluxe yokes

All
thanks for the help
if all is correct you should be seeing the yokes prior to stripping and the center caps
i will be glad to rub or digitally scan the centers for replica, let me know where to send

Paul
41 BC12-85

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: '41 Deluxe yokes

Any way to measure the radius of the "dome" of the cap? I have a new idea on how to make them. I dug into some tech info from when I was doing plating engineering and they have advanced the technology some since then and can now do Electroless Nickel plating on aluminum! That means I might be able to press the caps from a soft aluminum and then put the Nickel plate on that. They would look exactly the same, but be a LOT easier to press.
They WOULD have to be pressed first and then plated since the plating would never survive the pressing process, but the press could be made from wood and be something we could make with a bottle jack press.

Hank

[TC747paul]

Re: '41 Deluxe yokes

Let mw see what I can do tomorrow, I think I can get that scanned.
Will let you know

Paul

[TimHicks]

Re: '41 Deluxe yokes

Great-looking yokes!

[Bird]

Re: '41 Deluxe yokes

Yeah those are good looking, mine a leather covered.
Hank, the best measurement I could come up with was .0425" height at center of bowl, .030" at the edge, 2.414" side to side outside top edge bowl and inside was 2.357" and 2.45" at the bottom outside (where it flairs out to fit on the yoke) and 2.386" inside bottom of flair
I can mail you one that I have if you want, 704 905 6727, leave a message.

[Jerry]

Re: '41 Deluxe yokes

I believe a copper schedule 40 cap (sweat-solder) with OD 2.473 and ID 2.37 could be made to work. Jerry

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: '41 Deluxe yokes

These are my two wheels. There has been no restoration at all so far. If you look closely you can see the disc with the three bolts that hold the shaft to the wheel through the disc.

The shaft is "nominally" .75" OD and .051" wall. It is steel tube and is 18.25" long.

The disc is 2.013" in diameter (probably was supposed to be "around" 2" and looks like it was turned after being welded to the shaft by a drunken machinist. The edge is NOT smooth and may have been ground down to fit in the hub by just hitting it with a grinder while spinning on the shaft until it fit in the hub. The disc is .133" thick but has uneven plating and paint on it. It could be as thin as .125". There are three holes .25" dia 120 degrees apart drilled with the centers approximately .706" center of hole to the center of the shaft hole (each hole looks like it was filed a bit to make sure the hole lined up with the hub, but NOT by much. The bolts all end up tight to at least one edge and there is NO play between the shaft and wheel when turning the wheel). It looks like all four of the plate holes were drilled first, then the plate was welded to the shaft, followed by grinding the plate OD and working the holes to get the bolts in.

The plate is welded to the shaft, but this does not look like it was done with any great precision except to be sure the plate is perpendicular to the shaft. You WOULD NOT want too much shaft sticking through or it will hit the pressed cap. Certainly not more than 1/4" sticking through.

The last part of assembling a shaft would be drilling the through hole at the other end of the shaft for the universal. It is .25" and I would NOT DRILL IT until it was ready for assembly to get the universal and shaft aligned so the wheel was straight! It "should" have been drilled in a fixture, but from seeing the problems when people have switched wheels around they obviously didn't use a fixture.

Both of the wheels I have show the remains of NICKEL PLATING, not Chrome. Nickel plate was pretty common just before and after the war. I would fit the wheel assembly up to the plane, drill the hole for the universal so the wheel was straight and THEN plate the shaft. Drilling a plated tube will damage the plating edges causing it to peal up. I would also use a gun cleaning rod and brush to clean the bore, plug the ends and tape the holes so I could slosh the inside with a good primer, followed by some good paint once he primer was dry. Might as well do it up right while it is apart.

Hank

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: '41 Deluxe yokes

This is Mark Baxter's wheel and you can see the hub better. Nice idea to make 6 outer holes to allow some adjustment, but I would still just drill the other end cross hole while the wheel was assembled.

Hank

Note the difference between Chrome and Nickel. The Nickel has a slight "dusky" look instead of mirror finish on the spokes.

[Bird]

Re: '41 Deluxe yokes

These are my leather covered yokes. I have never seen any others and yes the chrome needs to be redone. I believe that the light brown color on the bottom of the yoke would have shown the color of the interior but no other parts remain

[3Dreaming]

Re: '41 Deluxe yokes

My dad's 41 has leather covered control yokes.