MudPie

Attached pictures show the NDS of a one piece crank on a beater bike. Do I need a special tool to hold the ring with the curved slot as I lock it with the nut?

Andrew R Stewart 

The ring with the curved slot is a lock washer. It's ID hole has a tab that engages with a slot on the BB shaft (or the arms) to keep this part from turning when the lock nut is worked on. But sometimes that tab is unable to hold the lock washer in place and it does turn with the nut. The solution is to replace the washer with one that has a good tab. You can see the shaft's (arm's) slot at 12:00 in the second photo. Also at about 2:00 is the cone's notch that when moved by a poker/small screwdriver tip will effect the bearing adjustment. Andy

MudPie

Thanks Andy! I wasn't sure if that curved slot was part of the cone, and thus needing a tool to engage the curved slot. It sounds like no special tools needed. Thanks again,Andy!

andrewclaus

The (sole?) advantage of those BBs is that you don't need any special tools to work on them. Most of the time an adjustable wrench and a screwdriver, and occasionally a hammer, will do the trick.

Andrew R Stewart 

These one piece cranks/BBs are very rugged given the generally low grade of steel and construction they are often offered with. Like a real to real tape decks would have sounded amazing (compared to other analog recordings) if enhanced with the same level of technology as cassette decks had in the late 1970s, if these cranks were made to the same tolerances and materials that modern types are they would last nearly forever.

I've had the pleasure to overhaul more then a few bikes made 100ish years ago that have really well made examples of one piece cranks. It is too bad that most current 1 piece cranks are so crude in comparison. Andy

JohnDThompson 

A big adjustable wrench will loosen the locknut. Be aware that it is a left-hand thread, so clockwise to loosen. Same with the cone. And if you're doing an overhaul (remove crank, clean out old grease, replace old balls/retainers, repack with new grease), remove the non-drive side pedal first, or you won't be able to fully remove the crank.

MudPie

Thanks for the notice on the reverse thread. Job is complete. All components removed, cleaned, greased and assembled.

MudPie

Job is complete and easy, thanks. Any idea why the locking washer has the curved slot? I thought perhaps you could use a pin spanner to access the cones while the washer and nut were installed, but the points of the hex locking nuts interfere. I'm sure they're there for a reason, but I can't figure it out.