The most elusive Park Tool has surfaced. Bent headtubes, take note.
 

http://www.kurtkaminer.com/parkframestraightener1.jpg

I've spoken about this tool in the past. I saw it mentioned here once; it was shown in an age-old Park Tools catalog.

Some said it was foolhardy, others said it wouldn't work. Nevertheless, the discussion disappeared into the BF archives, the catalog photo never resurfaced, and an example of one never showed its face since.

Until today.

If you're wondering what this thing is designed to do, this photo should explain it all:

http://www.kurtkaminer.com/parkframestraightener2.jpg

Yes, its a Park headtube straightener, and I'll find out, first-hand, this week, whether it really works (using a 753 Jan Legrand Raleigh Pro as a starting point).

http://www.kurtkaminer.com/parkframestraightener3.jpg

http://www.kurtkaminer.com/parkframestraightener4.jpg

http://www.kurtkaminer.com/parkframestraightener5.jpg

http://www.kurtkaminer.com/parkframestraightener6.jpg

-Kurt

very nice. every frame is safe from the scrapyard now

Looking at that I can see no reason why it wouldnt work, looks like a pretty beefy tool though, and you have to wonder what kind of stress it will be unleashing on the frame. how did you come by it?

Looks like it could work, but seems intended to straighten top and downtube rather than headtube.

That certainly is an interesting gadget. Seems like you'd need to use those dent removal things that clamp around the tube as well to completely fix it. Can't wait to see your results.

Back in my shop days I used one that had a mechanism similar to an old car jack on the bottom section.

I don't suggesting trying it on a 753 frame. We tried it at Trek once on a 753 team frame and the tubes buckled completely before it got straight.

Now how to straighten those Schwinn forks?... :p

Purely by accident, mucking about in the back room of the LBS. I'd never seen one of these things in person; my eyes were first drawn to a Park fork alignment checker near a Suntour cog board. I caught sight of the C-shaped BB fitting of this tool sitting immidiately behind it, which I had remembered from the Park catalog/manual scan.

Ironically enough, I thought about this very tool - for a split second - no less then an hour before I saw it. During Bike Miami, I failed to avoid (though I did "go light" at the last minute) a gigantic pothole with the '61 Paramount. I was nearly convinced that I wouldn't make it through without crunching the front end, though I came out of it with little more then a scare and a dislodged water bottle.


That it does, though the headtube angle is changed in the process.


This 753 frame has already buckled quite badly - there isn't any hope for it one way or another. I've already located another slightly bent frame to give it the full try.


Bingo. Didn't realize they had a discontinued tools list. They're missing the CCP-1.

Manual notes that those sleeves are not the right way around, supposedly.

-Kurt

I recall you mentioned that.

Funny how the mock-up I did in that thread looks quite similar to the actual tool - I didn't miss that much:

http://www.jaysmarine.com/parkframestraightener.jpg

http://www.jaysmarine.com/parkframestraightener2.jpg

-Kurt

Works well if you're careful...
 

I was lucky enough to get a few frame tools a while back, and the frame straightener was one of them. More importantly, I have already used it to correct some distortion on an old Peugeot. Have a look at the results and/or read more about this bike and how it turned out.

Attachment 147946

I'm feeling good and overconfident already :D

-Kurt

+1 on that. 753 is not a good candidate to try it on. If you want to send it to me, I can try it on an Ishiwata frame for you.

I hope I never need one.

You're missing out on a lot of potentially good stuff if you don't have one.

-Kurt

I've got a mid-range Italian frame on its way for the job, but I'm still going to give the 753 a shot. That Raleigh is already buckled so badly behind the shifter mounts that the tube has crumpled.

-Kurt

I remember over on the ratrod bike site, someone mentioning about straightening bent forks. I would be curious, though, for what that tool was actually made. More to the point, it might be intended for hi-ten cruiser frames, and not so useful on any kind of high-end road-bike frame or something.

http://ratrodbikes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=9364

Randyjawa has already proved its usefulness once.

-Kurt

That's the tool we were talking about to fix my Schwinn New World, so now the question will you rent it to me to try and fix this.
http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/m...4/bikes033.jpg
http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/m...heelsets00.jpg
Glenn

I've got more stuff than I need already.

Hmm. I'm really not sure if it would straighten an EF frame. So far, I've got an SL frame, a 1020 Windsor, and the 753 frame lined up; I might be able to dig up an EF to see if it does anything.

That said though, if I do buy the tool, I'm not willing to ship it out. I wouldn't have anything against doing the frame here though, and considering the tool's size and the weight, the shipping for either would probably be about the same.


:lol: Same here.

-Kurt

Yes, that. That's what I need. I have a straight but dinged head tube. Any more info on this?

If you have a dented headtube, just run a pipe/seatpost the size of its inside diameter straight down the tube, it'll knock the dent out. Sometimes works for seattubes, usually straight gauge.

-Kurt

We would straighten frames this way:

Take a long heavy rod, similar to the one in the Park tool. Insert one end of the rod in the head tube. Insert the other end of the rod between two buildings. (Buildings in NYC are made of concrete or brick, so this serves as a good vise.) Using the frame as a lever, bend the frame against the rod.

Bending isn't really the hard part. It takes force, that's all. The hard part is measuring the alignment.

I did this with my UO-8 frame. I got it mostly straight. It still has a little toe-clip overlap. And it's off to one side, so riding no-hands requires leaning a bit to one side, but that's not very noticeable. It's not noticeable when you hold the handlebars. I rode this bike for years. I retired it about two years ago.

Anyone want this frame? It's a 54 cm. The fork is straight. I'm willing to part it out: frame, fork, crank, headset.

hey is that my old Viscount aerospace pro???