Resurfacing Idlers..

[Red BOLT99]

Whats up all.

Well I got to work early today and slapped one of my old groove damaged idlers on the lathe.
I just wanted to see if I could safely resurface it.
Everything went better then expected.:rockon:
And it looks like Ill be bringing the rest of them to work with me in the next few days..
Sorry I didnt take any before pics of the idler. I wasnt expecting it to go so smoothly.

 

[MTBSully]

good stuff man. Love having tools like this at work

 

[JRS03]

Awesome!!!

 

[MBoyle1]

Nice! Looks brand new

 

[Red BOLT99]

Thanks Fellas!
Actually just went home for lunch and brought back 6 older billet pulleys I had put away because the lines/grooves were wearing my belts weird..
Stoked!

 

[black 10th vert]

The only issue is that without the anodizing they will wear faster than they did originally. The best idlers have the black "hard anodize" on them, such as Metco. The regular colored type anodize that BF uses is better than nothing, but it does tend to groove up like yours did after awhile. Nice thing about having the lathe is that you can resurface them periodically before they get too bad, that way you don't have to remove too much material.;-)

 

[Red BOLT99]

I spoke to my engineer about that. And from what he told me about how the material felt while cutting it. He doesnt think any coating is needed.
Im going to trust him on this, since he has been designing our 2618 and 4032 aluminum piston's and various other parts for more then 10 years..

Worst case is I'll take another 5-6 thou off an send them to our anodizer. If they end up wearing unevenly or ruin my new belt.

 

[black 10th vert]

I spoke to my engineer about that. And from what he told me about how the material felt while cutting it. He doesnt think any coating is needed.
Im going to trust him on this, since he has been designing our 2618 and 4032 aluminum piston's and various other parts for more then 10 years..

Worst case is I'll take another 5-6 thou off an send them to our anodizer. If they end up wearing unevenly or ruin my new belt.

Yeah, that's what I was saying. The original anodize that BF uses is for aesthetics mainly, and probably isn't much harder than the base 6061-T6 aluminum that the pulleys are made from. If you did decide to have them re-done, I would have them done in hard anodize, which used to be only available in black, but that may have changed, not sure. I have run both BF and Metco idlers and the Metco's finish lasts much better because of the black hardcoat anodize they use.

 

[Red BOLT99]

Yeah, that's what I was saying. The original anodize that BF uses is for aesthetics mainly, and probably isn't much harder than the base 6061-T6 aluminum that the pulleys are made from. If you did decide to have them re-done, I would have them done in hard anodize, which used to be only available in black, but that may have changed, not sure. I have run both BF and Metco idlers and the Metco's finish lasts much better because of the black hardcoat anodize they use.

10-4, thanks for the heads up...

 

[CobraBob]

Those did come out really nice. Maybe you can post a follow-up in this thread in a few months to report on how the surface is holding up.

 

[Red BOLT99]

Those did come out really nice. Maybe you can post a follow-up in this thread in a few months to report on how the surface is holding up.

Will do for sure Bob.
Did three more this morning again..:thumbsup:
New belt and fresh pulleys going on this weekend.

 

[b_dike]

Nice, was not even aware this was an issue.

 

[oldmodman]

Did the same with an old set of RR double bearing pulleys. Only had to take off 2.4 thousandths. Turned out great so I then sent them to the anodizing place that a buddies shop uses and they were hard anodized on the wear surface. Still have not used them since I had a brand new set of Metco hard anodized pulleys and they are on the engine now. I really like the dark gray color after they are anodized. And the surface is very hard and should wear just as well as the Metco's

 

[03' White Snake]

Looks great!! Nice work.

 

[SVT-FI$H2088]

Nice! So fresh and so clean now.

 

[CobraBob]

I would imagine that the hard anodized wear surface contrasts nicely with the silver finish.