It was in August 2017, while my parents were visiting. I was keen to show Dad the new lathe so, to demonstrate, thought I'd invite him to help me on a little project for the afternoon.
We'd discovered a problem at work, while prepping frames and I wanted to make an improved method of removing and installing derailleur hangers. The problem was that, to undo or tighten the 20mm nut which holds these hangers in place, we needed to use a 20mm socket wrench. The socket we were using had been modified, by grinding the leading edge flat, to give the tool full purchase on the hanger nut. But the nuts were getting damaged - only scratched, but nevertheless this was a problem.
Back at home in the garage, I'd decided to go about making an aluminum socket tool, to see if this would do the job, without causing damage. So I showed Dad how the lathe worked and we turned down a chunky section of aluminum to a usable diameter.
Next came the tricky part! After some drawing, a bit of math work and some tedious setup on the milling machine, I went to work on machining a hexagonal hole! A point to include here is that this is a manual machine, NOT a CNC machine, so every movement had to be conducted by hand wheels. A feature I decided to add to the tool, to help align the socket and prevent slippage, was a round peg in the centre that would fit inside the hanger.
After a couple of solid hours, beavering away in the garage - Pinner Bike Tools was born!
The aluminum tool had an improved fit over the steel socket set at work. And to my delight, the new tool left no trace on the black anodized hanger nuts!
And so it began...
