motorapido

I need a custom-thickness hub axle locknut for an Alfine 11 IGH, to change the OLD to less than the 135mm of the stock hub. The drive side is 3/8, and I found a 3mm locknut to achieve what I need to achieve on that side. For the non-drive side, the thread is 7/8 and I can't find an axle-specific locknut in 7/8, so I am wondering if I find a regular old nut in 7/8 that is the thickness that I need, if I can use a file to slot some teeth into the mating surface and use that instead of a bicycle-specific lock nut. I don't see why not. Advice sought, please. Unfortunately, I sold off my lathe and mill and other machining equipment, so I am more limited these days to off-the-shelf fasteners and I am to cheap and lazy to pay a machinist to machine down the existing Alfine 11 locknut to the thickness I need.

Blue Belly

Pictures?

hueyhoolihan

i would just try it and see. it will either slip or not. it's cheap enough.

FBinNY 

How much do you need to remove? If it's in the range of a few millimeters, remove the nut, bring it and two beers to a local machinist near the end of the work day. He can put it on his surface grinder and thin it in a minute or two with no setup or fixturing.

Bill Kapaun

A 7/8" fine thread is 14TPI.

Vise grip pliers and a grinding wheel?

CliffordK

Is this the hub?

https://si.shimano.com/pdf/ev/EV-SG-S700-3092A.pdf

The only lock nut that I'm seeing is part # 25 on the left upper picture, and right lower picture, which both appear to be the smaller 3/8 size (do they really use standard sizes?)

If I was trying to make it with stock hardware parts, I'd hunt for hardened steel, Grade 8??? But you may have troubles finding one that is thin enough.

I can do quite a bit with freehand filing and grinding. It is hard to get perfect, but you can get pretty close with a little patience.

motorapido

Yes, that is the hub, and I see what you mean. I was basing my plans on a thread on Hubstripping, in which several people posted about reducing the thickness of a lock nut on the drive and non-drive side, but as you say, I do not see a lock nut on the non-drive side. Hmm. I can buy a 3mm lock nut in 3/8, or just do some careful filing on the stock lock nut. Without skinnying up the other side, though, I would need to re-dish the wheel a tiny bit to keep it centered. I better go post some follow-up questions on the Hubstripping site.

FBinNY 

Yes, I don't know where you got the 7/8" dimension, but chose to let that lie because my advice would apply the same regardless.

Either way, you can't thin the nuts with a file because they're too hard. Freehand grinding on a bench grinder is unlikely to get you a flat and square back which is very important. A non-square, non-flat back would cause local stress in the axle, and not properly buttress it against bending moments.

If you need to thin it, a surface grinder is best, and far and away the easiest way. But it can be done on a belt sander with finger pressure --- WARNING- gets hot fast. Either way, grind from the back side to preserve the serrations.

Andrew R Stewart 

One of the reasons that many lock nuts are hardened is because they also have a knurled or toothed face to better engage the drop out. A plane nut is likely to be softer then the lock nut. Any ridges or teeth that you cut into a plane nut will likely just wear down quickly. Andy.

rmfnla

It's amazing what can be accomplished with a well-placed six-pack...