Mr. Spadoni 

Today, my freewheel died, so I went rumaging through the box of freewheels and cogs to find something that would work.
In the box I found many things. Among the relics, I located a couple of Regina freewheels that I had set aside some years back.
Before I threaded them on, I thought perhaps I should check their threading. Yeah, I know that I can put Italian on English threads, but the hubs I use are a little more fragile and a lot harder to replace than they once were.
One FW is stamped F.I. According to Sheldon Brown, that means it is English threaded as F.I. stands for For Inglese. But if Regina used the Italian for the word English, would they not use the Italian word for "for" which would be some vartion on Pioche ?
The other FW has no markings, no groove, so it must be Italian, correct?
In the meantime, I am going to find enough Sachs cogs to build up a FW on my one surviving Sachs body. That will be a challenge as well but I an certain of that the Sach body has English threads as do my hubs.

Reynolds 

F.I. could stand for Filettatura Inglese (English threading).

JohnDThompson 

"FI" indicates English thread; no marking indicates Italian thread:


Source: Sutherland's 4th Edition

CliffordK

Are those the freewheels with notches for the removal tool? Make sure the notches are clean before threading them on. You can touch them up with a file if necessary.

Mr. Spadoni 

Thanks for the translation. My italian dictionary is not comprehesive enough. Sheldon got the intent of the initials correct, but having the background is important. Never know when you might need to ask someone in Italy to chase the threads....oh oh. Now I have to get the correct translation of chase as in cleaning....it never ends.

CliffordK

It sounds like a good choice of abbreviations...

Italiano and Inglese would obviously share initials. But, I'd go with JohnDThompson's ID's, noting, of course, that standards apparently changed from initials to grooves.

pastorbobnlnh 

While you are on the hunt for Sachs sprockets, give your freewheel bodies a Christmas gift and service the interior workings. They will really appreciate a cleaning, new bearings (if needed) and fresh grease.

It sounds as if they have been in storage for years if not decades. Original Regina grease tends to completely evaporate, and original Sachs grease tends to turn into a sticky brown mess that reminds me of peanut butter.

I might be able to assist with the needed Sachs sprockets.

andr0id

A tap or die that big is $$ or €€.

I've never used it, but there is a Dremel bit called EZ thread that might be used for minor clean up.

If you must get a tap for the freewheel, get a bottom tap, it will clean up all the way to the bottom of the hole. (hence the name)

Mr. Spadoni 

Thanks. And if you need any of the two outer cogs, let me know. When Sachs were my goto FWs, 7 speed models became 5 speeds before they were ever installed on the bike. Gave me some needed clearance and I never used them even if they would fit.

Reynolds 

Chase threads = ripassare filettatura.

qcpmsame 

Agreed 100%, taps and dies that large are very costly, and its not a good place to try and cut costs at all. Good quality machinist grade tapes and dies are expensive for a good reason, materials and construction are beyond superior. If you need your hub or freewheel body to be cleaned up (threads chased) take them to a machine shop and let them do the threads for you, it will be worth the expense, and not real bad either.

Good luck with your wheel and the freewheel, as Pastor Bob said, its satisfying to rebuild them, and the experience the finished product.

Bill