desoto1939 Posted June 24 Report Posted June 24 I have an opportunity to purchase a working Ammco Safe Arc Brake shoe tool. My question at this point is there any interest from the members of having me cam grind the shoes to match each of your drums? Yes I would be charging for this service but at a reasonable cost. You would have to have each drum measured to let me know how far over the drum might have been cut. The owner you also need to have a picture taken of each drum so i could make sure I am setting up the machine to the proper specs. Also each shoe would have to be identified as to where it is on the car such as Front Right, Front Shoe, Rear shoe and this would need to be done for all drums and individual shoes. The cost of shipping to me and return of the shoes would also need to be calculated into the cost. So just trying to see if there is any interest of me purchasing the tool and for me to cam grind the shoes to fit your car Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com Quote
JBNeal Posted June 24 Report Posted June 24 This sounds interesting but it'll be awhile before I can get around to doing this. Quote
Bingster Posted June 24 Report Posted June 24 I wouldn't mind doing it just to have it done. I already have the shoes. Depends on price but be fair to yourself. Quote
Rodney_Hamon Posted June 25 Report Posted June 25 I think it’s a fantastic opportunity. Re-arching shoes has disappeared in Albuquerque so I would use you ! Quote
P15-D24 Posted June 25 Report Posted June 25 OK I'm going to let this stay so you can get a gauge on how much interest for this kind of service might exist. However if you proceed this needs too be in there Classified section as a paid ad unless your going to offer the service for free. Quote
desoto1939 Posted June 25 Author Report Posted June 25 14 hours ago, P15-D24 said: OK I'm going to let this stay so you can get a gauge on how much interest for this kind of service might exist. However if you proceed this needs too be in there Classified section as a paid ad unless your going to offer the service for free. Thank you, I am just trying to guage how much interest there is within the members t o proceed or not to proceed with this option. And yes if I do go with this arching I will then list it in Classified section. Thanks, Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com Quote
Bingster Posted June 25 Report Posted June 25 Rich, I think you should go for it. If it's just a question of your doing whatever orders come in, then you'll have some extra funny money. I guess maybe you're thinking about multiple set-ups. Quote
Bingster Posted June 25 Report Posted June 25 Thinking more on this, I think it could be a real cottage industry type of thing. As you say, who offers this? Get some wheel rims for sizes as patterns and advertise in the usual classic car magazines. I'm sure you'll have orders. Quote
DJ194950 Posted June 25 Report Posted June 25 Rich, I suppose you could also do some other brands . Arching shoe works well on almost any shoe made for cars. DJ Quote
desoto1939 Posted June 25 Author Report Posted June 25 yes you can arch any style drum brake shoe but not disk brake pads. It is all in the setup of the machine and also having the drum miced to know how the diameter of each drum, you can not assume that each drum is a perfect 10, 11 or 12 inches. If the car is old is probably has been cut down at some point. This is the reason why you have to mate the shoes to the drum. So there is some time that the owner has to spend to get the proper measurements and then that has to be setup on the ammco safe arc tool. Rich Hartung desoto1939@aol.com Quote
desoto1939 Posted July 8 Author Report Posted July 8 The seller wants over $550 for the tool. I am still considering the purchase but the real big question is will I ever get enough business to warrant the cost of the tool plus getting some extra parts. Yes I know that this is a dying service so it is a real question for me to answer. If I get the tool I will let everyone know of the service. These older cars and the ownership of these cars is slowly dying and the young kids of today do not want these cars so that makes it harder for me to decide to purchase the tool. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com Quote
Dave72dt Posted July 8 Report Posted July 8 I had a pair of specialty grinders used to sharpen knives on farm equipment years ago. Brisk business initially but as the equipment that used those knives became outdated, fewer and fewer sets of knives needed sharpening until the grinders were just taking up space. Kept them around for a couple of years and finally sold them for scrap. How often do people take advantage of your specialty tool rental program. What did it take to warrant the cost of those other specialty tools and how is this one different. Quote
keithb7 Posted July 8 Report Posted July 8 My experience with shoe fitment has been good. I put one new set of pads on the front for example. Adjust them very close to the drum. Major and minor settings. Go for a drive. Ride the brakes a bit longer a couple times. When you get home set the minor adjustments tight again. Go for another drive and work the brakes a few times again. Adjust brakes as needed. Probably just another minor is required. Then I was done. They self-arc’d nicely. My brakes performed quite good. For safety just don’t install all four brakes with new shoes and break them in all at once using this method. Do one axle. Get them arc’d and set. Then do the second axle. Back in the day when these cars were people’s main mode of daily transportation, an arcing machine made sense. Drop the car off at the garage. Get it done. Drive it away a couple hours later. Today most of us are casual drivers of these old cars. With plenty of time do the brakes. We’re often doing the brake work ourselves. Sending brake shoes away, along with drum measurements for arcing doesn’t make sense for me. A few extra cost-free easy steps, the brakes are arc’d and ready to go. That’s been my experience. Quote
Sniper Posted July 8 Report Posted July 8 At some point arcing shoes became unnecessary. I don't recall ever doing that. Might be a fall out of the self energizing function later brakes had? Quote
TodFitch Posted July 8 Report Posted July 8 45 minutes ago, Sniper said: At some point arcing shoes became unnecessary. I don't recall ever doing that. Might be a fall out of the self energizing function later brakes had? Or maybe inexpensive standard size replacement brake drums became more available. Standard size drums and shoes should be a pretty close fit right out of the box with no arcing needed. The only vehicle that I ever had the drums turned on is my old Plymouth and that is because they were warped and replacements are not available. With non-standard size drums the shoes definitely need to be arced to fit. Quote
desoto1939 Posted July 8 Author Report Posted July 8 All good points that everyone is posting. This is what I was looking for when I first posted this opportunity. If the cost of the tool was around $150 then I would get the tool but when it is over $500 then it does not become cost effective. I am going to hold off on the offer and the gentleman might lower the price. He even told me that he does not expect to do any brake in the future. So my thinking is that he will be hanging onto the tool and then determine maybe to sell it at a lower price. Thanks for your input. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com Quote
desoto1939 Posted July 9 Author Report Posted July 9 I was doing some reading in my Miller tool catalog and they show some information on the Ammco Safe arc tool. This tool can be setup to arc the shoes for any drum that has been cut up to .050. So with this information I would assume that the max that any f these old drums on our antique car could be officially turned down and to still have enough meat on them would be .050. Red the description section. Rich Hartung desoto1939@aol.com Quote
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