A Brake Doktor on Ebay

K

Kevin in NJ

Well-known member
For those in the market here is the tool to do the brakes on the A.

No it is not mine, but the pictures are nice so people know what one looks like.

Centers and makes the correct diameter all in one shot. No need to worry about making links the exact same length or if the tracks are perfectly positioned.

This one has the adapter to do the front and it appears to have the rear adapter, would need to know the measurements to be sure. One end slides over the rear axle bearing race.

Brake Doktor
 
If I may, let me pose this question. Let's consider this in a two-fold manner;
1st) as a hobbyist, ...and
2nd) in the view of a commercial shop such as mine or others here who rebuild brakes frequently.

.....A) Is this a practical tool for a hobbyist to own who does 1 brake job a year?

.....B) Is this a tool something that should be in a vintage repair shop such as mine?



Kevin, you posted a different one that was not as 'tooled' as this one awhile back and I never "pulled the trigger" on that one because I was trying to decide whether I needed it, -or whether it would be another toy for Show & Tell.

For a hobbyist shop that maybe only arcs 8 shoes a year, this is going to be an expensive unit to justify purchasing/storing IMHO.

For a commercial shop where we average 12-15 brake jobs annually, I am not sure this unit would be any type of a time-saver for us ...however, maybe it would?? I presently own two different types of Brake Arcing Machines (a Bear 1421 and an Ammco) but they are fixed units that are mounted on stands. Our units pretty much stay to the same size from shoe to shoe since the majority of what we arc is just Model-A shoes. So for us, we use the caliper to measure the inside diameter of the drum and then clamp the shoe in and make a couple of passes which is all it generally takes. Because of the dust they generate, we generally try to do it near the door to keep the dust down. Not sure how that is handled on the eBay unit. Also, the idea of a spinning disc next to someone's painted fender might be a little nerve-wrecking too.

So on this eBay unit, what is everyone's thoughts on what would be the benefit of using this unit over a regular bench mounted arcing machine? Is this a unit I should be bidding on??



(Mitch, I am going to guess $610.00 + freight. )
 
Will the bench mounted machine center the shoes to the car? ,althouth the A is not a fixed anchor system it is close because of the track the pins rest on

I have used mine (actuall we have 2) on 30 Chrysler,53 Citroen, Mercedes 190sl, and 35 Ford big truck along with the A, and I have used the bench top units ---for fixed anchor shoes it centers perfect, with a bench unit it will make the arc fit the drum, but not always center the shoe, the cast alum shoes of the Mercedes don't fit most bench machines without homemade adapters the only car I couldn't fit it to was a BMW Isetta--but those shoes don't fit a bench top machine either

the spinning disc it pretty well shielded, although the precautions used around any moving spinning tool need to be used, as to the dust--the bench top units make that too, I have used a large box, hooked the exhaust extraction hose to it, and the box pretty much protects the fender too
 

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Curious if the linings are ground to the center of the axle housing race, do they not end-up off center to the drums after mounting due either to wear on the bottom of the axle housing race or even just normal slop? If so then bench arcing/arching may end up being as close.
 
I pulled the trigger on one from Ebay two years ago and am glad that I did. I don't know if it is the one that you decided not to bid for Brent, but Kevin was nice enough to provide me with a print of the adapter/collet that I needed for the Model A spindle. I have since purchased the owners manual and have a 1940's Barrett Brake Service manual that I have put to good use. To me as a hobbyist who likes collecting vintage tools of the era it was worth buying for more than one reason.
 
in the interest of fair play entries must not be received less than 2 seconds before the auction closes.
 
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