Them's the Brakes....

[GoldenSpike53]

Hi, everyone. I'm working on clevises for an equalized braking system for my Consolidation. I have everything cut, turned, drilled, and tapped, but need to finalize the holes for the clevis pins.

The smallest clevis pins I've been able to find at McMaster-Carr are 3/16", which isn't too big. But I do have a couple of questions:

Does anyone have an opinion on surface finish? Is there any benefit to having zinc plated steel pins? Or for that matter, would stainless steel be better?

Also, I used 1/2" square stock to cut the clevises from, so for determining the length of the pins, should I include space for a washer on the side the the cotter pin?

Thanks!

Dale Dennis

[patyoung]

Hi Dale,

Here's my two cents. If you are going to take apart the clevis assembly regularly, in a
dirty environment or need the added strength, use stainless steel. Otherwise it don't
seem to make any difference. As for the washer, it would be nice if the pin is going to
rotate and press against the clevis or maybe if the pin head has a chance to pull thru.

Flame suit on,

Pat Y.

[locodan5416]

don't use zinc... its nasty stuff(i can't remember its propertys from Materials Science at this instant) SS is much better