Swarf Factory

My friend Dale borrowed his neighbor's milling attachment for the old Atlas lathe, and I decided to dive in and try to make bar ends for my Cossack bars. This is pretty thrilling stuff, kids!

The shot below shows the milling attachment with the slot complete. This straight slot works with the plunger inside the bar and a spiral slot cut into the inside of the grip to translate grip rotation into plunger and cable movement. Old Harleys have "push" controls. The cable has a solid core, and you push the trottle open (no return spring). You also push the timer to retard timing.

Here I am boring out the end in preparation for tapping a 3/4 -16 thread for the screw that holds the spiral on. I already drilled out the inside, full length, to fit the o.d. of the plungers.

Here it is after being tapped. I chickened out on cutting these threads with the lathe because of the tight quarters inside. I used a big tap.

The last step is to turn down the outside diameter just enough that the spirals have a nice loose fit and turn freely. I was worried about turning the outside after cutting the slot, but it worked great. Both bar ends are now done. Have to research how to weld or braze them into the bars next. Then some drilling and tapping of the bars for horn button, dimmer switch, and outlets for throttle and timer cables, and wiring.