# Help removing cranks 1897 Crescent



## SilverBullet08 (Oct 20, 2020)

Any input on removing cranks of the 1897 Crescent tandem?Thank you in advance


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## piercer_99 (Oct 20, 2020)

@hoofhearted.
@Jesse McCauley.
@New Mexico Brant
@GiovanniLiCalsi
@mike j 

@OHcaptain 
Anyone?


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## piercer_99 (Oct 20, 2020)

Cresent No 25 tandem bicycle purchased Chicago 1893 | Antique Bicycles Pre-1933
					

100+ year old stories handed down over time often tend to change over time, sometimes embellished others not, but bikes changed A LOT in the 1890's so a catalog/ad is in order to nail down true year of bike.  If it's late 1890's it means the story was changed or embellished or just not true...




					thecabe.com
				













						1897 Crescent courting bicycle | Project Rides
					

My wife has always liked a bicycle built for two, I never really shared the love. Lately though, I have been liking the Colson steer from the rear, she saw a photo of Norberto's at Trexlertown & loved it. Picked up this Crescent Model 25 at Copake. I think that it is extremely elegant & has some...




					thecabe.com


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## Mike Rosseau (Oct 20, 2020)

Ball joint puller might work.


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## SilverBullet08 (Oct 21, 2020)

Thank you for the links and that’s a beautiful job restoring one but it still did not explain to me how that is removed and I don’t wanna damage it


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## SilverBullet08 (Oct 21, 2020)

Mike Rosseau said:


> Ball joint puller might work.



I tried both smaller and larger ball joint puller doesn’t budge


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## piercer_99 (Oct 21, 2020)

SilverBullet08 said:


> Thank you for the links and that’s a beautiful job restoring one but it still did not explain to me how that is removed and I don’t wanna damage it



I would wait for one of the people who I tagged to drop in, the two links I posted were of guys who own the same style bike and could have the knowledge you want.


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## Barnegatbicycles (Oct 21, 2020)

Looks tapered with a key. Idk what kind of ball joint puller you used but a fly wheel puller is what I use for stuff like this. If it's tapered you need constant even pressure. So tighten the flywheel puller down with a decent amount of pressure the strike the side of the crank arm by where the spindle connects with a copper or brass hammer. This should pop it right off. Ps: these come in a range of sizes and different arm counts you kind of have to find one that best fits. They do sell them in kits with a bunch of different one. Hope this helps.


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## Blue Streak (Oct 21, 2020)

Crank info from 1897 Crescent catalog:


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## SilverBullet08 (Oct 21, 2020)

Currently


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## SilverBullet08 (Oct 21, 2020)

I have been periodically tightening it and spraying Kroil inside


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## SilverBullet08 (Oct 21, 2020)

Still doesn’t budge


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## SilverBullet08 (Oct 21, 2020)

The nut is missing


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## GiovanniLiCalsi (Oct 21, 2020)

Heat?


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## SilverBullet08 (Oct 21, 2020)

GiovanniLiCalsi said:


> Heat?



This will be a next step if it doesn’t come off


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## GiovanniLiCalsi (Oct 21, 2020)

Use a high wattage soldering iron on the area for a few hours and spray some WD-40 on it every hour.


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## SilverBullet08 (Oct 21, 2020)

GiovanniLiCalsi said:


> Use a high wattage soldering iron on the area for a few hours and spray some WD-40 on it every hour.



Not a bad idea thank you


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## GiovanniLiCalsi (Oct 21, 2020)

Less carbon staining and you can control the temperature, so the metal doesn’t fatigue as much.


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## Barnegatbicycles (Oct 21, 2020)

SilverBullet08 said:


> Currently
> 
> View attachment 1288635



Looks good. Did you shock it with a hammer? Its a pretty important part.


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## Craig Allen (Oct 22, 2020)

The left crank is just a simple taper on the i.d. Remove the right side sprocket. Set up a couple of sawhorses and lay down some 2×4's. The left side of the frame should be facing up. The frame tubes should be resting on the 2×4's near the crank hanger. The right side crank should not be touching anything. Turn down the end of a 5/8" or 3/4" steel round bar to a point so it can be fitted into the countersunk hole in the middle of the axle. It can be about 8" long or so to get a good hand grip on it.  Use a heavy steel mallet and give it a good wallop. The axle will pop out. You will not break anything but it would be a good idea to lay a blanket or sheet on the ground as the steel balls will fall out. Whatever you do, don't use a torch to heat the parts up. It will totally destroy the temper of the bearing parts.


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## SilverBullet08 (Oct 28, 2020)

Sold. Thank you for your help everybody


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## Waffenrad (Oct 29, 2020)

I can only add that I feel your pain!  My wife rides a 1900 Crescent Model 32.  At one point I wanted to repack the bottom bracket before a century ride, and tried to get it apart using similar methods as above.  In the end I gave up, flushed out the old caked grease as best I could with solvent, and forced in as much new grease as I could with a syringe.  It was all very sub-optimal.  Fortunately my wife only rides this particular bike a few hundred miles a year and the original bearings are in pretty good shape.   From appearances I doubt that's the case with your tandem.  I'll be interested to see when you finally get it apart.  My suspicion is Crescent used a very shallow a taper angle, making for an extremely tight fit.

In our case, with no left side sprocket spider, I could not get a direct purchase on the left crank with the puller and so was effectively pushing against the left bearings through the frame.  Still, the puller should have been able to push the BB spindle out to the right.  But I was not able to break the left crank free, even using mild acetylene heat and penetrating oil.  As per Craig's warning, I gave up early for fear of damaging the bearings.  Although I did not use his method of hitting the spindle directly with a drift, I rapped pretty hard on the puller while it was under load--which I believe should have the same effect.  Craig, is there something I'm missing? Thanks!


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## SilverBullet08 (Oct 29, 2020)

Well,I tried all,but gave up and will let the new owner have at it


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