# Block Chain parts or Repair



## KevinsBikes (Feb 27, 2020)

I need to repair this 3/8 width block chain - the master links (if there were ones) are wide and I wonder if those exist for block chain or I will just need to get a few spare links and manually connect them. Looking for some donor links or master links, willing to trade or
Pay. Pic shown against a regular skip chain for size comparison as well. 



















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## mike j (Feb 28, 2020)

Applied industrial technologies sells new authentic looking block chain & master links in various widths. A while back I posted my 1897 Crescent courting bicycle in the Projects threads. Blue Streak posted a very good  link to them in it. I purchased 14 ft. of 1/4" & a couple of master links. They look & work great. Good luck w/ it.


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## Blue Streak (Feb 28, 2020)

Rexnord Industries makes 1" pitch block chain in several widths. They do not sell direct but the chain (by the foot) and links can purchased through Applied Industrial Technologies (they have 450 service centers in North America). 2018 prices were $18.60/foot for B-502 (3/16" width) block chain and $23.69/foot for B-503 (1/4” width) block chain. Links are around $4.00 each.


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## KevinsBikes (Feb 28, 2020)

Damn those look good!


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## KevinsBikes (Feb 28, 2020)

Blue Streak said:


> Rexnord Industries makes 1" pitch block chain in several widths. They do not sell direct but the chain (by the foot) and links can purchased through Applied Industrial Technologies (they have 450 service centers in North America). 2018 prices were $18.60/foot for B-502 (3/16" width) block chain and $23.69/foot for B-503 (1/4” width) block chain. Links are around $4.00 each.
> 
> View attachment 1147317
> 
> View attachment 1147318




Thanks so much! 


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## Waffenrad (Mar 16, 2020)

Sometimes, a block chain's "master link" was just a screw that took the place of the last pin.  It had a smooth shank like the other pins, and there were just enough threads to screw through the final side plate and receive a thin lock nut.  You might be able to improvise that.  You would have to tap a side plate hole



.


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## KevinsBikes (Mar 16, 2020)

Waffenrad said:


> Sometimes, a block chain's "master link" was just a screw that took the place of the last pin.  It had a smooth shank like the other pins, and there were just enough threads to screw through the final side plate and receive a thin lock nut.  You might be able to improvise that.  You would have to tap a side plate holeView attachment 1157232
> 
> .



Thanks, I may try this as well.  Excited to get this bike back on the road and this is one of the missing links


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## Cbgimse (Jun 23, 2020)

Does anyone have the tensile strength of these block chains?


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## KevinsBikes (Jun 23, 2020)

Cbgimse said:


> Does anyone have the tensile strength of these block chains?



My guess is the documents online from the mfg have them - I figured with the easy riding I do on a late 1800's bike, it would be good enough.


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## Cbgimse (Jun 23, 2020)

KevinsBikes said:


> My guess is the documents online from the mfg have them - I figured with the easy riding I do on a late 1800's bike, it would be good enough.



Ive checked online and couldnt find the documents. If a 200lb man were to use his full weight on one foot to brake and the bike had a 7" crank mounted to a 10" diameter chainring it would be 280lbf on the chain. The tensile strength may very well be way more than that and intermittent application of such forces may be perfectly okay but it would be nice to know what the tensile rating actually is


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## Waffenrad (Jun 23, 2020)

Cbgimse said:


> Ive checked online and couldnt find the documents. If a 200lb man were to use his full weight on one foot to brake and the bike had a 7" crank mounted to a 10" diameter chainring it would be 280lbf on the chain. The tensile strength may very well be way more than that and intermittent application of such forces may be perfectly okay but it would be nice to know what the tensile rating actually is




I've had a conveyor chain on my 1893 Featherstone Road King for about ten years, and I've raced the bike and ridden it on centuries.  The bike has a small chain ring and rear cog, which actually increases the load on the chain.   I am a light older rider, but a strong friend who weighs more has also ridden the bike on centuries, and my teenage son has match-sprinted it.  My friend once tore eight double-butted chrome steel spokes out of the rear wheel, but the chain was fine.  A conveyor chain is essentially identical to a TOC block chain except that the side plates are not drilled for lightness, and I'm sure the metallurgy has only improved over the last 120 years.  So don't worry about riding hard on a conveyor chain.

Oh, we are Wheelmen.  Riding old bikes hard is lots of fun!

Paul Rubenson


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## Cbgimse (Jun 23, 2020)

I see 8000N as the minimum tensile quoted as the Euro ISO and I found a Taiwanese manufacturer TYC quotes their 3/16 block chain B502 as approximately 600kgf (5880N) but their 3/16 laminated chain L502 as 1100kgf (10800N). A wippermann study shows a lot of chains breaking in the 9000N to 10,500N range. 

So it appears that TYCs L502 exceeds todays standard for tensile strength while the B502 is significantly below, but probably still way stronger than what was produced back in the day. 










						Are broken chains a thing of the past?
					

As chains have become narrower, have they also become weaker? We ran a series of tests on breaking loads and chain elasticity.




					www.velonews.com


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