What are cassettes made of

Howdy.

I am wondering, what kind of steels are usually cassettes made of? Is
there any place to at least get a hint what alloys were used? I am
pondering making myself (just for kicks ;p) a cassette, so I would
like to know what material to choose.

Regards.

On 5 Feb 2007 05:58:16 -0800, "Adam Kadlubek"
wrote:

I am wondering, what kind of steels are usually cassettes made of? Is
there any place to at least get a hint what alloys were used? I am
pondering making myself (just for kicks ;p) a cassette, so I would
like to know what material to choose.


The very fancy Marchisio Aviotek cassettes are a bainitic steel, which
is likely about 0.8% C 0.5% Mo and 0.002% B. For a home project, I'd
probably start with the much more commonly available 304 grade
stainless steel, which has certainly been used commercially for MTB
granny rings. Ordinary cheap cassettes are just ordinary carbon steel
heat treated to increase surface hardness after stamping if you're
lucky.

If you use a non-stainless steel, you'll need to allow for nickel
plating after machining, a soft steel will need hardening and a hard
steel will be very time consuming to cut, so you might want to try
7075T6 aluminium alloy for your first outing with the machine tools;
given that the result is likely to be a curiosity, the somewhat
reduced service life is a price worth paying for the dramatic
reduction in complexity of manufacture.

Kinky Cowboy*

*Batteries not included
May contain traces of nuts
Your milage may vary