Topic: Milling out fins on rear hub?

[Amphibious]

anyone tried this?  about to polish this hub and buddy (a machinist) & I were looking at it and thinking "sure would be easier to keep shiny without all those little fins in there"

[CycleRanger]

To a certain extent the fins provide a bit of added rigidity and help dissipate heat.

And they look kinda cool. 

[754]

Used to be a popular mod, they look very clean chromed..

[Zaipai]

Yea, Carpy still does it.. I like the look myself but that's me.
Here is a pic from his site.. one of his racers.. www.cb750cafe.com

[Amphibious]

ah, exactly what I wanted to see.  looks very sharp!  Not knowing anything about chrome, how would one get a hub chromed, but not bugger up the braking surfaces inside?  hmmmm

I'll shoot Carpy and email and see if he has some info on tolerances.

[754]

I can turn the fins off if anyone in BC needs it done..
 got a 500/750 front sitting here already done..

 They really look good on customs..

[Amphibious]

I'll be poking around town tomorrow, might see about sticking my head in at your shop. 

[Bodi]

I was thinking about cleaning up the fins, taking the casting surface off the fins and flanges to give the hub a machined look rather than a cast look plus making the fins thinner and shorter. If that looks crappy I can just smooth off the drum like Carpy has. I have an extra drum to play with, so if it gets wrecked there's no big loss.
I don't think the fins do anything structurally necessary. I think the iron drum handles the brake shoe forces itself. Needing fins for cooling is a possibility but the rear brake doesn't get much if any hard use (mine at least, I know riders who never use the front brake though). I have removed the superfluous fins on my front hub and like the way it came out. I can justify having a smooth front rim and finned rear with the cooling story, anyway.

[Zaipai]

ah, exactly what I wanted to see.  looks very sharp!  Not knowing anything about chrome, how would one get a hub chromed, but not bugger up the braking surfaces inside?  hmmmm

I'll shoot Carpy and email and see if he has some info on tolerances.

If I remember correctly, that hub of Carpys is polished not chromed. I am sure there is a way to chrome it tho..

[mycb750k6]

Just chuck it up on the lathe face plate and use a wooden rod with progressively finer wet-dry and then polish to get that chrome like look. Once it's really shiny, it's easy to keep that way and clean. It's the rough casting surface that's hard to maintain. The fins do look cool, give strength and rigidity and are the 'stock' appearance. I'm in the middle of doing one that way right now. It's effortless. The lathe does all the work. Watch your hands and arms though as usual.