Why to inspect things CLOSELY!

[Bill]

Ok I just wanted to share this with everyone. One rule of thumb is to always inspect whatever you are working on closely for cracks, bends, and such.
Here I found this Stem in some extra stuff that was given to me from my neighbor. I decided to clean it up a little. After I got the rust off of the Stem I looked at the stem bolt and wedge. The wedge had a crack in it that a normal person may not have seen. For show purposes I have the wedge turned backwards with about 5inch lbs of pressure to show the crack in it (1st pic).

[jr14]

Sound advice indeed, ESPECIALLY when working with older parts.

I've learned to soak anything rusted in oxalic acid first. It'll take the rust off, but it will also make seeing cracks easier.

Is that stem even worth keeping Bill?

[Bill]

No not really but I thought of putting it up here for an example . Make a nice paperweight lol.

[jr14]

Nice.