Frame for 1699 Bottom Bracket Facer

The 1699 BB facing tool isn't a single rigid bar; it's a four-piece assembly that reaches through the shell to pull both faces square to the bore. The 1699.2/4 frame is the spine that does the reaching. It's the threaded rod that runs through the BB shell, carrying the sprung pilot on one end and the cutter / handle stack on the other.

What this piece does

The 1699.2/4 frame is the central drawbar of the 1699 BB facing system. One end carries a sprung pilot that registers against the inside of the shell; the other end accepts the cutter and the modular handle. As the mechanic turns the handle, the cutter rotates against the outer shell face while the frame holds the assembly coaxial to the bore. The spring on the pilot end keeps the geometry under load without bottoming, which is what lets both faces get cut in the same setup.

A workshop that already owns a 1695.1/4BI handle from another modular frame-prep tool (head-tube reamer, BB taps, T47 taps) can build the full 1699 BB facing system around this frame plus the right cutter and guide. The frame is the piece that doesn't change between BSA and Italian thread variants; the guides do.

Compatibility

• Pairs with the Bottom Bracket Facing Cutter 1699.1 (cutting edge)
• Accepts either the BSA Facing Guide 1699/4BSA or the Italian Facing Guide
• Drives through the modular frame-prep handle 1695.1/4BI

Specs

• Type: threaded drawbar with sprung pilot
• Function: holds the BB facing assembly coaxial to the shell bore
• Drive: square-drive interface to 1695.1/4BI modular handle
• Made in Slovenia by Unior

Includes: 1699.2/4 frame only. Cutter, guide, handle, and the small wrench for the guide sold separately.

Made in Slovenia, since 1919

Unior has been forging hand tools in Zreče since 1919, and is the official technical partner of multiple World Tour and downhill teams. The frame is the part that the BB facing geometry hangs on; if the drawbar flexes or the spring sags, the cutter walks off the bore-square reference and the faces come out unsquare. Building the frame to hold that geometry under repeated cutting load is the unglamorous engineering that makes the rest of the assembly work.

Pro tip from our mechanics

When the frame threads through a freshly-chased shell, it should slide cleanly with no binding. A binding frame means the thread chase wasn't complete, or there's swarf left in the shell from the previous step; pulling the frame back out and chasing the shell once more is faster than fighting the facing operation against a dirty bore.

The sprung pilot on the inside-shell end is a serviceable assembly. If the spring tension drops over years of use (rare, but it happens on a busy production bench), the cutter starts feeding inconsistently and the faces come out stepped. The fix is a frame replacement, not a field repair.

The complete BB-prep walk-through (chasing threads first, then facing with the frame / cutter / guide stack) is in our Tech Tips: Frame prep: threaded bottom bracket shells →