A bottom bracket shell faces two ways at once. The drive-side face and the non-drive-side face have to be parallel to each other, perpendicular to the shell's bore, and clean enough to clamp a cup against without rocking. A factory shell that doesn't meet those conditions sends every drop of crank force through a cup that's sitting slightly cocked, and the bearings wear unevenly from the first ride. The Bottom Bracket Facing Tool 1699 is the bench tool that brings the faces back to parallel-and-square; the same tool that the Tech Tips walk-through demonstrates step by step. What the tool does The 1699 mounts to the shell through the bore and presents a rotating cutter to each face. The cutter trims a fine pass off the shell metal until the face is square to the bore the tool itself registers on. Each face is cut in its own pass with the tool registered in the shell's threads, one side at a time; because both cuts reference the same bore axis, the faces come out parallel — the tool's geometry is the reference, not the original shell condition. The 1699 is part of Unior's modular frame-prep series. It shares its handle with the Head Tube Reamer and Facer 1694, the BB taps (1697 BSA, 1698 Italian, T47), and the other modular frame-prep tools. A workshop running the full series carries one handle and a kit of cutters and guides, not a separate handle per operation. Compatibility The 1699 is the shell-side facing tool. Pair it with the right guide for the BB shell standard: BSA (1.37″ × 24 TPI): BSA Bottom Bracket Facing Guide 1699/4BSA Italian threaded (36 × 24): Italian facing guide 1699.4ITA (sold separately) Cutter blade (replacement / spare): Bottom Bracket Facing Cutter 1699.1 The tool ships with the BSA guide included, which covers the most common threaded shell in the current Unior USA catalog. Italian-threaded shells need the optional Italian guide (1699.4ITA, sold separately). The 1699's facing coverage is BSA and Italian only — there is no T47 facing guide; for T47 shells, Unior's Taps T47 handle thread chasing. Specs Operation: dual-face facing, hand-driven via modular handle; complete set 2,050 g Cutter: premium plus carbon steel, replaceable (Ø44 × 29 mm, 197 g) Modular series: shares the 1695.1/4BI handle with the 1694, 1697, 1698, and T47 taps Made in Slovenia by Unior Includes: Magnetic handle 1695.1/4BI-US, reamer body 1699.2/4, cutter 1699.1, BSA guide 1699.4BSA, and guide wrench 1699.5/4P — the five-piece set. Italian guide 1699.4ITA sold separately. Made in Slovenia, since 1919 Unior has been forging hand tools in Zreče since 1919, and sponsors professional road and mountain-bike race teams. The 1699's cutter is premium plus carbon steel because the cut surface itself is the spec the bearings live with; a soft cutter that chatters across the face leaves a stepped surface, and a stepped surface is worse than no facing at all. The 1699 is built to leave a clean ring around both faces, first cut and last. Pro tip from our mechanics Apply cutting fluid generously. Light, steady torque on the handle. Let the tool cut. Forcing the facer produces chatter marks; rushing it leaves a stepped surface where half the face is cut and the other half is still painted or anodized. Watch the chip pattern: continuous curls means the cut is happening; powdered chips means the tool is dragging without cutting and you need more pressure on the handle. The full BSA-shell prep walk-through (chasing threads first, then facing, with the right reference forces and the chip-pattern diagnostic) is in our Tech Tips: Frame prep: threaded bottom bracket shells → FAQ Which bottom bracket standards does the Unior 1699 cover? BSA (1.37″ × 24 TPI) out of the box, via the included 1699.4BSA guide. Italian-threaded shells (36 × 24) take the optional 1699.4ITA guide, sold separately. The system is threaded-shell only — there is no T47 or press-fit facing guide for the 1699. When does a bottom bracket shell actually need facing? When the shell faces are painted, anodized, or cut unevenly enough that the cups don't clamp flat — the classic symptoms are creaking and bearings that wear out early. Facing machines both faces square to the shell's bore, which straightens the bottom bracket in the frame and lets the bearings load evenly. A shell with clean, parallel faces doesn't need it. How does the 1699 keep the two faces parallel? The guide bushings thread into the shell and the cutter registers on that thread axis, with a spring and tension nut controlling cutting pressure. Each face is cut in its own pass, but both passes reference the same bore axis, so the finished faces come out parallel to each other and square to the threads. On BSA shells the R/L marks on the bushings designate thread direction — the drive side is left-hand threaded — not which side of the frame they go in. What spare parts are available for the 1699? The cutter is replaceable — it's the Bottom Bracket Facing Cutter 1699.1 (premium plus carbon steel, Ø44 × 29 mm), sold separately. The BSA facing guide (1699.4BSA) and the guide wrench (1699.5/4P) are also available individually, so a lost or worn piece doesn't retire the set.
