jbeech
rrAdvertiser
Location: Sanford, FL (Orlando area)
| I'm with Stan on this one. When I encounter a spindle shaft that doesn't want to slide back out though the bearing nicely, I resort to brute force . . . in a manner of speaking. That's because it doesn't take very much brute force.
I use a drift (which is any kind of shaft I can tap on with a hammer but that has a smaller OD than the shaft itself "and" is strong enough to do the job). A screwriver works, but is a last resort. Better is a screw driver which is ruined which I then cut the tip and the handle off of and binngo, instant drift. Of course, the less resopurceful amongst us can visit the tool store and simply buy one. They go by various names, i.e drift, punch, etc.
Next, since I don't have three hands (i.e. one to hold the grip, another to align and hold the drift, and a third to tap the end of the drift with the hammer), I grip the grip (pun intended) with the meaty part of my thumb and the rest of the palm of my hand (and I have smallish hands so this is do-able by pretty much everybody). Then I grasp and align the drift with my finger tips (all this is with my left hand). Also, and this is important, you will likely find that holding your tongue slightly extended past your lips "and" off center (to the left) helps. Twisting your tongue to the right is generally counterproductive . . . unless you are female (in which case a a half-pint really helps), but I digress . . .
So what's my right hand doing? Well paying for the pint of course. Nah, not really! My right hand is holding the hammer and tapping the other end of the drift of course - unless you're left-handed in which case reverse all of the above unless you're feeling racy)!
Anyway, I find a little gentle persuasion works every time. By the way, why does this happen in the first place? Simple, it's caused by a over-tightening the nuts on the spindle shaft. While it occasionally happens with a factory assembly (but not often because they know about not over doing it), it is more frequently an issue with a spindle that's been owner-replaced.
What happens is the spindle is a relatively soft material (stainless steel) and tightening that last little bit deforms it a little, i.e. mushrooms the end of the shaft. Naturally, the mushrooming is why it's hard to force the now slightly enlarged end of the spindle back out through the ID of the radial bearings.
In any case, tapping it back out this way using brute force doesn't usually cause any harm.
John Beech - GM (and janitor)
Audacity Models |
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