HWooldridge Posted July 1, 2005 Share Posted July 1, 2005 OT but there is a bunch of knowledge on this board so here's one for you machine repair guys. I have a hay rake that had a bad bearing on one of the rake beams so I pulled it off and disassembled it. There is a grease seal, snap ring and the two bearings that support the shaft. The problem is that the retaining ring broke so the bearing got to wobbling and smeared over the snap ring groove for about 30% of its circumference. Therefore, I cannot get a new ring back into place without recutting part of the groove, which is about .050 wide and the same deep. I don't want to take the time to put it in the mill and do all the setup to cut it plus there is the possibility of making the situation much worse if I screw it up. I think a little bitty cape chisel might work but I have to make one. Anybody ever had to repair internal grooves or have other thoughts on how to fix it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted July 1, 2005 Share Posted July 1, 2005 A photo would help on see the problem. Any chance of attaching a photo? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HWooldridge Posted July 2, 2005 Author Share Posted July 2, 2005 G, I'll email one to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irnsrgn Posted July 2, 2005 Share Posted July 2, 2005 start with a rod a little smaller than the hole, silver solder an old piece of hack saw blade on a squared end, grind the back side off flush with the rod, grind the front side at an angle so that you have like a miniature lathe cut off tool sticking out, bend the rod so it has a handle a little over a hands width from the end, stick it in the groove and scrap it out to size using on hand on the rod and the other on the handle to keep it orientated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daryl Posted July 2, 2005 Share Posted July 2, 2005 A picture would help me too. If you have a small zip cut blade for a 1/8" shaft dremel (not a 1/4" die grinder, it would cut too wide), you can get by with cutting a groove in that manner. Square the inside edge with a broken edge from a good (not cheap offshore) hacksaw blade. Good luck . I have fixed so for so long with so little, I can now repair anything with nothing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HWooldridge Posted July 7, 2005 Author Share Posted July 7, 2005 Thanks to all who responded. I decided to try Daryl's suggestion with the Dremel tool and it worked well. Went thru two of those little cutoff blades but it cleaned it up enough to get the snap ring back in. There is a series of gunsmith books from Brownell's called Gunsmith Kinks - we should assemble our tips into "Blacksmith Kinks". It would be priceless information. Later, Hollis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now