The Home Machinist!

Hoping to find someone with a clever way of reinstalling a shaft with a ball and spring plunger. The ball is appx. 1/16" ID, the shaft is a fairly close fit, and the shaft is going into a blind hole with spring and ball hole about 1/4" in. I can't use a pilot, and I've tried grease and shim stock to no avail. It is a factory piece so they did it at the factory. Thanks for any ideas. Jim

Hi There,

I don't know if this old trick of mine will work
in your application but I'll pass it on, just in case.

I have used one of those screw-type stainless steel
hose clamps to compress snap rings on splined shafts
used in CV joints. Tighten the clamp around the snap
ring (or in your case, over the detent ball and spring),
and start the shaft into the CV joint (or housing in your
case).

As the shaft goes into the housing, the hose clamp
will slide-up the shaft as the snap ring/detent ball
passes into the housing. Once the shaft is in far
enough to retain the snap ring/detent ball, un-screw
the hose clamp and remove it from the shaft.

Good Luck!
-Blue Chips-
Webb

Thanks but the sping and ball are in the side of the hole and the shaft has the detent about 3/4" along.

Does the end of the shaft have a small flat tapering from the OD to the end? If not that would be my plan of attack. Abit of sticky grease to hold the ball in place and the taper to ramp the ball into place.

_________________
www.chaski.com

I don't that this will work, but if nobody else has a better idea...

Take the spring out. Compress it fully with a clamp. Give it a light coat of molten wax. Allow to cool, install spring and ball, insert shaft and warm part so the wax melts.

Hi There,



Okay, I had the "wrong end of the stick" there (Yuck )

Could you put the detent and spring in the hole, compress them
and then, with a prick punch, upset a little metal at the mouth of
the detent hole (just enough to keep the ball from coming all the
way out)?

Good Luck!
-Blue Chips-
Webb

You may want to avoid any extra dismantling, but I'd expect there's a grubscrew / setscrew at the other end of the ball and spring socket... Has been on everything I've ever taken apart that's been like what you describe!

If there isn't, I can't imagine how they'd have assembled it at the factory... Are there any drillings (possibly plugged and painted over) that intersect the ball/spring socket, so they could have used a pin to lock them in place for assembly? Could you get away with drilling one?

Dave H. (the other one)

That last comment makes sense - they had to make that hole somehow...

_________________
Standards are so important that everyone must have their own...
Logan 10x24 Lathe, RF-30 Mill, 20 Ton Press
Disclaimer: I'm just a guy with a few machines...

Thanks for all the good ideas. I did manage to trap the ball with a small piece that could exit out a slot further down the hole after I pushed the shaft through.

Glad you got it together! The comment by 'ctwo' really got my attention. How did they drill the hole containing the spring and ball if there is no opening at the bottom or across the shaft hole? Could it have been drilled by starting in the shaft hole?

_________________
Don Young