Today I've been working on installing the gears...
I also installed the selector shaft in the gearbox and put the handle on. This is the handle that was bent that I worked on all afternoon the other day. I realized that I still have a problem with that handle. When I engage the gears, the handle is not raising the selector high enough to fully engage the gears. Actually, it was just barely engaging at all. I took the handle assembly back out and realized the end that goes into the selector was bent.
I straightened it by clamping it in a vise and putting a piece of pipe on it and easing it back straight.
This is where it was bent...
That piece is steel, so it was easy to bend.
That allowed the selector to come up a little more, but was still only engaging about a third of the depth of the teeth.
I took the handle back apart to try to find what else might cause this... and I found it...
When the brass part of the handle was repaired years ago, whoever did it didn't get the steel pin seated in the hole properly... there is a gap between the pin and the brass body.
Geez... I need a replacement handle...
I ended up cutting the end off the handle, grinding the old brazing off the pin, and refitting the pin into what was left of the hole. I then clamped it in the hole...
And built the end of the handle back up with silicon bronze.
It is really ugly now...
But at least I am now getting almost full engagement on the gears. It will work until I can (hopefully) find a decent replacement.
I also painted the small gearbox casting...
-Bear