Dial indicator repair

Never use WD 40 on anything brass.

That needs an explanation.

I very rarely use WD40 on anything and I dont even have any in the workshop at the moment but why single out brass?

It forms a gooey mess which is impossible to remove. Ask anyone who repairs long case clocks.

Edited By roy entwistle on 07/03/2023 09:30:17

Late to this, but as others have noted this style of DTI you have to pull the pointer off to remove the dial. They can be very tight.

I recently repaired a N type connector gauge (basically a DTI with custom fittings) and the pointer was very hard to remove. The original issue was that the pointer was fouling the glass with the dial / bezel locked. don't know if it was always tight or the wrong pointer was fitted at some time. I have a good quality watch hand puller and experience using it (used to repair aircraft instruments). More force than I was happy applying to the puller and dial (with a nylon protector disk between dial and puller) did not move it. Heat (soldering iron) or penetrating oil did not help. in the end it took two screwdrivers supportrd on two bars across the bezel shifted it. A strip of sticky tape stuck to the balance end stopped the pointer flying into a corner of the workshop. I had to ream the bore of the pointer boss quite a bit to get it to fit properly.
WD40 is not ideal lubricant for DTIs but see how it goes.

Robert.