Staking tool problem?

Hello,

I have some clock repairs to do and I acquired a staking tool and the necessary tools to go in it.

Now I have a problem. The rotating table has a hole through the centre and a larger recess in the top of the table. The table is held by a shaft which has a larger head at the top. When this is assembled and locked in place via a pointed rod, forced into a similar hole on the shaft via a threaded knurled screw. I find that the table can move in any direction!

Looking at the shaft once more, I found a square groove just below the head. It just so happens that the recess in the top of the table allows the table to move in the shaft recess and hence is not positively located.

I will need to make a thick "washer" to fit into the groove in the shaft and have its OD the same as the counter bore in the table top. The washer will need to be cut in half, in order for it to fit in the shaft groove.

None of this presents any difficulty. My query is why has this been done? The flange on top of the shaft is quite a bit smaller than the counter bore on the table. This all adds to my confusion! Why not make the flange to be the same size as the counter bore and then the table would turn sweetly on the shaft?

The staking tool holder is bored off centre and can rotate to give perfect alignment of the tool with the appropriate table hole.

Is the table meant to flop about without being centred? I really cannot believe that, but why this odd system? I assume the split washer is essential for correct operation of the table and has been lost. Or more likely I am missing something about how a staking tool operates.

Hope someone can explain this,

Andrew.

Edited By Andrew Tinsley on 29/04/2017 13:23:43

Andrew,

Is this a commercial tool, or home-made ?

I suspect that the table may be designed to [optionally] 'float'

... This can sometimes be convenient.

MichaelG.

Andrew, is it like this one?

Hello Michael,

Yes indeed it is a commercial item and quite well made. The only thing I don't like is the pea green wrinkle paint!

Speedy, the one you are showing is very similar. Yours has some overhang at the top (not sure what that is!). Essentially the same with minor differences.

I am not convinced that the table ought to do anything but rotate, I can't see any reason why it should. The staking tool goes through its bearing at the top of the machine and the bearing is eccentric, so the tool can be moved in a radial direction to the table, to line up accurately with the anvil (not sure if it is the correct term!). So being able to slide the table back and forth is not required with this set up!

I am not an horologist, but I know my way around mechanical clocks, having dismantled a couple into their individual parts and rebuilt them rebushing bearings where necessary. I have borrowed a friend's staking too land that one has the table rotating about centres, not the odd behaviour of the recent purchase!

I am sure a dedicated clock builder could answer my queries if there are any out there!? If there are, then maybe they could point me to a decent book on using a staking tool. I have a copy of a 1910 US book, but it really doesn't tell you much. There is another more recent book available to download, but it won't download for me!

There is little point me learning the ins and outs of staking the hard way, if there is a decent book that would get me up to speed. My previous attempts at renewing bushes seemed to work, but I am not sure if it is the approved method!

Thanks,

Andrew.

Edited By Andrew Tinsley on 29/04/2017 16:17:30

The 'Lug" is for the lever arm - pressing jewels and watch glasses in / out. (Not that I have done any). The tool was bought as a lot including a lathe which is the bit I wanted. Included in the kit are bearing reamers. The attached picture is the "wall mount" option !!

Edited By Neil Wyatt on 29/04/2017 18:05:11

If you post an image and it is the wrong way up, click 'edit post', then right click on the image and select rotate clockwise or anti-clockwise as required.

Neil

The float is (hopefully) intentional in order to ensure the anvil/hole is perfectly concentric with the stake. My staking tool has a threaded wheel at the back which may be tightened to lock the table in position. I've uploaded a couple of pictures to my album showing how the table is locked in position by a pin with a flat taper which engages with a notch in the table locking shaft. Hopefully the pictures are better than my pathetic description!

Step 1 : Unlock the table

Step 2 : Select the require hole and align with the stake using a tapered stake by lightly pressing it into the hole. I think there is normally a stake set aside just for this operation.

Step 3 : Lock the table in place and remove the aligning stake.

You are now ready to use the tool

.

... and there's a nice sectional view on this page: **LINK**

http://www.dirkfassbender.de/stacking-tool-boley.html

MichaelG.

Thanks everyone,

I still don't understand what is going on!

Speedy, I do like your staking tool. The press is rather a bonus. It looks as if the "press mode" is centred in the middle of the rotating table. Quite how you use the staking tool to operate on the peripheral "anvil" positions I really can't understand. Maybe it is a trick of the photograph? I am intrigued by the clamping arrangement at the anvil positions, at least that is what they appear to be? Certainly your staking tool is a lot more versatile than mine. I am quite envious, wish I had one like that!!!!!

Jimmeh, thanks for the photographs. Your staking tool looks great in chrome finish! Far better than my pea green crackle paint! Seriously I can see that your rotating table has a larger counter bore than the diameter of the shaft head, so it can move around in the same way as mine. The locking arrangement for the shaft is similar in concept to mine. But here is the rub, when I lock my shaft, the table is still free to move, which isn't the way your tool works!

It would appear from the photos that the position of the hole that takes the staking tool is fixed and the tool's position cannot be adjusted in any way. Whereas my version goes into a shaft housing that is eccentric and this enables it to move radially.

Maybe for some odd reason I have both means of adjusting the stake position relative to the "anvil" holes. But not being able to lock the table position is a touch worrying.

Thanks again,

Andrew.

Oh Dear, embarrassed again! I have retried the locking of the shaft via the large screw. This time I found that it does clamp the table. My apologies for the false information. The pointed locking shaft could not have been entering the large dimple on the main shaft, on the previous time that I tried it!

So I have two alignment methods, the first being the movable table and the second being the eccentric bush that hold the tools! So why are there two methods of alignment?

Apologies for false information (read incompetence for that!),

Andrew.