Turnstile ratchet repair

We've all, at some time, attempted to push through a turnstile which wasn't ready to allow passage, resulting in stress to both parties. At my son's local swimming pool the pawl had had enough, and shed its tip. The pivot bolt was badly bent and worn, so replacements were requested.

The tip had been roughly reattached to give the shape required, whilst it had been necessary to tack a hex onto the chewed-up slotted bolt head to enable its removal. The hex seemed a good idea, and so was incorporated into the pawl design. The outline was traced onto !" thick plate, marked all round with centre punch dots, then a series if holes were drilled to facilitate cutting out the rough blank (this being my only means of doing so)

Thicness was reduced by 0.2" on the mill, then the pivot hole and 1" c'sink were added

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After completing the profiling process (quicker to say than do !) a new bolt was made, from three pieces to reduce machining. Contrasting new pawl and bolt shown below. Clickety-click !

Elegant result, Ken

Just out of curiosity; was the original pawl a forging or a casting?

MichaelG.

Hello Michael, yes, definitely one of those ! Sorry to be facetious, but I am unsure, though tending toward casting. It will be intersting to see how M.S. stands up to the job, otherwise guage plate or similar might be needed, with heat treatment. At that point I might decline, reluctantly of course,

Regards,

Ken.

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Is this just half a topic or have I missed something, it doesn’t make any sense.

Dave W

Made sense to me. Good job Ken. We could open a book on how long the new pawl will last - I imagine it will have a tough time in a turnstile. My guess, 5 years.

Dave