Help needed with identifying a tool

I'm trying to do some work on my pillar drill and I've come across a retainer that has stopped me in my tracks.

https://i.imgur.com/r7jMsRA.png

I've tried the spanner that came with my angle grinder but the pins are too short (about 10mm) and don't go deep enough into the pulley to properly engage the slots so clearly I need one with bigger pins, but I'm not entirely sure what it is I should be searching for online ("pin spanner" just seems to result in similarly short-pinned angle grinder tools). Can anyone tell me the name of the tool I'm looking for?

Thanks :D

Edited By JasonB on 09/04/2021 14:13:06

Can you make one?

Drill holes in a steel strip the same distance apart as the notches

Fasten set screws using nuts to the strip. Use screws that are just the right length.

I made something on those lines for adjustments on my lathe.

MC

Find a bit of tube or bore out a bar end, mill/file the end to leave two protruding bits to fit the slots. drill through tube for a tommy bar. If you look up "lock nut socket" you will get the idea but most have 4 prongs

or tap it round with a drift

Edited By JasonB on 09/04/2021 14:16:38

Jason's suggestion of a tube wrench with two lugs will grip the ring nut in the OP's picture better than a pin spanner. Easy to make from scrap tube, too, and cheap as chips. A cross drilled hole at the other end, to fit a stout round bar, gives a simple way to drive the wrench with high torque.

Just in case you still want one though, the tool is called an adjustable pin spanner, seen at link below. Very good for use on nuts with drilled holes in the nut face, like the seal holding nuts in the wheel hubs on many 1970's Japanese motorbikes.

https://www.mcmaster.com/spanner-wrenches/adjustable-pin-spanner-wrenches-for-holes-on-the-face-8/

Would you kindly postulate a mechanism whereby the round pins on the spanner to which you refer will fit without slippage in the square or rectangular cut outs in the nut the OP shows in his photograph. Thanks.

Another way is to drill holes in the jaws of an adjustable spanner and fit pins. It all depends in the circumstances and whether you have the tools to make things.

I couldn't find any screws of the right size nor any bar or tube big enough to make one from (calling my available tools and materials sparse would be an understatement), but luckily tapping it with the drift like Jason suggested was enough to get it loose. I'll definitely have to get around one before it comes time to reassemble it of course, but for now everything is golden so thank you all for the help! :D

Sam.

Oops, wrong diameter. Deleted.

Edited By not done it yet on 09/04/2021 16:41:57

a) if the pins on the spanner are small enough they will engage the sides if the slots in the nut.

b) grind the pin side to a half round shape with flat parallel to the nut slot side face. After the grinding the wrench can be used on slots or on holes, although pin strength will be slightly reduced. Certainly not a perfect tool for the job, but for a one off or infrequent operation, you do what you need to.

As I said, Jason's tube wrench with lugs is the preferable way to do it.

You can also spend a bit more and get the adjustable pin spanners with a screw adjuster much like a spring bow compass which would stop the pins moving out under load and slipping.

Sometimes you can also get away with circlip pliers, the cranked ones would be best for this as they will reach down into the recess. On site I have resorted to two screwdrivers located in the slots and a third to act as a tommy bar on similar type screwed fittings like shower wastes'

Piece of flat plate with a notch sawn out to clear in thread also works and can be turned with an adjustable spanner.

Edited By JasonB on 09/04/2021 17:12:42

Hi Sam,

Now that you have got the nut in your hand make a suitable wrench to fit the nut ! You also might have to file any damage off from the slots.

i managed to find and grind a bit of metal tubing of the right sort of diameter to make a wrench and on a completely 100% unrelated note it seems the metal part of my hoover's pipe has gotten a few cm shorter

the donor piece of tube had some cutouts in it already so no need to find the hand drill to make holes for leverage!

great success!

Edited By Sam B 1 on 15/04/2021 17:03:42

There's usually a way to get over problems, I'm glad it worked out for you ok.