On our new Type and Rule Caster I want to replace the swing frame assembly with one where the crank to raise and lower the pot is above the pot rather than below it, to avoid needing to have my face up close & personal with a lake of molten type metal.
So far I’ve removed everything except the Swing Frame Post, which is the fixed half of the hinge that the pot rotates on.
The three bolts from the Swing Frame Post along with a linkage pin from the pump operating bell crank
This is attached to the main caster frame by three fasteners: a bolt with a 1″ hex head, also about 1″ long (the head, not the bolt), and two large slot-head screws. One of these has a head diameter of about ⅝″ and the other about ⅞″.
To remove these I needed a large slot screwdriver. Search the web for “large”, “giant”, or any such other adjective you can imagine, “screwdriver”, and the largest real screwdriver you find has a ⅜″ blade, hardly sufficient. One exception is that Hand Tool Rescue has one with a 1″ wide blade, but that is too large because these screws are in counterbored holes. I had a vague memory of actually owning a sufficiently large screwdriver, and eventually found it:
Screwdriver, about 67cm/26″ long, with caster centering pin arm for scale
By holding this screwdriver in the screw head with my body, holding a wrench on the shaft with one hand, and hammering on the wrench with the other, I got the screws loose.
There was also the linkage that operates the pump keeping the Post captive on the machine, so this had to be disconnected. The pin between the pull rod in the caster is not very accessible in its idle position:
It is apparently also hard to focus on. Turning on the pump and cycling the caster to the correct position moves this pin to a much more accessible location:
By removing either of the cotter pins the post can easily be removed, allowing the Swing Frame Post to be entirely removed.
The next step is to collect the parts to install the newer Swing Frame Post and Swing Frame. The replacement Post I have is fitted with lubrication pipes to allow this bell crank to be easily lubricated, but the pipes are damaged and must be replaced before I install it.
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