This was interesting, a GRS monogram on both cranks. now with a few days of hitting it with WD-40 and put in the heat of the sun, and with a little help ONLY with a rubber mallot both cranks broke the rust seal and started to free up.
Railroad and signal maintenance , Just a friendly word of advice.
there are few parts in which during restoration when its impossible to dissemble .
Time.
taking care and taking Time is far superior in restorations without rushing and persuading parts to free up.
Want to screw up a nice antique.. rush and pursued parts with a sledge hammer and compound the abuse with over heating.
Low heat and penetrant letting penetrant take the time to do the work is a big plus.
High heat: anything over 200 degrees most times unnecessary
Mechanical interlocking parts are made with malleable, hardened and cast iron parts.
So knowing what your doing will save you from damage the cranks are malleable heated they will dent and deform with repeated blows they will deform regardless of heat being used.
Pins and cotter pins are hardened steel.
the link is hammer forged and the crank and compensator frame is cast iron which will crack if impacted .
Semaphore bearings . I saw a site where a man use a gas torch set up on a semaphore bearing
in a restoration attempt. ***CRINGE!*** A semaphore bearing case is cast iron and can crack if heated . the spectacle shaft is steel . and crank is malleable iron the shaft is supported
by two red brass bearings.
The lubricant used decades ago maybe gone and dried up but its a fair bet introducing a penetrant and low heat and repeating this processes many times and letting parts soak with a penetrant is far kinder on aging metals.
as well as rubber mallets or loaded plastic type.
Basically its called TIME and patience..your antique artifacts will thank you.
This was interesting, a GRS monogram on both cranks. now with a few days of hitting it with WD-40 and put in the heat of the sun, and with a little help ONLY with a rubber mallot both cranks broke the rust seal and started to free up.
Railroad and signal maintenance , Just a friendly word of advice.
there are few parts in which during restoration when its impossible to dissemble .
Time.
taking care and taking Time is far superior in restorations without rushing and persuading parts to free up.
Want to screw up a nice antique.. rush and pursued parts with a sledge hammer and compound the abuse with over heating.
Low heat and penetrant letting penetrant take the time to do the work is a big plus.
High heat: anything over 200 degrees most times unnecessary
Mechanical interlocking parts are made with malleable, hardened and cast iron parts.
So knowing what your doing will save you from damage the cranks are malleable heated they will dent and deform with repeated blows they will deform regardless of heat being used.
Pins and cotter pins are hardened steel.
the link is hammer forged and the crank and compensator frame is cast iron which will crack if impacted .
Semaphore bearings . I saw a site where a man use a gas torch set up on a semaphore bearing
in a restoration attempt. ***CRINGE!*** A semaphore bearing case is cast iron and can crack if heated . the spectacle shaft is steel . and crank is malleable iron the shaft is supported
by two red brass bearings.
The lubricant used decades ago maybe gone and dried up but its a fair bet introducing a penetrant and low heat and repeating this processes many times and letting parts soak with a penetrant is far kinder on aging metals.
as well as rubber mallets or loaded plastic type.
Basically its called TIME and patience..your antique artifacts will thank you.