3 ball crank handle on older FP1

I am de-rusting an older FP1. The nice 3ball handles have crank handles that spin. It appears that those handles ride in a bushing that is either pressed into the 3 ball handle or threaded in. Does anybody know how I can remove it so that I can clean up the handle and crank and polish them on the lathe before reassembly? It's always so simple when you know how it comes apart, vs trying the wrong thing and doing damage.

sblack said:

Does anybody know how I can remove it so that I can clean up the handle and crank and polish them on the lathe before reassembly?

Click to expand...

A photo or two will get you a quick and correct reply.

ballen said:

A photo or two will get you a quick and correct reply.

Click to expand...

Ok then you can see the crank goes into a boss that is seperate from the ball. The crank rotates in the boss, so I suppose that the crank goes through that boss, then it is peened over, and the boss is either tbreaded or pressed into the ball. I am not sure which. I have tried to tgread it out, but it didn't turn and I don't want to mangle it. Any advice from somebody who has done it would be appreciated. The handle is quite pitted and it will take sime metal removal to ckean it up.

I realize this goes against your plan but for my own parts like that one I wire wheel on a low power bench grinder with soft SS wheel. Only if it needs lubrication or cleaning inside would it be disassembled. Reason is I'm not a fan of material removal to remove pits because sometimes they are deeper than expected and the original shape of the part can be lost. Once wire wheeled they look and feel good and then some oil rubbed on to prevent rust in addition to stored indoors out of the weather. Anyway have fun with your rebuild and post some pictures as you go.

Don't have specifics on that handle.
Some clues.....If the stationary portion of the handle is clear of the rotating part and there are no flats on the exposed OD then its pretty safe that its not threaded......
Further don't believe that the stationary portion is fit in a through hole in the ball....that would require finishing the curve with the shaft in place, and that 's not how that ball was formed...
So i believe that the shaft is pressed into the ball in a blind hole.....

The rotating part often is made with a groove in its bore up toward the end. The shaft is also made with a groove (same position along its length as the handle)
On assembly a split ring of spring wire ("C") is pushed over the shaft and allowed to snap into the groove in that shaft its a loose fit in the groove..The wire diameter of the ring is such that when in the groove its OD
is somewhat larger than the shaft OD.....

Then the shaft is forced into the handle bore which in effect compresses the ring......The handle is pushed onto the shaft till the ring snaps into the groove in the handle, thus retaining it, but allowing it to turn.

Long story short, these types of handles are generally not removable......Sometimes one can force the handle off the shaft, but it all depends on the internal shape of the groove and ring and how they fit together...

I have great success using "Scotch Brite" wheels for my buffer...They will do a nice job smoothing and removing rust and corrosion and will leave a nice finish if you are careful with the way the part is manipulated
past the wheel surface,,,,,These wheels come is various grits from very fine to quite aggressive...

Holding the wheel at an angle to the axis of rotation for the handle will allow the handle to rotate by wheel contact...changing the attack angle can produce some nice swirl patterns in the part....clean and consistent.

Cheers Ross

Ross you are making a lot of sense. I think the only way I could extract it would be to fabricobble a custom puller and perhaps use some heat. I have soaked the handle in evaporust and it did a good job. There is a lot of pitting which I will fill with hard silver solder and polish it the best I can. I think removing the handle will do more harm than good. Thanks for your perspective.