Originally Posted by
John Keeton
Andrew, it might be easier and quicker to drill out the existing threads and retap the body for an available new thumbscrew. I did this on an 80 cabinet scraper once and it was very easy to do as the cast iron threads easily. It isn’t like the 63 is a valuable collector piece.
Andrew, I agree with John, but before you start, check to make someone hasn't already retapped the threads. Some of the #63s did have round head screws in stead of thumbscrews. Yours looks like it not only has the wrong screw but like it also has the wrong lever cap. Yours looks like it has a flathead screw (for a countersunk hole). That is definitely wrong and not likely to have the correct threads.
As John said the cast iron is easy to thread. It is also easy to jam a screw of the right size with the wrong pitch into the threaded hole. It has happened to a few old tools that have come my way.
Just looked at your picture again and the outline of the original lever cap can be seen.
jtk
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
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