Fixing an eggbeater brace

[Denis Tranchemontagne]

I recently bought a nice looking Miller Fall's 2A eggbeater. It looks great, came with 8 bits but has one little problem, it doesn't turn.

I've taken it apart, and the problem is the lower gear won't turn. Is there any tricks out there on how I can fix this else I just have a pretty non-work eggbeater.

Thanks

Denis

[Bill Houghton]

Remove the chuck (it unscrews from the spindle). Remove the crank handle and crank wheel and side knob, if any.

Go to the hardware store and buy one of the penetrating oils in a quart container - WD-40 type stuff. While you're at it, buy two nuts in the thread size that the spindle is (I think it's a modern standard size, though I'm not sure - if I'm wrong, ignore this step). Assuming you have found nuts the right size, use two wrenches to tighten them on the spindle. You tighten them against each other, because you'll use them to turn the spindle. Run them fairly far down on the spindle - the closer, the better, short of touching the drill body or running out of threaded part on the spindle.

Find a container deep enough to hold the drill up to the part of the casting above the gear - you can see an oil hole there - imagine how far the shaft runs - you'll want a container deep enough to take all that. Soup or tomato sauce can's probably deep enough.

Arrange a way to hold the drill firmly in place so that the drill spindle's down in the can all the way to the part I mentioned. You want it cat-proof or little-kid-proof or, if you're a Californian, earthquake-proof (or, if you live in Chicago, elevated-train-vibration-proof). The wire thingies that come wrapped around lettuce are useful here, along with scraps of wood. Once it's in place, pour the penetrating fluid in until it covers the drill up to the upper spindle part.

Now think about other things for about a week.

Week over, remove the drill from the can (don't knock the can over - you may need to repeat). Try turning the nut farther away from the drill body in the direction that you would turn it to tighten it. Since you've already tightened it against the other nut, you're applying torque to the spindle itself. If I was wrong about the spindle size and there aren't nuts here, you'll have to see if you can turn the gear with your fingers. DON'T use pliers on the gear.

If you're lucky, this will loosen up the crud and rust that have probably taken up residence. If not, you can try heating the cast iron drill body at the points where the spindle turns (propane torch) until you get smoke, letting it cool until you can just touch it, and repeating the above.

Once it's freed up, put oil in the oil holes* and resolve to do so regularly.

*If I recall correctly - I don't want to go back out to the shop to check - there are four - two for the drive spindle (one above and one below gear), one for the crank wheel at the base of the crank handle, and one for the idler gear opposite the drive gear. Look for little holes that are in logical locations to get oil to moving parts.

[Johnny Kleso]

What will not turn????????

Better yet what does turn???

I have the same brace and I just finished making studs for Wiktor Kuc that he uses to make side handles for those drills.. He also refinishes them and sells them here
www.wkTools.com (http://www.wkTools.com)

I can only guess your missing a drive pin that pins the grear to the shaft but I need more details and to what dosent trun..

If I cant help you email Wiktor here wiktor@wkfinetools.com

There is a artical here but doesnt look like a lot of help
http://www.wkfinetools.com/z_tDownL/restoration/eggBitter/eggBitter.asp

Download the PDF has more info that webpage...

[Gary Herrmann]

Denis is the drill in the pic the one you bought? It looks rehabbed. When you took the drill apart, did the lower gear turn independently at all? If not, clearly something happened during the rehab process. If Johnny's suggestions don't work, contact the seller.

[Denis Tranchemontagne]

When I took it apart, the upper pinion turns freely. The lower one seems completely frozen, the spindle doesn't move either..
Everything else seems in really good condition. I am not sure if it was rehabbed possibly.

If it was then maybe chrome paint is causing the problem.

Thanks for the advice and help.

Denis

[Bill Houghton]

"brace" has historically - I think - more commonly been applied to a tool with an offset or cranked handle, in which the driving force is applied by the mechanic's rotation of the cranked handle (wow, is it hard to describe such a simple tool), while the tool you've got, in which the rotational force is applied by turning a wheel that, in turn, rotates the spindle through a gear arrangement, is usually called a "drill."

Both start from the same place - the conversion of muscle power by rotation - but they're very different in use. A brace specializes in high torque, at the expense of relatively low speeds, and bits for a brace are optimized for that combination; a drill trades off torque for higher speeds, with similar optimization of bits. A certain amount of crossover exists...

[Johnny Kleso]

When I took it apart, the upper pinion turns freely. The lower one seems completely frozen, the spindle doesn't move either..
Everything else seems in really good condition. I am not sure if it was rehabbed possibly.

If it was then maybe chrome paint is causing the problem.

Thanks for the advice and help.

Denis

There are OIL holes for the upper and lower pinion gear, add some penatrating oil..
Remove the crank, one screw I think and with a screwdriver, try to wedge the pinon gear so the shaft turns..Be care full not to bust a tooth.. You can try a rag and hands first..

I am guessing some type of oil varnished up and the shaft is locked..

Try add oil over day till it frees up..

You can try tapping the shaft in and out with light tap on the chuck with a block of wood, just make sure the chuck is screwed on most of the way

[Ray Sheley]

If the picture shown is the eggbeater in question I too suspect that it was rehabbed and that (perhaps) some paint or similar has penetrated the interface between the gear shaft and the housing. If it were mine I would opt for a lubrication soak of the shaft section along with the double nut on the threads that would hold the chuck. After a long soak, days/weeks, I would first try to gently then increase torque on the nuts to see if I could break the shaft free, then would resort to sharp jerks in opposing directions (Be careful, not too much force.) to see if the shock would break it loose. Good luck.

[Denis Tranchemontagne]

Just bumping this up. Its been soaking in WD-40 since last Friday, still can't get the lower pinion or spindle to move.

I've tried a couple of things, first was getting 2 nuts that actually fit this. The hardware store didn't have any that were an exact fit, guessing a non-standard size. The ones I tried kept slipping.

Next I've tried gently tapping the pinion gears with a screw driver, still no luck.

Finally I've tried tapping the chuck with a block of wood. still no luck.

Its still soaking and maybe for the rest of eternity if it doesn't unstick.

[Johnny Kleso]

WD-40 is not a rust buster :)

Its a moisture stopper, you need to go to the auto store and get soming like Rust Buster..

I use Aero Kroil which is best I have been told but you have to order it on line from Kano Labs..

Here is the address if you want to try it..
http://www.kanolabs.com/

[Ray Sheley]

If you can't get nuts to match the thread you might have to resort to inserting a shaft into the jaws of the chuck that wont slip. I'm thinking something tri-lobbed or triangular with a T-handle. You can use that to jerk the spindle shaft CW and CCW to see if the spindle will break free.

Or perhaps someone with a similar eggbeater can measure the spindle thread to help you with the thread, hopefully it's a standard size and a tap can be found to open up an existing nut to the correct size.

[Bill Houghton]

If you can't get nuts to match the thread you might have to resort to inserting a shaft into the jaws of the chuck that wont slip. I'm thinking something tri-lobbed or triangular with a T-handle.

By "hex wrench," I mean a hexagonal length of tool steel bent into an "L" shape. When I was young, these were universally, at least in my social circles, called Allen wrenches. Turns out this is like calling photocopy machines Xerox machines, or gypsum drywall Sheetrock - a brand name coming to stand for the generic object.

Anyway - if you don't own L-shaped hex/Allen wrenches, your local hardware store can sell you a set or an individual one. If you buy individual, go for a big one - as large as the chuck can handle, at least 1/4". I've used these more than once to remove electric drill chucks. I am a little chagrined that I forgot this in my earlier suggestions, and thank Ray for bringing it up.

[Johnny Kleso]

I made some studs for the side handles on the MFs drill for Wiktor and they where not a standard thread..

I would guess none of them are, so try chucking an allen wrench with some rust buster..

[Ray Sheley]

I completely forgot that Hex wrenches are 6-sided, and of course are perfect for this, as the kids say...... DUH!

I tried to measure the thread on my No. 2A. My verniers show .365xxx" diameter, my metric pitch gage doesn't have a match to the threads, and my American threads per inch gage seems to have walked off. So I am not as much help as I hoped to be. Sorry.

[Denis Tranchemontagne]

Thanks for all the suggestions and help on this one.

Put the allen wrench in, gave it a turn and it worked. Didn't even take as much force as I would have guessed.

Thanks again

Denis

[Bill Houghton]

Glad the collective brain cells of this group managed to get it together to offer something useful...

My experience has been, once you break the rust lock, you can keep twirling and oiling for a few minutes, and it'll be fine from then on.

[Johnny Kleso]

I'm guessing someone used an oil that turned to a varnish.. This happens a lot with the Yankee/Stanley 1201 braces as the grease turns hard and the ratchet sticks...

Looks like a great drill hope you enjoy using it..
I know I use mine much more that my 18v DeWalt, as I dont need to wait 30mins to charge the batteries :)

[Jim Koepke]

Looks like a great drill hope you enjoy using it..
I know I use mine much more that my 18v DeWalt, as I dont need to wait 30mins to charge the batteries :)

I know to charge my batteries, some good dark chocolate and a pint of Guinness gets me spinning the ol' eggbeater.

jim