Removing the Quill Stop Microscrew when the Reverse Trip Lever is Broken and Jammed

I have owned my BP for 15 years or so and use it essentially daily but I have never used the reverse feed trip feature and really did not even know it existed. But, when I purchased a a micrometer quick nut from H+W Repair, I learned that lever had to be removed so that the microscrew could be removed and the quicknut installed. That's when I learned that the lever was broken (long before I bought it I am sure) and the remnant would NOT come out. I tried using standard tweezers, a hemostat with which I got a good grip, picks etc. No matter how well the holes in the casting and the microscrew were aligned that remnant refused to be extracted and so the microscrew could not be removed. In desperation I tigged a small tungsten electrode to the remnant and then got a vise grip on it. Still no go. I called H+W and they said the only method they used when rarely faced with this was to beat down on the existing micrometer screws until the pin sheared and the screw slid out. I did not like the beating solution very well and decided to try using a sort of spacer between the cast iron boss that housed the broken pin and upper end of the screw and the micrometer nuts. It seemed like a more controlled approach and I did not like impact forces applied to the cast iron boss.

Long story short, it worked very well. The pics tell the story.

The spacer tool

The tool in place
Applying pressure with a vise grip

The end result. Buggered up the nuts but they were being replaced anyway.


I then cleaned up the holes with reamers and a tap to the threads for the plug and everything went back together fine.

I am just putting this up here (I hope it is not a duplication of someone's prior posts) as another approach to this relatively rare problem.

Denis

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