Hey;
The early 200s had a set screw to locate the handle in the keyway. It is called a pin in the diagram (LA-271 Ball Crank with Pin 273). Not sure why, but that's what they did. I do not know for sure, and this is speculation on my part, but it may have been a decision made to keep costs low for the production agreement they had with Montgomery Wards. I'm not sure what the company actually knew about metal machines, as it is my understanding they made mining equipment. My further speculation is that this was a subcontract arrangement that turned into a business. When the 200s first came out, they had many improvements over the Wards versions, but also still used a lot of the same bits. When they went into what I refer to as "serial production", somewhere after 1942, they changed to a handwheel with a key instead. I prefer the look of the ball handle, but would certainly rather have the key. It wouldn't be that hard to broach a keyway into an early handle, if one were so inclined.
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Ha... you guys were typing while I was distracted. Interesting that yours is actually a pin, Mike, like it says in the diagram. I would guess a lot of them got tapped and set screwed after the first time they came apart. Both of mine had screws, and I never knew any different. Whichever, pin or screw, it is a dumb idea, probably again due to reasons I speculated on. They fixed it with a wheel and key when they went bigtime in '43. The "Tombstone Era", for the nameplate shape, as I refer to it.