# Quick and dirty taper pin pusher



## Clock work (Mar 15, 2018)

In taking my SB7 shaper down to clean it up and paint it, I encountered taper pins for the first time and I will say now... not a huge fan. Nothing but stories online about turning them into rivets or people having to repair the thing the taper pin was in after they beat it to death getting the pin out. One guy mentioned he used his hydraulic press to get them out but that wouldn't work for me but.. another tack, see photos. Hideously crude.. looks like I made it with an axe but it works. Only popped two so far with this but worked great... keep on dialing in force on the pusher and then the pin just lurches out... gently push it out the rest of the way with what ever fits in the hole. The ball bearing is to have a small bit of reach into the hole in which the pin is located

CW


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## Rooster (Mar 15, 2018)

Looks like it would work great. Your axe is better than mine.


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## Clock work (Mar 15, 2018)

Rooster said:


> Looks like it would work great. Your axe is better than mine.



Thank you.. Lizzy Borden was my backup forum name


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## benmychree (Mar 15, 2018)

After about years of dealing with taper pins, my technique is to make sure what is the small end and take a tapered drift punch and land it on that end and give it a whack with a good sized hammer applied with vigor and knocking it loose on the first whack; if one pussyfoots around, you just peen it over and have a hell of a time getting it out, even having to finally drill it out.


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## Clock work (Mar 16, 2018)

I'd seen a lot of advice to that end.. I felt a simple machine would eliminate the vulnerability of me misjudging the vigor of the strike and the risk of then repairing what I screw up when I go to drill it out. A coward's life is an easy life


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## middle.road (Mar 16, 2018)

Clock work said:


> In taking my SB7 shaper down to clean it up and paint it, I encountered taper pins for the first time and I will say now... not a huge fan. Nothing but stories online about turning them into rivets or people having to repair the thing the taper pin was in after they beat it to death getting the pin out. One guy mentioned he used his hydraulic press to get them out but that wouldn't work for me but.. another tack, see photos. Hideously crude.. looks like I made it with an axe but it works. Only popped two so far with this but worked great... keep on dialing in force on the pusher and then the pin just lurches out... gently push it out the rest of the way with what ever fits in the hole. The ball bearing is to have a small bit of reach into the hole in which the pin is located
> 
> CW


In looking at the pictures I can't seem to find the "_Hideously crude_..." device that you mention. 
Another good practice is to sand off or remove all paint from both ends. I failed to do that once upon a time and the large end had been tack welded and there was several layers of paint covering it that I didn't noticed. Firm hits on the narrow end didn't work.


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## cathead (Mar 16, 2018)

Tapered pins are supposed to have domed ends on them.  Usually if they have been removed and installed a few times, they get flat ends
so need to be ground to a domed shape again before reinstalling.  I have also just tapered the tips and that works too.


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## Clock work (Mar 16, 2018)

cathead said:


> Tapered pins are supposed to have domed ends on them.  Usually if they have been removed and installed a few times, they get flat ends
> so need to be ground to a domed shape again before reinstalling.  I have also just tapered the tips and that works too.



There appear to be places on my shaper where the manufacturer went to the trouble of blending pins into the surface such as on the hand wheels. Perhaps these are straight pins, but either way, thanks for posting that. It seems like a good thing to have an indicator something has been "screwed with". Is there a second reason beyond that (and perhaps is that even a reason)?


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## Clock work (Mar 16, 2018)

middle.road said:


> In looking at the pictures I can't seem to find the "_Hideously crude_..." device that you mention.
> Another good practice is to sand off or remove all paint from both ends. I failed to do that once upon a time and the large end had been tack welded and there was several layers of paint covering it that I didn't noticed. Firm hits on the narrow end didn't work.



Tack welded. I'm in awe. Thank God we have these innovators!

You're too kind.. I look at what people who post in this forum make and the norm is just a much more finished looking item. In my partial defense, I was trying to get it done before my daughter's midnight noise limit so she can sleep (over rated. 

CW


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## Bob Korves (Mar 16, 2018)

benmychree said:


> After about years of dealing with taper pins, my technique is to make sure what is the small end and take a tapered drift punch and land it on that end and give it a whack with a good sized hammer applied with vigor and knocking it loose on the first whack; if one pussyfoots around, you just peen it over and have a hell of a time getting it out, even having to finally drill it out.


What John York (benmychree) said.  Make damn sure what end is the small end and give it a good whack, supporting the work if necessary to prevent damage to stuff like bearings, and to make it more rigid so the hammer and punch blow does not just flex things.  On installation you do not have to (or want to) beat them in hard.  The pin will stay put with just enough medium tapping that it is set.  A really tight or press fit is not required or desired.


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## Clock work (Mar 16, 2018)

Bob Korves said:


> What John York (benmychree) said.  Make damn sure what end is the small end and give it a good whack, supporting the work if necessary to prevent damage to stuff like bearings, and to make it more rigid so the hammer and punch blow does not just flex things.  On installation you do not have to (or want to) beat them in hard.  The pin will stay put with just enough medium tapping that it is set.  A really tight or press fit is not required or desired.



So that's one vote for no tack weld. Duly registered


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## tq60 (Mar 16, 2018)

Trick is gentle tap with the largest Hammer you can find as it is the energy transfer...thing Newton balls.

But that press is sweet! 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337Z using Tapatalk


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## Bob Korves (Mar 17, 2018)

Clock work said:


> There appear to be places on my shaper where the manufacturer went to the trouble of blending pins into the surface such as on the hand wheels.


That was very common back in the day.  After the pins were installed they were filed down flush with the surface they were driven into.  After painting, they would pretty much disappear.  Which is nice until you want to take it apart decades later with no idea how it was put together.  Still, I have done that myself with taper pin installations.  I think it leaves a nice looking job, and it also makes the pins easier to remove, after you find them!


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## Clock work (Mar 17, 2018)

Bob Korves said:


> That was very common back in the day.  After the pins were installed they were filed down flush with the surface they were driven into.  After painting, they would pretty much disappear.  Which is nice until you want to take it apart decades later with no idea how it was put together.  Still, I have done that myself with taper pin installations.  I think it leaves a nice looking job, and it also makes the pins easier to remove, after you find them!



My real life has left me obnoxiously opinionated on matters relating to design and I'm pretty sure I still would put the SB7 on my list of Ten Worst Designed things I've been around (too bad they're so pretty. And that surprises me because my Ten Best would all be really *old* things... Since there was some guy back at the SB mothership who had to occasionally take them apart, I'm wondering if there was some convention of which end was which you could tell from looking at the surrounding context. Or, if the guy assembling them had it in for the guy who has to fix them and randomized it

CW


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## Bob Korves (Mar 17, 2018)

Clock work said:


> I'm wondering if there was some convention of which end was which you could tell from looking at the surrounding context. Or, if the guy assembling them had it in for the guy who has to fix them and randomized it


If the pin was drilled while the machine was being assembled, than it is quite likely that the fat end of the pin is toward the easier accessed position...  But you still need to check it.  With work done on the bench, anything is possible.  I doubt that much thought was given to the poor guy who had to remove and replace the pin in the field...


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