Jigmaster pinion sometimes jams against bridge

[Alto Mare]

I have a Squidder open waiting for Alan to return the head plate after extracting the bearing, so I looked at the pinion yolk to see the difference between the stamped edge and the bottom edge. It's a pretty subtle difference, but it's definitely there. Makes sense that the eccentric jack slides more easily over the side with the rounded edge. Thanks for the help.

Those are tricky, can't put too much pressure on the under side of the bearing or you'll crack the plate.
I'm sure Alan knows how to handle it though, he thought me after all.
A sliding hammer with a bearing puller head comes handy here, I happen to have one of those.
But as mentioned above, Alan will get it out, I have no doubts.

Sal

[sdlehr]

After turning the pinion yolk over (and backing off the right side bearing a little on the new aluminum side plate from Tom) she's as smooth as silk and ready for fishing! I had two problems at the same time, was getting a little frustrated thinking something was amiss with my internal parts, but I'm a happy camper now. If you're assembling a Jigmaster from Tom's aluminum side plates be careful not to over-tighten the right side bearing - in the stock Penns you can tighten it down all the way, and should, but not so in this conversion.

Now I have another weird Jigmaster problem to ask about, but I'll start a new thread.

Sid

[sdlehr]

Those are tricky, can't put too much pressure on the under side of the bearing or you'll crack the plate.
I'm sure Alan knows how to handle it though, he thought me after all.
A sliding hammer with a bearing puller head comes handy here, I happen to have one of those.
But as mentioned above, Alan will get it out, I have no doubts.
Sal

The Squidder side plate arrived in today's mail, it's my next project. Alan returned the old, rusty bearing. The side I couldn't see was the one that was most rusted; are the plastic spools on the Squidders usually noisier than the metal? I guess I'll find out after I reassemble, it was making a horrible racket before; I hope the left side bearing isn't the noisy one.

Sid

[Bryan Young]

After turning the pinion yolk over (and backing off the right side bearing a little on the new aluminum side plate from Tom) she's as smooth as silk and ready for fishing! I had two problems at the same time, was getting a little frustrated thinking something was amiss with my internal parts, but I'm a happy camper now. If you're assembling a Jigmaster from Tom's aluminum side plates be careful not to over-tighten the right side bearing - in the stock Penns you can tighten it down all the way, and should, but not so in this conversion.

Now I have another weird Jigmaster problem to ask about, but I'll start a new thread.

Sid

I'm glad ypu got it worked out.  SUCCESS!!!

[sdlehr]

Thanks, Bryan. You were a big help!

[steelhead_killer]

Sid, you've mentioned yourself that when testing the bridge without spool assembly, the pinion tilts, that is correct and it will also create damage if you do it long enough. There are many that do it, myself included, but I always place my finger on the pinion and try to hold it straight while moving the eccentric.
Best practice is to try the parts when fully assembled.
Bryan is on to something and it usually works, I've mentioned it myself many times. The bridge assembly parts are stamped, what that does is create a rounded edge on those parts , but only on side.
Make sure the rounded edge on the yoke is facing up as you install it.
Another thing you need to do is to slide the pinion on the spool shaft by hand without forcing it and see if it binds anywhere. Swapping parts as you've been doing is good practice.
I'm sure you'll get it figured out.

This just saved my weekend, thanks

Sal