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<BR></FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" FACE="Arial" LANG="0"> Dave, I'm curious about your method. In what form is the ether, where do you get it , cost etc. Also do you fall asleep on the job? Tom Driscoll</FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE=3 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" FACE="Arial" LANG="0">
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<BR></FONT><FONT COLOR="#0f0f0f" SIZE=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" FACE="Arial" LANG="0">Tom, I'm sorry for the delay in replying. I tried to get ether from the auto supply store in the form of an starting fluid. I decided not to use these products because they have other ingredients in them. I purchase my ether from a drug store (they order it for me). It costs $20/ quart, and a quart barely will do a set of hammer flanges using the method I devised. I'm sure this method could be improved and I am sure there are commercial sources of ether that are not as expensive.
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<BR>My method couldn't be more crude. I unpin the flanges and throw them is a coffee can. I then cover them with ether, put the lid on the can, and shake them around for a minute or two. Of course, I am doing this OUTDOORS. To do it indoors would be quite lethal. I remove them from the can and do the same to the bushed end of the shanks. The ether evaporates instantly, it seems. When the parts come out of the ether, they are the color of new shanks. The bushings dry in a matter of seconds. They are free of all oil, grease, parafin etc. -- well, almost. The remaining ether has turned green with vertigris and if you touch it, your finger feels waxy--because of the dissolved parafin. If it is on your finger, it is also in the flange in minute amounts. This is easily and inexpensively removed by a bath in acetone. The resulting parts are dry-cleaned and free of any contamination that will corrode the new pin. This is my claim and my hope. I have used this method for three years now without a repeat problem. As to five or ten years--who knows! I'm betting is is a lasting fix because it removes the root cause of the problem, contaminants in the bushings. As far as I can tell, it removes all of the subsequent contaminants that technicians have used to try to free the mess, including WD40.
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<BR>It takes about 3 hours to treat a set of hammer flanges. Well worth the effort.
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<BR>Good luck trying it. Don't smoke!
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<BR>Dave Ireland, RPT</FONT></HTML>