MTFCA Forum

I purchased a reproduction Steven's axle repair frame a while back and I am getting ready to use it. Upon inspection I see the two holes are misaligned. I don't think I can use it as is for fear the repair bushings won't line up enough to allow the spindle bolt to pass through the repaired axle and thread at the bottom. It's not just a matter of one hole being misaligned. Both are. See photos.
The feed screw hole is threaded 5/8" x 18 and the tool hole is
1/2" diameter smooth bore.
I thought about drilling out the tool hole and installing a bushing reamed to align with the feed screw hole but that hole is incorrectly angled too.
I'm interested in hearing ideas on how to proceed. repair the frame.

Be sure the tool is misaligned and not the axle, or both. Never trust; always verify.

Richard,

If I understand correctly, bushing the tool hole to align with the feed screw should be all that you need to do. You say the feed screw is also misaligned. It's misaligned to what exactly? Doesn't it only need to be aligned to the tool hole? So, if you fix the tool hole to align with the feed screw... viola!

I must admit, I have never used one these tools, so maybe I'm missing some important point.

Steven's tool holes out of alignment? I would contact the vendor to see if I could exchange it for a good one.

... .- ...- . / --- ..- .-. / -.-. .-.. ..- -...

Jerry if I were to bush and align the tool hole withe the feed screw hole the tool hole would be moved off center of the frame and an axle might not fit inside the frame. I can check on that

Bob I purchased this frame new from Jack Putnam a long time ago. I guess it's worth a try to contact him.
Hello John and Pat. Unfortunately the holes are indeed out of alignment.

If the frame is forged steel, you could bend one side of it very slightly to bring it into alignment. Either brute force, applied carefully, or heating and quenching might work. It being new, replacement is the best option, if available.

I've used an original Steven's tool many times, and I just checked my tool for concentricity. It's OK, but worn enough that a 1/2" rod will wobble a tad and if allowed to lean over, it will look like the the one shown. In use, it functions perfectly.

For background, I was a watchmaker, an engineer and now make precision parts for carbs. I mention this so as to negate the impression that I don't appreciate good tools or that I don't mind using crap tools. I hate crap tools. I love good tools and will not tolerate tools or machinery which do not do what they're supposed to do. And yet, I am very happy with my well-used Stevens tool. The Stevens tool is a practical tool used to repair the axle while still in the car. It's not a Bridgeport or a particularly precision tool...it certainly is NOT going to put the hole back where it should be! The reamer IS GOING TO FOLLOW THE WALLOWED OUT HOLE. Period. There is no precise way to put that hole REALLY back to where it was when it came from the factory. It's going to make a tapered hole, a tapered bushing is going to be inserted, and the kingpin is going to draw it down into the hole and that bushing WILL be in line with the threaded bottom hole. It just is.

The misalignment shown appears to be on the order of 1 degree or so and is visually exacerbated by putting the two elements nose-to-nose. That does not mean the bushing is going to be put in cockeyed. You can do all the Trig you want to prove it will be "wrong" when installed, but the reality is any time a PERFCT tool is used on a worn axle, it is going to be just as "wrong".

I would contact the vendor and say this: "I am uncertain about this tool and wonder if you will replace it if it proves to be faulty" and then go use the thing on an old axle. You're quite possibly going to find it works just fine and the matter will be settled. If you must have a perfect Stevens tool (I don't think there is such a thing), I think mine in pretty nice shape will be good evidence that even having an original tool (which works perfectly) will be either manufactured or worn to the extent that it mimics misalignment of your tool exactly.

Upon close inspection, it appears I can drill out and bush the tool hole so that a 1/2" rod inserted thru the bushed hole linesup with the feed screw close enough to work.
Since the feed screw is a bit angled, the alignment is not perfect but any further repair is more involved than I care to do.
Thank all for the inputL

RGould1910 wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 20, 2023 4:42 pm

Upon close inspection, it appears I can drill out and bush the tool hole so that a 1/2" rod inserted thru the bushed hole linesup with the feed screw close enough to work.
Since the feed screw is a bit angled, the alignment is not perfect but any further repair is more involved than I care to do.
Thank all for the inputL

Notice, when you back off the screw & have the cutter in position between the end of an axle, the "off" alignment of what appears to be .062 will decrease to around .012" I dont think in use there is an issue. I would set it up & cut a sample hole on a spare axle, as was recommended.

if its not out over a degree why not correct with heli coil, looks like this would be a quick fix.

upon closer look the screw looks to be inline and shaft out of line

When you pass a 1/2" rod thru the tool hole to touch the feed screw, the offset is close to the same regardless of the position of the feed screw suggesting the holes are offset rather than angled. I've ordered some 5/8 x 18 tpi all thread to make a 1/2" ID bushing for the feed screw hole. By placing a 1/2" rod thru the feed screw bushing extending to the tool hole, I can determine how far offset they are. I can move the tool hole a bit by bushing it to align with the 1/2" rod. However there isn't much clearance for an axle to fit inside the frame, so I'm limited as far as how much I can move the hole.
Alternately I can simply rebush the tool hole by enlarging the existing hole and insert a bushing angled so a 1/2" rod passing thu it touches the end of the feed screw squarely in the position it will be used. Not perfect but good enough I suspect.

Richard,

• first, that reamer is going to follow the wear and ream the CENTER of the EXISTING worn hole. That new, tapered hole, is going to move off of it's original location by some small amount
  second, whether it is "off center", the reamed hole is going to line up. A straight line is a straight line, no matter where the two origins are. If the hole is off alignment or canted, it cannot be more than 1/2 degree by my estimation and if that's the case, Dan Hatch, who sells the bushings (at least at one time) was advising that the tapered bush be split so as to bite into the kingpin as it was drawn down. If this is done, that 1/2 degree tilt will be totally invisible to the assembly and will simply draw up tight
  third, as I stated earlier, my original frame has that much "wobble" in it due to wear. It works fine.

If you just don't like tools that are not perfect by your definition of "perfect" well, that I could agree on. I am of the same mind. On the other hand if you are simply convinced this will do a bad job, I believe that is premature. If the work being done by the device was actually at the tip(s) of the threaded rod and the dummy rod you've installed, that'd be a problem, but you're not. You're working at the far end of the frame where that misalignment is a bare fraction of what the exaggerated misalignment shows.

If it was mine, and I felt it was faulty, spending that money and then having to rework it myself would be 100% intolerable to me. I'd return it or sell it. Since they are not now available, perhaps it would just be best to sell it "as-is". In the absence of an alternative, someone is going to want it and be happy to get it

Here's the finished product. The 1/2 " rod now aligns both axle holes with the feed screw in place.

Well, nicely done

Here's a photo of the set up I'm using to face the inside surface of the Stevens axle tool so the washers used with the tap and reamer sit flush. An extra threaded sleeve is also pictured. The set up can also be used to face the inner surfaces of the axle forks. Thanks to Dan Hatch for the inspiration.

Save that tool and use it to face the inside of axle yokes. Dan

Thanks Dan, I just repaired the bottom fork on one side of a db axel. I used the facing tool to clean up top and bottom thrust surfaces. It works well. In the past I've struggled using a file to clean up the surfaces with predictably poor results. It was really pretty cheap to build. The counterbore , pilot, small chuck and rod cost about $60 from eBay.

Here's a list of what's needed to make the facing tool.

1.  Dan Hatch's bottom fork thread insert for the Steven's axle fixture bored on the inside to 1/2"

2. Jacob's Multicraft 1/4 " drill chuck thread mount 3/8" x 24 tpi

3. Pro Cut HHS Aircraft counterbore 1" interchangeable pilot 1/4" shank

4.  1/2" pilot 3/16" shank to fit counterbore

5.  1/2" drill rod threaded 3/8"x 24 tpi to fit drill chuck


To do the job you need to first use the Stevems axle fixture reamer/tap combo to ream and tap the bottom fork.  Then screw in Dan Hatch's thread insert after boring it out to 1/2".  Now you can face both thrust surfaces because each fork will accept the 1/2" pilot and each will allow the 1/2" drill rod to pass thru, allowing you to reverse the tool.


I already had Dans inserts.  I purchased the counterbore on eBay.  The others either eBay or Amazon.  Total cost about $60.

I use mine before I install the inserts. After building up surface with weld. Most faces are worn so bad that after facing they are too wide for spindle bushings.
I have since started making a bronze spacer washer to fit under the spindle bushings to eliminate the welding. Works just fine. Also I use a1&1/8” counter bore.
Glad it worked out for you. Dan

Yeah Dan, I thought the 1" counterbore might be a tad small but I can narrow the width of the fange part of the spindle bushing if need be. As I recall the 09-10 flanges were narrower than the later ones, so I don't see it as an issue.
I like rhe idea of adding a shim under the flange if the space between the forks is too great. I've used that technique in other applications.
I think I'll make a thinner rod and pilot to fit an axle that doesn't need the threaded hole repaired. That way I can clean up the thrust surfaces without disturbing existing threads.

Good luck finding an axle that doesn’t need inserts. I have not seen one in years.

Got the new rod and pilot made and tried them out on the fork with good existing holes and threads. Worked great.

What's the O.D. of your new pilot for good threads in the lower yoke ?

New pilot od is . 438". Yours may vary depending on the condition of your threads. I allowed about 3 to 4 thou slop. You need to make it longer as well since the threads start part way down.
You also need to make another rod the same od as the pilot for facing the top yoke.

Many thanks Richard !