Rapom's Rocket - just another Duster build thread

Well the best laid plans sometimes go all to hell. Unlike others who have written about this mod I ran into an issue that required several hours of filing and fitting before it was resolved. When I tried to slide the steering shaft into the bearing there was no way it was going to go. It wouldn't even start. Evidently my shaft was slightly egg shaped or the bearing wasn't round. I used the dremel with drum sanding attachment to clean up the set screw holes on the inside of the bearing and then spent several tedious hours working the end of the shaft down with a fine toothed flat file. I attempted to keep it round by rolling it back and forth on the bench with every stroke of the file. Then I would polish out the scratches with 320 grit sandpaper and give it a trial fit. Any tight spots would leave a mark which I would work out with the file and sandpaper and try again. Eventually I got it worked down to where it would slide in and out without binding. A five minute job if I only had access to a lathe. Pic of the worked shaft's end and the pile of filings.

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