I had to fix a couple ammeters and both the original and repro had super tight covers on them, so I had to make a special tool to get them apart.
Note the repro is aluminum and has no black paint on the brass inside the case. I spent more time fixing this one than it was worth. The face also uses white for the marking, while originals are silver.
I got both the pointers centered, but hope they stay that way after the post office throws them around and drops heavy boxes on top of them on the return trip to the customer.
I used my Sterrett 3" hole saw to cut two circles of 1/8" thick aluminum, then cut the 1 5/8" center hole out on my lathe. I then had to use my Dremel to grind away 5 notches for the 4 tabs and alignment bump in the case. The other plate I used a #20 bit to drill two holes 1" apart, then used a #7 bit and drilled two holes to tap for the 1/4 x 20 eye bolts.
This works much better than a screwdriver and hammer. Since the two studs are slightly off center, the pressure tends to lift one side more than the other, so it's easy to spread the side with your fingers once the other side has spread a bit. It's important to remove the cover evenly so you don't warp or crack the cover. It's rare to find a good original cover without cracks in the brass rim.
Note the repro is aluminum and has no black paint on the brass inside the case. I spent more time fixing this one than it was worth. The face also uses white for the marking, while originals are silver.
I got both the pointers centered, but hope they stay that way after the post office throws them around and drops heavy boxes on top of them on the return trip to the customer.
I used my Sterrett 3" hole saw to cut two circles of 1/8" thick aluminum, then cut the 1 5/8" center hole out on my lathe. I then had to use my Dremel to grind away 5 notches for the 4 tabs and alignment bump in the case. The other plate I used a #20 bit to drill two holes 1" apart, then used a #7 bit and drilled two holes to tap for the 1/4 x 20 eye bolts.
This works much better than a screwdriver and hammer. Since the two studs are slightly off center, the pressure tends to lift one side more than the other, so it's easy to spread the side with your fingers once the other side has spread a bit. It's important to remove the cover evenly so you don't warp or crack the cover. It's rare to find a good original cover without cracks in the brass rim.
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