Split cotters

[ChrisLHParticipant @chrislh]

Haven’t tried it on my sensitive drill but….drill a small hole through each cotter to take a roll pin. Hole at right angles to the axis of the cotter and in a plane normal to the axis of the clamped bar. Drill a correspondng clearance hole in the clamped bracket. On assembly, drive the roll pins in from the outside of the bracket. Cotters removable with difficulty by driving roll pins out with a drift from the bar bore. Some careful thought required on machining sequence but a suggestion. Drill pin size holes in bracket first then clamp cotters in position to machine curved clamping surface. Spot through bracket on to cotters. Remove cotters and drill through roll pin size then open out bracket holes to clearance size.

[ChrisLHParticipant @chrislh]

I know I shouldn’t have been so hasty. It won’t work because the cotter clamp bolt is in the way. Perhaps OK with rather thick walled cotters.

[Charles LamontParticipant @charleslamont71117]

I think I have got it, you’re suggesting a pin sticking out radially from the cotter, sitting in a hole big enough to allow movement?

Hmm. It might be easier to fit the pin in the bracket and have a clearance hole or slot in the side of cotter, as for a feather key, instead of a full length keyway. The pin would need to screw into the bracket to make dismantling possible. Yea, that’d work. Thanks, I will think about that.

[ChrisLHParticipant @chrislh]

Charles, you have picked it up and run with it. The screw in pin (modified cap screw ?) is ideal – why didn’t I think of that ? And the pin does not need to be in the plane normal to the axis of the clamped bar – a bit of flexibility to suit the bracket configuration.

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