sharpening the Kodak Stereo winder pawl

[P3D E R Swanson <ers@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

John Arrowsmith (and others) have asked me about the chronic problem of
Kodaks with sheared pawls. I have had some tell me it was impossible and
others that it was possible. So I finally took one of my experimenter
Kodaks with a broken pawl (part number 131043) and took a shot at it. It
worked. My approach was to use a diamond dust disk (say that 3 times fast) 
on a Dremel (disks purchased from American Science and Surplus
(1-847-982-0870 Diamond Cutoff Wheels, stock number 89313, 5 wheels and a
mandril for $15). The pawl steel is very hard, and setting a proper angle
would seem virtually impossible with files. Also, you don't want the pawl
to heat up much and lose its annealing. A diamond disk removes most metal
like cutting butter, and the Kodak pawl is no exception. You have to
remove the bottom Mechanism Plate Assembly, then remove the take up tube
screw, the plate (127400) and the first ratchet (127422). It took a sharp
strike with a plastic hammer to break the take up tube assembly free of
the ratchet. The trick is to take down the pawl at the exact same angle as
the ratchet teeth, sharpening only from the outside and moving towards the
inside of the sheared area. My camera just had a stub, but it was still
enough to reset the pawl tip and still allow the pawl to clear the ratchet
circumference. You may not be so lucky, depending upon where it sheared,
or you may be more lucky and have more metal to work with.

I used a metal wedge to set the pawl into a good working angle (you can't
remove it from the Mechanism Plate Assembly because it's secured by a
stud, not a screw.)

I have no idea how long this repair will hold... we'll see!

FYI. No warranties expressed or implied. Do this at your own risk.  :)

--Elliott


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