How to remove sticking spindle from Kelmar rewind bench?

[Gary A. Hoselton]

In my older Kelmar rewind bench with motor under the bench top, I've not removed the spindle on the takeup (drive) side for some time, and it seems frozen in place. I've removed the ball detent and tried gentle prying from the front, but spindle won't budge. I see a metal cover over the rear of the hollow drive shaft, and the cover has a slot at its periphery as if to pry it out, but it doesn't want to move--my thought is that I might be able to drive the spindle out with a drift and mallet. How do I extract this spindle?

[Frank Cox]

On mine I just put one hand on the table and grab the spindle with my other hand and start pulling. It's stiff to remove but it's never refused to come out. I don't remember leaving them in place for long periods of time, though. Back when I used it it seemed that I was forever adjusting that little arm on the spindle to fit something with the holes in a different place than the last reel, so it sat on the table top most of the time.

Just pulling it straight out with a good amount of pressure doesn't work?

[Sam Chavez]

Might take a slide hammer puller like body shops use to pull out dents. Last resort though.

[Steve Guttag]

Getting the whole assembly out shouldn't be too difficult but it is tedious as you have to loosen the clamping rings, pulley...etc to get the WHOLE shaft/spindle assembly out. Once you have the whole thing out, you can start attacking it. You can try to get some lubrication in there by going in through where the spring loaded ball was, you can try heating up the unit to expand the metal and break free the spindle. I think I have one that beat me and remains a fixed "one-piece" assembly. Heck you could drill out the other end to give yourself a place to put a suitable drift (and another place to sneak some lubrication into).

We made it policy to lubricate those shafts on PM calls to avoid this problem. Not dripping wet with oil...apply the oil and wipe off so there is just a thin film on it. Also we strongly recommended that the shafts be removed to avoid this problem as well as to protect people from getting skewered as they walked near the table.

[Gary A. Hoselton]

Sam, on the eighth thump of the slide hammer, the spindle assembly popped out. It was new about two years ago from Kelmar, and I remember it fit tight then. Upon removal, shaft measured 0.003" greater diameter than ones which slide in easily, so I drove pin out of collar to remove spindle, chucked spindle in drill press, and used 80 grit sandpaper to thin the shaft, finishing with 150 grit, then reassembled. As Steve suggested, I put oil on shaft and wiped it, adjusted ball detent, and spindle goes in and out at will now. While I was in there, aligned sheaves a little better so belts run truer.

Found the reason why pushing spindle assy in seems to compress air. They go into solid rod, which was drilled out just deep enough for spindle shaft to seat. Fit is so tight that air is slow to escape. So, if I had pried the rear end cap off, I'd have seen solid rod which wouldn't have allowed me to pound the spindle assy out from the rear.

I leave the spindles in because have the shallow rewind bench, which is at one end of much deeper Neumade film bench, so film bench protects one spindle. The other spindle is near the end wall, with cart I transport film on in front of it, so can't walk into that spindle. Works fine, and usually rewind a reel or two a day so handy to have everything ready to go. Thanks all for suggestions and help, Gary

[Jim Cassedy]

. Also we strongly recommended that the shafts be removed . . . . . to protect
people from getting skewered as they walked near the table.

LoL! I know exactly what Steve is talking about! The space between of back the #1 film projector & one
end of the rewind bench at the old Balboa Theater is San Francisco was only about 18in or less. I'm not
a very large person ( I weigh around 141lbs) but even I had to take care negotiating that gap if a spindle
had been left in place. I like to keep my changeover booths dark, so I can see the screen better, and even
though I usually remembered if I had the spindle attached or not, I'd still occasionally back into it in the
dark when I was in a rush to cross the booth. Once I hit it hard enough that it left a permanent mark on
my back. What's funny is that just about everybody I knew who worked that booth could raise their
shirts & show you their "Balboa Birthmark", as we called it. LoL

> FYI: For the stuck shaft I once used one of those little hand held blowtorch-thingys, like the ones I
see bums on Market Street with crack pipes using, to heat the outer collar for a few seconds and than
I could grab the spindle with a gloved hand or pliers & pull it out. But, like Steve sez, if you just wipe it
down with a slightly oily rag about twice a year, it usually will prevent it from sticking again.

(However, I like your solution of thinning it down a bit with the fine-grit sandpaper too!)