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Help Woodruff key

Discussion in 'Tech Tips' started by Frankster, Jun 15, 2021.

  1. Frankster

    Frankster Grey Pride...Adventure before Dementia Staff Member Premium Member Ride and Events Crew

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    Hi All,

    I have found a woodruff key that's been squashed by whoever put the flywheel on this ZXR engine I'm working on. I'm not confident on how best to remove it, so looking for some advice. It has been well and truly squished in there. I guess this engine might have had some vibration when running.

    Woodruff.JPG
     
  2. Linkin

    Linkin The Mechanic Premium Member Contributing Member Dirty Wheel Club

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    First thing I'd try is a straight pick to see if it will move at all. If not, see if there are any protruding areas you could grab with vise grips, being careful not to damage the taper. That failing, I'd try a heatgun and some gentle prying.
     
  3. jmw76

    jmw76 Well-Known Member

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    Ha! I had the opposite problem a number of years back. A flywheel assembly that was a neat fit on a taper and then secured with a screw and washer. It kept spinning loose.
    I tried cleaning the parts up, using loctite. Nothing seemed to work.
    I finally solved the problem by drilling into the assembly along the join line, belting in a pin and then putting the washer and screw back. It never came loose again.
     
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  4. Frankster

    Frankster Grey Pride...Adventure before Dementia Staff Member Premium Member Ride and Events Crew

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    It's been flattened good and proper. I have tried the normal removal methods, but to no avail. I'm going to have to get a bigger hammer and some heat onto it. Thanks for the suggestions.
     
  5. Frankster

    Frankster Grey Pride...Adventure before Dementia Staff Member Premium Member Ride and Events Crew

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    Well, that was an interesting exercise. Hopefully, I haven't damaged anything with the bigger hammer. In the end, I chose to leave the Woodruff in there as it really did not want to come out and I don't have time to split the cases and get it remove it properly. So, I heated it up nice and hot and then reshaped back into a narrow rectangular piece like a normal Woodruff (or as close to the real thing as possible). The flywheel went over it nicely and it's keyed in, so hopefully this will work out.
     
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  6. Gen

    Gen Well-Known Member

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    I'd try & get something under the key , outer edge, like your least favorite small screwdriver, ground to the width (or a bit less) of the key, once you manage that, the key will roll out as you keep tapping the screw driver in, the keyway will clean up around the edges using a good 2nd cut file (being careful not to file the tapered shaft though)
     
  7. Frankster

    Frankster Grey Pride...Adventure before Dementia Staff Member Premium Member Ride and Events Crew

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    The engine is back together, so mute point. However, I just wanted to repost the initial pic of the crank end and the Woodruff for clarity. I have drawn some lines to show how wide the woodruff channel is and also a line to show where the woodruff channel finishes (this is where I would normally hit the woodruff to pop it out). As you can see, that poor little woodruff put up a reasonable fight again pressure and, lets say, stupidity before it was squashed into submission. I'm sorry I didn't take a pic of the final shape before I put the flywheel back on, but it was late and I was just keen to finish.

    Woodruff.jpg
     

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