I found online instructions for a quick way to sharpen blades. I studied them briefly and then thought, confidently "I can do this." So I ordered lapping compound, 240 grit, figured out how to take off the E ring and wheels and pinions. And then came the removal of the pawls. The instructions didn't note that you need to remember the direction of the pawls before you remove them. I paid no attention to the direction of the pawls as I removed them. Uh oh.
Time for plan B.
From wikipedia:
Ratchets consist of a gearwheel or linear rack with teeth, and a pivoting springloaded finger called a pawl (or in horology a click[1]) that engages the teeth. Either the teeth, or the pawl, are slanted at an angle, so that when the teeth are moving in one direction, the pawl slides up and over each tooth in turn, with the spring forcing it back with a 'click' into the depression before the next tooth. When the teeth are moving in the other direction, the angle of the pawl causes it to catch against a tooth and stop further motion in that direction.
5 comments:
Good luck with that. My eyes glazed over about halfway through.
If you can look at a photo of the lawnmower really close up, maybe you can see which way they go.
The pawl, just for your information b/c I know you're so interested, is about 3/4" long and about 1/4" in circumference. In other words it's teeny tiny. And both ends look the same to me (although I admit to not studying the ends too carefully once I realized that I'd made a mistake). In my head I've reduced the problem to a mathematical one: two pawls, two possible directions--one right, one wrong. I THINK that this translates to four possibilities. Eyes glazing over again? Even if I end up taking the mower to a repair shop, I'm hoping that something good will come out of this exercise. Maybe "pawl" will be used in a crossword puzzle someday and I'll know what it means!
Does NOTHING intimidate you? Just seeing numbers and unfamiliar terms in your post did me in.
Pawleeez! So how did Plan B work out?
JGH: Well, implementing Plan B has been delayed until I figure out what "front" and "back" mean. Also what "reverse" means. Is it different from "swap"? I spent my entire working career as an editor and it does me no good. In fact, it causes me endless problems. I edit instructions, and I take everything literally. I'm very discouraged about the poorly written** online instructions I've found. And I've lost all confidence that I can sharpen this mower. I mean really: if something as simple as "loosen both front screws" means one thing to me and the exact opposite to another, unnamed adult in my household (my husband), what chance do I have?
**Or maybe it's not poor writing...maybe I'm simply too non-mechanical to understand this stuff. Very discouraging.
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