replaced clutch bolts

I was running out of luck.

The three screws with thumb grips to tighten the clutch on the clock drive of Mom's Edmund telescope were bent. Looks like the heavy tripod fell over at some point and the screws took the brunt of it.

I had substituted some hex-head bolts from my bicycle repair kit. Proper thread and a similar length. But, obviously, to get any torque into them, we needed to have a socket wrench or spanner nearby...

In the summer, I had tracked down the Brafasco in London. Turned out they had recently moved near the Wellington exit. Now, even closer to Mom. Still, when I showed up, and after they hummed and hahhed, they announced they had no equivalent. At least, nothing in stock. They could special order it but that was expensive / silly for three pieces. Dejected, I departed, vowing to visit the outlet in Toronto, or rather, in Etobicoke, north of the Queensway, believing that the GTA shops would have greater selection.

So, before heading to Mom's for the holidays, I tracked down the Etobicoke location. They too had recently moved, now below the Queensway, on one of my favourite little roads in the city, twisting, turning, blind apex... But that's another story...

The tall guy at the counter hummed and hahhed, shaking his head, filling me with dread.

But then, he said, "Wait a second...", as he dived into some boxes at the back.

He returned with three black bolts of a good length. But they had hex Allan key heads. Well, that was a little better than what I had now. I could just get an extra Allan wrench and keep it near (or hang it from) the pier. But then the good man produced black plastic round knobs, each about 12mm in diameter. These, he explained, could be press-fit onto the heads of the bolts. Now this was sounding very good!

I pulled out my wallet. And he said, "Don't worry about it." Sweet.

Thank you, Etobicoke Brafasco!

At my Mom's, I opened up the bench-mounted vice and slowly pressed the bolt into plastic knob. It was perfect.

They work very well in the clock drive clutch. There's good clearance. And you can get sufficient torque (but not too much) on the serrated edge of the knob so that the clutch is fully engaged.

Funny, the little things. 30 or 60¢ worth of parts, $10 in gas, lots of brain power, worrying. Anyway, it's all fixed now.