although time consuming, and requiring som moderate machining skill, that
looks like it shouldn't be an extreme problem to make a blank.
I assume that Tony has, or has access to, a precision milling machine.
On Wed, 9 Apr 2025, The Doctor via cctalk wrote:
It might not even need an automill. At the very least for the purposes of
prototyping,
it should be possible to carve some of the wards by hand with a Dremel. I've
done that
for a couple of mechanisms I've restored over the years, and if you don't mind
taking
two or three tries to get one that fits right it's doable.
I am guessing that Tony has enough skill milling, that a dremel would not
be much quicker or easier.
Besides, depending on what kind(s) of milling machine that he has or has
access to, it would be straight forward for him to mill a LONG piece of
brass stock to fit. Then he could cut short pieces for the key blanks.
The rear picture shows that it is not a fully paracentric keyway. (where
"ridges" and "valleys" of the milling of the keyway would cross the center
line, making it impossible to insert a very thin flat piece of metal)
Ooh - good catch! That's a really good point.
If actually milling or "dremel milling" the grooves, paracentric and
non-paracentric would not differ much. BUT, if it is non-paracentric,
then a thin piece of flat brass stock coule fit into the keyway without
necessarily haveing to mill alll of the grooves and/or not having to mill
them deeply.
--
Grumpy Ol' Fred [email protected]
