[CAUT] Installing New Let-Off Buttons

[Ed Foote]

 Greetings,   
      You may want to try this:  Drill a hole just slightly oversize to your button dia. , (varies from 7/16" up) through a hammer flange, right where the hole is.  This is a guide.  Then place the let-off button in it and while holding the flange tightly against the underside of the let-off rail, press the button against the rail, feeling the the felt with your finger. This is a one-hand operation.  Spin the screw with a driver.  Though I would love to take credit for the idea, it was Newton Hunt's. My contribution is that if you are using longer let-off buttons, glue additional wood on top of the flange before you drill the hole,  so that when the flange is square on the rail, and the button is pressed against it too, the felt of the button will be protruding from the guide surface.  
      What has tripped me up in the past has been bent screws, and holes that are not straight. You can't overcome the former, but the latter can be.  There is very little wood involved in this thread engagement, and it is easy for a straight screw to go in a straight hole crooked if it starts off that way. Another 3 or 4 mm's depth would probably straighten up the alignment, but lacking that, it helps to keep a light touch on the button at the very beginning. Last time I did this, I seem to remember the secret ,(found on the last 3 or 4 buttons!), was to,  at first, press the guide flange tightly with light pressure on the felt, and as the screw engaged, to put more force on the felt.  When I can't keep it from turning with pressure on it, it is usually done.  
  I also think a small battery powered screwdriver allows a more accurate result, being smoother and faster than turning by hand.  Most of the let-off screws will fit inside the standard hexagonal socket that screwdriver bits etc. fit in.  I use an older Black and Decker straight line screwdriver with a long bit holder. 
Regards,  

Ed Foote RPT
http://www.  

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