I went to FINAL mount the TR pedals as it is time to start placing some things on the ship for the LAST time now. When I went to snug the bolts up it all bound up and was very stiff. Not good. Controls are supposed to have some damping, but should be butter smooth with no stiction.

After staring at it for a few minutes it became apparent that when the AL bushings are snugged up, they get pulled against the welded steel tabs that mount them to the frame and those tabs are not perfectly square with the mate on the other side of the frame for the opposing bushing. That "tilts" the bushings and cause them to bind in the tube.


No problem. I have all these machine tools - time to put them to use. I lathed down and threaded an aluminum rod that was the appropriate length to thread into the bushing to "point" to where the alignment was on the opposite side.


With those very evident visual cues it was very easy to tweak the mounting tabs (it didn't take much) to bring everything into nearly perfect alignment.

Amazing how such a small change resulted in such a large difference in the feel and operation of the pedals. Greased up, snugged up, Safety wired. The first permanent moving part. Lots to follow in a short period. Nice.

Tags: DirectionalControls, ShopNotes