Full Version: Any tips for removal of CS lever?
I have tried this several times before and not with great success on C.S.388 as i remember. I have a CS 286 with a broken lever and have procured a lever in situ in a black barrel. What is the easiest way to get out the lever retaining ring without damaging the lever slot (which is what i did last time) or the barrel? I watched Dennis take them in and out on his dvd with relative ease. Any tips would gratefully received.
Hi Mark,
Several schools of thought here, if you want to save the ring it can be much more of a pain but on the bright side in some cases it can get a bit of angst out of the system.
If you are not worried about the ring then all you need to do is open the lever fully so that you can see where the ring crosses between the sides of the lever, using a Dremel or something similar or if you have them use very narrow nosed and sharp, hard jawed snips cut the strands of the ring. With the ring cut through the lever can be lifted out without a problem. If you have neither then open the ever and very carefully apply pressure to the portion of the ring that you can see between the sides of the lever using a thin screw driver, not advised unless you are very careful as one slip and the screw driver will destroy the barrel.
If the donor barrel isn't worth saving in your opinion, damaged, cracked or whatever, then using pliers or a craft saw and pliers break/cut the ring and lever out of the barrel, sounds like vandalism I know but if the barrel is stuffed then no point in pussy-footing around.
If you need to keep the barrel and the ring then it can be a total lesson in temper restraint and control of the Anglo Saxon side of the English language, it involves fishing around in the barrel with a strong, hooked tool like a dental probe, (and it needs to be a hardened real dental probe, the ones for craft use are not tough enough) finding the end of the loops of the ring and lifting them out of the groove..not a lot of fun and I rarely get involved in doing things this way.
cheers, John
Several schools of thought here, if you want to save the ring it can be much more of a pain but on the bright side in some cases it can get a bit of angst out of the system.
If you are not worried about the ring then all you need to do is open the lever fully so that you can see where the ring crosses between the sides of the lever, using a Dremel or something similar or if you have them use very narrow nosed and sharp, hard jawed snips cut the strands of the ring. With the ring cut through the lever can be lifted out without a problem. If you have neither then open the ever and very carefully apply pressure to the portion of the ring that you can see between the sides of the lever using a thin screw driver, not advised unless you are very careful as one slip and the screw driver will destroy the barrel.
If the donor barrel isn't worth saving in your opinion, damaged, cracked or whatever, then using pliers or a craft saw and pliers break/cut the ring and lever out of the barrel, sounds like vandalism I know but if the barrel is stuffed then no point in pussy-footing around.
If you need to keep the barrel and the ring then it can be a total lesson in temper restraint and control of the Anglo Saxon side of the English language, it involves fishing around in the barrel with a strong, hooked tool like a dental probe, (and it needs to be a hardened real dental probe, the ones for craft use are not tough enough) finding the end of the loops of the ring and lifting them out of the groove..not a lot of fun and I rarely get involved in doing things this way.
cheers, John
Thanks as always John 
I won't be needing the black donor barrel so will break it out. I do have a dremel (type) tool so will just go easy and slow. Cheers mark
I won't be needing the black donor barrel so will break it out. I do have a dremel (type) tool so will just go easy and slow. Cheers mark
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