CheckingTime.com
Arbor & Lantern Tool Instructions
To Check for a bent arbor
and to straighten:
- Place the arbor pivots in the “V” slots between the 2
uprights. Adjust the width as needed and tighten the thumbscrews.
- Place the bending tool attachment onto the threaded rod with
the “V” slot over the arbor.
- The turned down portion of the threaded rod should fit into
the larger hole in the bending tool.
- Tighten down the threaded rod using the knob and apply a very
slight amount of pressure on the arbor.
- Now rotate the arbor by the wheel.
- As you rotate the arbor, if the arbor is bent, you will notice
it gets harder to rotate at the high spot on the arbor. If there is no change
in the force required, then the arbor is pretty straight
- If you detect a high spot, rotate the wheel until you have
centered up the high spot to the top.
- Tighten down the knob slightly as to bend the arbor back.
- Back off the pressure on the arbor and rotate the arbor until
you feel the high spot again. And repeat the process until there is very little
change in force required as you rotate the wheel.

To PULL the lantern cap:
You will use the backside of the tools for this operation. NOTE: You may use
the tool in the vertical position or if you prefer, you may lay the tool
down onto the front side thereby using the puller in the horizontal position.
- Insert
the cap into the “V” slot. The ¼-28 set screw may be inserted in one of
two positions, A or B.
- Insert the setscrew into the threaded hole that is
the closest to alignment with the pivot.
- Generally smaller caps will use
hole “A” while larger caps go into hole “B”. Don’t worry if the setscrew
is not EXACTLY over the pivot. Generally “close enough” will work just
fine.
- The
next part is difficult to explain and takes practice and common sense. The
two bolts ( C ) are first adjusted for the position of the cap on
the arbor. Be sure that both bolts are adjusted to the same length. The
setscrew is then lowered to meet with the pivot. Now
gently turn down the setscrew and press the arbor down. Since the pinions
are not very deep in the cap, you only need to turn down the setscrew a
slight amount. Once the pinions are clear of the cap, STOP. There is no
need to remove the cap completely from the arbor.
To press a lantern cap into place:
- Loosen the thumbscrews and swing the 2 uprights out of the way as they are not
needed for this operation.
- Place the arbor pivot into the bolt hole with the lantern cap up.
- Place the cap tool attachment onto the threaded rod. Use the small end of the
tool for this operation.
- With the lantern cap in place, place the arbor into the small hole of the tool.
- NOTE:
- The threaded rod is drilled about 1 ¾” deep plus about ¼” with the tool
for a total of 2”. This should handle most of the common arbor lengths. It
is a good idea to verify that your arbor length does not exceed 2”. Also,
there are some arbors that are too large in diameter to fit into the
threaded rod. For these, it is possible to stack washers on the arbor
in-order to press the cap.
- Turn down the knob until the cap tool is body is resting on the cap.
- Now tighten the knob carefully until you feel the cap is pressed into place.
As you do so, you should rotate the wheel to be sure all of the pinions
are in their proper place. Do not over tighten! Damage to the pivot
could occur if you over tighten!

Rick Day - Webmaster
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Revised: January 12, 2011
.