MTFCA Forum

Could someone with a Bear or similar alignment tool please describe how to use it, specifically, how does the alignment tool stay on the wheels for measuring. Looking at pictures I cannot see how it can be done by one person without falling off the wheels. Some look like they have ends that might wrap around the wheel fellow, and others look like they have points to touch the wheel fellow. Does the spring in the center of the connecting rod work in tension or compression? I am thinking about making something like it with plywood ends and a metal connecting rod, but don't quite understand how it interfaces with the wheels.

They have two springs. One for the right, and another for the left. Haven't had a problem with one falling off.

Here is some information from a previous discussion and picture of a complete set
http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/25 ... 1341848771 Some interesting history follows "The founders of Bear were brothers Will and Henry Damman, who invented an electric starter for the Model T so auto owners could forget their cranks. They moved to Rock Island in 1913 to manufacture and sell the starter. The company was quickly successful – the starter was so popular that Henry Ford started making electric starters standard equipment, and the Dammen’s market disappeared."
http://www.rockislandpreservation.org/p ... ce-school/
Last time I was in that part of town the 1948 building was still standing

I have the Bear manual. Which number fixture do you have? Number 10, 15, 40, etc? The entire manual is a lot to scan but I can scan the specific pages you need.

[image][/image]See attached