[COLOR="DarkRed"]You are stumping the celebrity panel...

I dunno, I have cleaned many a beavertail, but honestly have never remmoved the guts...now that you mention it.

My only 2 thoughts:

1) if they are the nice, nice heavy old ones, pre-Fullerton, they are so thick-walled that they probably don't need the felts.

2) go to a hardware store and by thin felts instead (I dunno if that'd help enuff, though)....

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Hey Jaye - Stumped indeed. Yeah, these things are not so user friendly.

Somewhere in their history they were lubed with some sort of grease - it was caked around the rods & springs - hence the major tear-down/clean-up.

In the factory, they must've had a special tool or something - The felt, spring & insert all together measure about 2" - That all needs to be scrunched into a 1-1/8" space. And they are some pretty strong springs

- not real "finger friendly".

These are first generation smalls, before the change-over to the smaller screws with hex heads. Definitely hefty.

The felt is pretty thick (3/8"), though I suspect, from my wrangling, that thinner felt wouldn't solve the difficulty - either way, squishing the springs must be done to seat the felts in place. [i.e. ~ the springs are the troublemakers]. Even one of the springs looks like it was a substitute from a large beavertail - that'll be a real bear.... er beaver?

I fudged with them last night and got 2 put together. Needle-nose pliers were no help, unless I have 3 arms - 1 to hold the lug, 1 to squish the spring and 1 to get the felt in place and push it all together. I don't wanna put them in a vice to free up my hands. - It's probably cake with the right tool.

What kinda worked was an old pair of hemostats which could squish the spring and lock shut - leaving a hand free to finagle it all together. The stats I have work but are hit and miss to not slip off - plus they're not made for such things and seem like they're gonna explode - yikes! That's how I got the 2 together.

I'll no doubt ask the question over at the Rogers Owners Forum - surely someone there has run into this.

- I feel so emasculated Violin CryBaby

[COLOR="DarkRed"]Don't worry...you're just the sensitive type...Mallet Player2

I know exactly the kinda grease you are talking about...man, I hate having to deal w/ that sh#t.

One other thought came to mind....do you have any other spare lugs lyin' around, whatever brand ? Maybe their springs are not quite as hefty and they compress easier, you could switch out the springs from a different lug ?

Fortitude, fortitude....Mister T[/COLOR]

Hi,The way i have done this and it works is,,First run a piece of wire through the spring[heavy gage] take the spring put it in a small vise and tighten the vice to make the spring alittle smaller than the lug --then twist the two ends of the wire to hold the spring put it in the lug then cut the wire,now this takes time to do but this way you will be able to used all the parts[inserts--felt pad ete] mike

ND, if you have a set of hemostats, you can't lose that manhood. Those are tools from a man-size complete toolbox who has done some man-type work with wires, electronics, and killer volts and amps! ARGH! Man stuff. I have several pair in my box from my days in the computer field. GRRRRR! Man stuff. AAAAOOOOOOOOO!!!!Sumo Dude

I thought chasing springs around the room was the only way to do it.

Thanks mcjnic for the uplifting words - the stats are helpful, but mine don't have enough grip surface - they're on the small side - I feel like they'll give out after a dozen lugs or so. I need a slightly beefier pair.

But, O Yes! Hemostats ROCK! We Bad Mister T

MIKEY777 : I like the way you think Yes Sir - brain over brawn! Until I buy bigger hemostats, I'll try the "wire / vice" method - Cool!

Hey Jaye - do you know if said grease was a factory thing for Rogers marchers or just some common, old school drum rattle fix. - If it's factory, should I replace it? :confused:

And Yes, Plough, I have chased these springs a bit ~ It reminds me of the first lesson in the book "Juggling For The Complete Klutz" - Pick up your juggling bags, throw them in the air and let them hit the floor. Pick them up.

Do this several times. Get use to it. Laughing H

Thanks You Cats Rule! Burger Kin

Perhaps a little friction tape around the hemostats would help.....we do that for an application at work, and it helps a lot....

SUCCESS! flowers2

Along the way to it, I did apply some of the imparted wisdom here.

One of my springs was obviously a big honker from the large beavertail spring bin - probably a 1/2" longer - I put that one in the vice and wired it together. I can see this as an effective method with some practice, but after a few attempts (broken wire, wire not tight enough) - that spring kept bowing out and was still not a good fit. I cut it shorter to match the others.

And Yes! I did chase it across the room. Twice. :p

I found a second, better pair of hemostats and put a little friction tape around the ends. That really helped to hold them on nicely. My only snag was, after releasing the stats, I didn't count on the felt sticking to the tape somehow. I pulled off the stats and part of the felt came with it - oy!

Since these stats were better, I soon got a rhythm going with them as they are, and got everything reassembled pretty darn fast.

My final verdict (in my limited experience & humble opinion) - GRRRRR!

________________ Sumo DudeHEMOSTATS! HEMOSTATS! HEMOSTATS! AAAAOOOOOOOOO!!!!Sumo Dude ________________

Thanks All for the Brainstorming - May it help many others in the future Keep on Pl