A turn for the better. (Lewmar 24 service)

I spent about three hours cleaning and lubricating one of the 30 year old Lumar 24 winches off the boat ready to either sell or refit it. Much of the time was faff: wandering back and forth to the garden to wash parts in paraffin, etc. But there was a job I had to ask the Internet about and since I didn't find a good answer, here is an uncharacteristic tutorial.

How to get the shaft key out of a Lumar 24 winch.
Here are a couple of pictures showing first the key and secondly the hole it fits. I didn't think to take a picture while it was stuck, and I was too greasy during reassembly.

The advice received from the web suggested levering the key using something thin. Nope. Doesn't work. I tried that and broke off the tail of a Swann Morton blade in the gap. The technique is to hit it - more precisely to drift it out from one side. I would have to recommend the use of a"soft faced drift", realistically half a clothes peg or the like, but I have to admit I used a cross-head screwdriver that I hit with a substantial pair of pliers.

The rest of the job was simple and self evident, although I have heard tell of folk struggling with the initial split ring. Just hook the tapered end out of the slot with a fine screwdriver, or a finger nail if you have any, and then chase the ring from the slot by following the gap created, clockwise until the whole ring is free of the slot and falls over the gunwhale.

I must add a bit of advice to those of you who consider winch maintenance to be a simple question of adding an extra layer of grease every year. Do take the time to strip down and clean from from time to time. The original grease stuck to the main spindle was doing very little good after 30 summers of heat, sailing seasons, water, grime and hair. I found it to be a gentle pleasure handling such a well made device of stainless steel and brass, especially now it has a single brand of clean grease and light oil on the pawls.

After all this service, the signs of wear are minimal. A bit of a shine on the outsides of the pawls, a little patina where the rough cast faces have ingrained oil stains. These mechanisms were only removed to obtain the ease of self-tailing replacements. I may yet decide to use one to replace the main winch since these 24s are dual action.