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Missing Toz Free Pistol Part?

Posted: Fri Nov 01, 2013 7:06 am
by Gwhite
The college team I help coach has a Toz 35 free pistol. Several years ago, the pin that the action block ("Slide") pivots on fell out and vanished at the National Championship. The coach made a "field expedient" repair, and the action block has been held in place with the stem of a wooden cotton swab ever since. It works fine this way, but it's kind of tacky...

We like to fix this properly. It looks like we need Ref. Des. 72 (#000.004), "Slide Pin". If it's just a metric dowel pin, I could presumably buy a non-Toz replacement. The instructions just say to drive it out with a punch, with no mention of a preferred direction, so it sounds like a straight pin.

Can anyone provide me with info on the missing pin? Dimensions would be great. Also, is it just a press fit, or is there something mechanical that is supposed to retain it? There's a mysterious washer in the drawing (Res. Des. 31, #000.002 "slide pin sleeve") that might be involved.

If I want to try for a real Toz part, any idea who is the best source? I know Larry Carter had some. Anyone else?

Thanks!

Posted: Fri Nov 01, 2013 2:11 pm
by j danielsson
Straight pin, 4mm. I made mine from a srewdriver. Long enough to grip it and pull it out with my fingers. Made the lathing for the spring in the left side of the frame with a file. No problems.

Posted: Fri Nov 01, 2013 3:10 pm
by Rover
That's the kind of straight, practical advice I like!

Posted: Fri Nov 01, 2013 4:10 pm
by Gwhite
j danielsson wrote:Straight pin, 4mm. I made mine from a srewdriver. Long enough to grip it and pull it out with my fingers. Made the lathing for the spring in the left side of the frame with a file. No problems.
Thanks! Sounds pretty straight forward. Did you mean "latching" for the spring? Is there supposed to be a groove in the pin? I've got a lathe & a mill, and can cut whatever sort of detent it requires.

Posted: Fri Nov 01, 2013 6:43 pm
by j danielsson
Yes, a groove. How I sought for that tiny little word...thank you.

pin

Posted: Fri Nov 01, 2013 6:53 pm
by scausi
Hi i just changed my firing pin & spring yesterday , my pin was held in place with a small black patch either side , but it cant come out when the grip is on, so i assume it just drops out as mine has nothing else retaining it, no clips, but yes it does have the machined grove on either end.
It is never under any real preassure and is merly a pivit point , so yes grab some old screwdrivers or nails and find one that fitsfairly snug in the hole , cut to size so its flush with the frame at both sides ,
Cheers .S

Posted: Fri Nov 01, 2013 8:18 pm
by Gwhite
Someone on the Yahoo free pistol group measure theirs. It's roughly 22 mm long, and just under 4mm in diameter. It turns out 5/16" is just about a perfect match for the dimension he measured. so I'll start with a hardware store drill shank.

There is a mysterious "slide pin sleeve" in the exploded diagram that I thought might provide some spring tension to retain the pin, but it's impossible to tell from the drawing. It may be that there was a feature to hold the pin in early versions, and they skipped that bit in later pistols.

Thanks fro all the info!

Posted: Sat Nov 02, 2013 7:47 am
by ruig
Parts 000.004 and 000.003

Posted: Sat Nov 02, 2013 11:49 am
by Gwhite
WOW! That's far more info than I ever dreamed of getting. Thanks! I can certainly make a suitable copy (and a spare or two) without much difficulty.

The exploded diagram I have shows the "lock spring" as Item 32. It looks like it is held into the frame by the "slide pin sleeve", Item 31.

I'll have to see if I can find any evidence of the spring in this pistol.

Given that the pin is asymmetrical, which side goes in which way? The exploded diagram shows the sleeve (#30) on both sides, but the spring appears to be only on the left side. I'm guessing that the end with more space to the groove goes on the left, but I don't understand why they have the second groove if there is only one spring.

The re-assembly instructions make no mention of the asymmetry.

Posted: Sat Nov 02, 2013 2:39 pm
by ruig

Posted: Sat Nov 02, 2013 2:45 pm
by j danielsson
My pistol has the slide pin sleeve in the left side. In the right side is a hole, 4 mm.
The original slidepin is 3.98x21.32 mm. 1 groove in each side of the pin, 1.5mm from the end on both sides. 0.6mm wide. Bottom diameter 3.6mm.
Made that way to be ambidextrous is my guess.
If the ends do not look alike, that is just rough manufacturing.

Posted: Sat Nov 02, 2013 6:49 pm
by Gwhite
Hmm. Maybe the drawing Ruig provided has an error. It would certainly make more sense if it was symmetric.

Posted: Sun Nov 03, 2013 6:33 am
by Greg Derr
You can order drill rod from MSC or Travers in any diameter and length. Just cut to length and groove and chamfer the ends on a lathe, about a ten minute job.

Posted: Sun Nov 03, 2013 10:22 am
by Gwhite
There are some other odds & ends I need to get from McMaster Carr anyway, and they have 4mm, 0.156", and 0.157" for about $3 each.

I'll make up several. It takes more time to set up the lathe than it will to make them.

Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2014 10:58 am
by Sa-tevo
While on the topic of Toz pins, is the common pin for the slide lever and rear of the accelerator frame supposed to be knurled or a smooth pin? It is item 29 on the 10p diagram at http://www.pilkguns.com/tenp/sptoz35.htm

Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2014 12:20 pm
by rmca
It's a very lite knurled pin.

This post has edited because I made a mistake.

Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2014 8:52 pm
by Sa-tevo
Thanks for the reply.

Here is a picture of what I have. The ends are turned and blued, and the surface has knurling that is smooth. At the moment I have greased it and reinstalled it, but it strikes me as strange for a pivot.

If comments indicate that this is not correct for a TOZ 35M, I have a about thirty pounds of drill bits to search through from my aircraft sheet-metal days that can make good pins.

Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2014 9:58 pm
by rmca
Sorry Sa-tevo I replied from memory...

I then went and pull the pin out to check and mine is exactly as yours. Very lite knurled almost smooth.
It is strange for a pivot.

Although, since I can smoothly operate the lever, it doesn't make a difference in the operation of the gun and probably helps retain it in place.

See the picture below.

Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2014 6:28 am
by Sa-tevo
Excellent. Thanks for checking that. I'm pretty sure the guy who designed this thing was a lot sharper than I'll ever be, and nobody would do this to the pin without a reason, barring the factory getting a special deal on knurled stock. Besides, while the pistol was taken apart I was surprised on the low stress on each component. I also noticed lightweight materials such as drillium, noweightium, upsidasium or aluminum (like lawn chair) were not used.

The only part that concerned me for longevity was the Sear Spring, item 70 part number 000.024. It looks like it would be challenging to duplicate, since it also locks the Mainspring Stop. The sear function could be replicated with music wire, but the mainspring stop bump would need the ring and tab.

Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2014 7:23 am
by rmca
Sa-tevo wrote:The only part that concerned me for longevity was the Sear Spring, item 70 part number 000.024. It looks like it would be challenging to duplicate, since it also locks the Mainspring Stop. The sear function could be replicated with music wire, but the mainspring stop bump would need the ring and tab.
Check this out:

https://plus.google.com/photos/+IgorRul ... 0131713019

Problem solved!