AO nosepiece spanner?

[jorymil]

Anyone know what sort of wrench is needed to disassemble the AO 10/20/110/120 nosepiece turrets? I'm familiar with larger pin spanners from other applications, but these are relatively small, and seem like they might not deliver enough torque. Probably will just say "meh, good enough" here, but have a couple of mods in mind.

[apochronaut]

A pin wrench does work if you have the right size or one of the adjustable ones but in the past when I did not have such, I used two hard and tempered shafts such as a couple of hex keys or very small screwdriver bits clamped into a set of 6" needlenose vicegrips. Hexkey straight ends that are just under the hole size and clamped quite close to the nut work well because the corners clamp well into the jaw teeth and there is minimal flexing. That is a good option for pinbolts with very close holes.
The adjustable optical wrenches on ebay are good. I bought a cheap one for under 10.00 and it works great. The wrench itself is plated but the double end bits with assymetrical ends tighten in securely with a hex bolt , are a hard stainless steel and can take some torque, even the pointed ends.

[GerryR]

Snap-ring pliers work well for close holes, as well.

[apochronaut]

Snap-ring pliers work well for close holes, as well.

Especially the ones with right angle jaws.

[jorymil]

Thanks, folks. For $10, an adjustable wrench like that seems like a good thing to have. There's always the odd filter, eyepiece or reticle that's cross-threaded where a little torque is needed as well.

I may need some snap-ring pliers at some point as well: I have a couple of things (folding bicycle surprisingly) with snap rings that I'd like to be able to fix/adjust.

[apochronaut]

I took a look for you and the exact one that I bought doesn't seem to be offered anymore. Mine has two reversable tips/tines/jaws/claws : whstever they are called. The most similar one is all stainless now and has 3 sets of tips. It is around 20.00 with free shipping.
Search for camera wrench. There is also a double sided one with fixed tips. I'm a fan of the version with removeable tips, in case you need to fabricate a specialized set.

[jorymil]

I ended up with https://www.ebay.com/itm/395034374121 , which probably isn't as nice as yours. The "USA stock" took me in; shipping is still about 10 days out. I'll keep your tips in mind (sorry for the pun) if I end up needing v2 of this.

[apochronaut]

Can't go wrong for 12 bucks. As long as it gets down to the magic 10mm. Mine is 10mm minimum and it just gets into the holes of the series 100 nosepiece pinbolt.

[jorymil]

Picked up a set of inexpensive snap-ring pliers:

https://www.lowes.com/pd/IRWIN-VISE-GRI ... 1003142302

They work a treat on the AO 10 nosepiece screw. The turret ring itself seems to be a very tight press fit with the rest of the nosepiece assembly; going to experiment on a parts 3-position model before I mess up my nice 5-position and/or DIC models (the intent being to have a 5-position DIC nosepiece).

As far as I can tell, there's no exploded diagram of the nosepiece assembly in the manuals; perhaps a full dealer service manual will have one.

[thomasfrank]

I understand your predicament in finding the right wrench for those small AO nose turrets. Bolt wrenches may not be ideal due to their size and potential torque limitations. Be gentle: Avoid using excessive force or force, as this could damage the turret or surrounding components. incredibox

[jorymil]

Thank you for the advice. Agreed: using force is not ideal. It's completely unnecessary for the series 110/120 turrets as well; only for the series 10 scopes is it needed. I was able to swap the turret on my Epistar in about 10 minutes--I now have a 5-position turret there!

My 10s will probably remain unmodified: the cost of failure is quite high, and both the DIC and 5-position nosepieces are scarce.

[apochronaut]

A right angle spanner/wrench/snap ring plier gives more control. Years ago, I used a set of very thin jawed needle nose pliers until I decided to bend them at a right angle. Makes a huge difference.
The 100 series nosepiece fits and works in a 10/20. Solves the 5 place rarity issue.

[jorymil]

A right angle spanner/wrench/snap ring plier gives more control.
The 100 series nosepiece fits and works in a 10/20. Solves the 5 place rarity issue.

Exactly what I used. My snap-ring pliers have interchangeable heads; the right-angled ones were exactly what I needed.

I'm doing the 110/120 heads for everything 5-position now except for a DIC head. So much easier to work on, and not much of a difference clearance-wise. The 410/420 head works too, surprisingly, but you sacrifice about an inch of travel to the extra height of the nosepiece. Got the 410 head for $15, so may as well keep it around in case I need it.

Will probably just sell the 5-position 10/20 head; not a fan thus far.