Royal Bearing Guide / Ball Feeder Tool

I am happy to make this tool finally available for purchase!.

Anyone who has ever worked on a Royal Portable knows how frustrating it is to reinstall the carriage on one of these. Luckily, Royal made a tool to assist in replacing the carriage. A tool that held the bearings in the correct place, so that the carriage could easily be reinstalled. Sadly, this tool is very rare. 

That's where I decided to make a modern reproduction of this ball feeder tool. 3D printed from very strong PETG.

Unlike the rest of the tool, the bearing holders themselves are printed with very durable, and flexible Shore A98 TPU. This way it's possible to combine the practicality of the original Royal tool with the ease of installation from Lucas Dul's straw method.

The tool provides an easy and correct placement of the bearings, while the TPUh olders make sure that the starwheels and bearings are held properly without the hassle of them falling out of the tool contstantly. Untill the bearings need to come out of the tool that is. I've managed to hget the tolerances just right so that the bearings still easily slide out of the holders once they grip the carriage rails. The hinged part of the tool makes it easier to place the tool on the carriage rails, while also being able to install the bearings on pre-1939 carriage shift machines, as well as the later basket shift models. (the rails on the later models are further apart).

In short, this tool is essential for anyone who works on these Royals!