>You can tell what kind of a mechanic a man is just by looking at his pickle
>fork.  If it is burnished from being handled thousand of times and the edges
>of the fork are slightly eased, the guy knows what he is doing.  However, if
>the shank is curved and the fork is all boogered up, its owner subscribes to
>the get-me-a-bigger-hammer school of mechanical arts.
>
>I just looked at the procedure which you mentioned.  It errors in saying to
>slug away at the pickle fork with impunity.  Rather than brute force, try
>some finesse.  First make sure the fork you are using is sized to the ball
>joint.  Also make sure the faces of the working end are in good trim; if not,
>dress them.  Tap the pickle fork into place until it has a purchase.  Then,
>while levering the fork, rap the knuckle smartly with a hard-faced hammer
>right along side of the tapered hole. The impulse and vibration of this
>well-placed smack should cause the socket to release its grasp.

Ah, so you spend the effort banging on the part, not the tool? Lever
with the tool, but "persuade" the stubborn part? This is not what I
thought the common practice is. But, then again maybe that's why most
people have such a *$%^#) time with this task.

Dave
--
Dave Carpenter

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from
magic." -- Arthur C. Clarke