Balance Wheel Screw Undercutters

As I looked closer I realized the problem was that the actual cutter was slipping down when I applied pressure on the screw so the screw bottomed out and there was no pressure on the cutting teeth. I pulled the cutter up out of the base and tightened the set screw really tight.  Now the cutting teeth can do the job of cutting the underside of the balance wheel screws. I hope this is helpful for some of you who are getting into poising the balance wheel.

Hi there Randy. Thanks for replying. After tightening the set screw on the undercutter base I was able to take some material off the underside of the balance wheel screw but not enough to put it in balance. It seemed to help some but it is a slow process. When I put the wheel on the poising tool the heaver end rotated to the bottom slower than before. I think the cutting teeth have been dulled over the years. Just about every balance wheel I have tested has been out of balance and It would be great to be able to put one in balance. Their is no way of knowing how old this particular unit is. I’m curious to know if these little round undercutters that drop into the base can actually be replaced, because they are so tiny there is no way to actually sharpen them. I could buy another one on E-bay but it may not be any better. The ideal thing would be to actually find a new one, but so far I have not found anyplace that lists such an item. Maybe Bob can weigh in on this. Perhaps putting a balance wheel in balance doesn’t make enough difference to bother with. Anyway, it was a learning experience.