Thanks for that Ian, I might chuck it in the lathe and make a nice ball end on it. I was doing something fairly similar to your technique for blade setting. Just thrown off by the worn screw. No work on it last week, took the family away for the weekend instead.
A question on the old woodie. Where the front knob should be, there is a circle of leather nailed on. I thought maybe the knob had broken off and this was a repair, but then I saw one for sale with exactly the same thing. Is this how they were manufactured, or a common mod, or??