Hi Melb,
Well I'm glad that turned out to be a winner for you and it was merely an illusion on the photos.
Now regarding the job at hand, basically the previous person that worked on your machine cheated and only did half the job.
What needs to be done now is that the reel needs to be removed along with the sole plate that holds the bed knife as it's exactly what I thought has happened and that is that just a new bed knife was fitted to the sole plate and that's an incorrect procedure.
Most sole plates will have some sort of a bow or deviation in them and when fitted in the machine it will not mate up perfectly with the reel all along the cutting line. So, what needs to be done is to remove and send the reel off along with the sole plate complete with bed knife still attached and have both items machined together by an experienced operator.
Only then can you refit them and carefully adjust the reel to the bed knife until it's perfectly aligned.
Have a good look at DeeJay's video of Reel and Sole Plate removal and refitting a couple of times and you'll see what you're up against, it's not hard. Taking it step by step you'll end up with a perfectly cutting machine and suddenly you'll probably be happy with it just like it is, bit like driving an old EH with no rust or dents.(that's if you're a Holden lover)
As far as a recommendation is concerned, just go to your nearest Bowls club and speak to their Greenskeeper as usually they are quite a friendly bunch and always happy to point you in the right direction as far as machining is concerned. If you were in Adelaide I could give you a name of a guy that's really good, but not so for Melbourne, love Melbourne !
Let me know your thoughts on this and we'll take it from there.
Cheers,
BB
