[Capt Kirk]

When Van Pelts says to tighten till it has "heavy drag"...mine now has less than heavy drag but quite a bit more than it did when I first got it apart. My bearings have been mated for 76 years so my logic is telling me that a bit less preload would be ok.

Is there a method of wrapping the splines with string with an eye at the end and using a fishing scale? JSeery...is this what you're talking about when you say "spring scale"?
Since the spline shaft isn't 2" in diameter, 12-17 pounds on the scale does not equate to 12-17 in-lbs. The shaft diameter is 1.1"...17x(1.1 / 2)= 9.35 in-lb