Billabong wrote:


I also failed to see where CBW said that... what he said was


he said a "few were pretty vocal about the issue," not that only a few had the problem. He said that he was not sure of the numbers...

I posted on this thread a while back and have had my WE for around a year now... I am well aware of the issues that it had back then. I modded mine to suit my needs/desires, and since then, Clay and the team at WE have only made it better. The ball joint upgrade option is one example of this. They jumped right on the issue when my vise bent, and sent a new one out without me sending in my bent one first. If you have a problem w/ the way WE did something, call them and work it out. I know first hand they will work with you and make it right...

So, the consistency issues are being worked out continually... but most never need the upgraded ball joint arms. Like Philip posted from Bob Nash, unless you are sharpening straight razors and OCD you don't need it =) I sharpen straights w/ my old joints and they are fine.

Now that this thread is thoroughly disrailed

Well I can't post any more here about this as I have been threatened with a ban.

So, I understand what you are saying and appreciate your view.

I have now used my replaced arms (see post previous page) for several months with great success. The improvements I made are:

1. Diameter better matches the holes through the stones.
2. Thickness of flat section matches the inside dimension of the u-joint.
3. Hole in flat exactly matches the pin.
4. My arms are perhaps 1/2" longer. No big deal. One member requested them 2" longer.

I have recieved some private messages and made sets for other members. If you are interested, drop me a note.

--Jerry

JerryStephenson wrote:


Hi Jerry, that's the bit I still have an issue with.

It's great to see you sorted it out.
This thread is a great read and shows how a community all pitched in to deal with it.

JerryStephenson wrote:


Thanks Jerry, I wonder if going a touch thicker than 1/4" for the rod is possible?
I guess it would not be a shelf item.

I would like to get hold of some longer arms also.
I'm now using the upgraded ball joint kit and am very happy with that.
I swapped the ball joint for a covered version.

wickededgeusa.com/index.php?option=com_k...d=6824&Itemid=63

Very nice ball joint adaptation.

As for the larger diameter rods, I did a quick search for metric and decimal sizes in the .255" range and found nothing. The .250 seems to work pretty well. If you can find the stock I can make arms out of it.

Taking 5/16 and turning it down to .255 would be a lot of work and difficult because the rod isn't that stiff over the full length.

--Jerry

JerryStephenson wrote:


The 1/4" (.250) rods do work well, it's just when the stones slide higher and the amount of rod left inside the paddle is minimal, things get wobbly.
That's why I want to try longer arms, is there any reason why they are the current length?

JerryStephenson wrote:


About the only way I can think of to do it without bending would entail drawing it through a die, not very cost effective as a solution...or if you have a 2 chuck metal lathe where you could work just a small portion of the rod, but that throws a bunch of other issues into the mix...

I don't see anything simple or anything nearly as elegant as Chris's ball mod is.

You can use a steady rest to support the rod but the setup time means it better be something you really want to machine. --Jerry

I know there's options on a metal lathe I don't have on a wood lathe so I will leave it to the experts and stop playing armchair machinist. lol

I guess my point was only to reiterate effort versus reward and diminishing return. I can understand if you're stacking tolerances but with the new arms that five thousandths is really the only slack and that is mitigated by the rod length so until you are almost completely off the rod, it's maybe half that or less? So, in reality, what are we talking degree-wise?
That's a real question, I'm trying to see where it becomes completely cost prohibitive for that last .1 degree...

I'm more interested in a bit more length as I posted above.

If it causes other problems, it would be nice to know before I try it.