i now have a new issue that just developed

[tuffy braithwaite]

after many knives my left side fine adjustment is almost frozen solid.

kinda acts like cross threaded, but i can turn it with 7/16 box end wrench.

anyone have this happen?
.
i have oiled twice and that has improved it to where i can again use the key sometimes.

thanks

Attachments:

• tight.jpg

[Phil Pasteur]

Are the threads either on the ball joint or through the bracket damaged. Maybe check the bracket with a good light and magnification.

Clean everything well with some solvent. Maybe mineral spirits followed by alcohol using a stiff brush ( including the threaded hole in the bracket). You may even want to take everything off of the slider and let it soak for a bit. If you don’t have a brush that will go into the threaded hole, second choice would be a Q-Tip. Try lubricating with graphite after everything is clean and dry.

There are a very few things that can be wrong with a threaded hole and stud. You should be able to see most any of them.

If the threads are damaged you might try chasing them on both sides with the proper tap and die. Then clean as above.

The real question is…what caused this to happen? Once you fix it, you want to avoid it in the future.

To answer your question directly… I have had no problems at all with this part of the system!
I guess you really never asked how to fix it..
:woohoo:

[cbwx34]

If you overtighten this screw… you can damage the threads on the other one…

Not having done the “tap and die” that Phil suggested, I don’t know if that would fix it? It may need to be replaced.

If you replace it, you can get a nylon tipped screw and use that instead… it should avoid future problems.

Attachments:

• image_2013-06-08.jpg

[Phil Pasteur]

I can assure you Max, if the problem is that the threads are mangled, straightening them out with a tap and die will make things useable. Been there done that, just not with these pieces on the WEPS. The down side is that, depending on the damage, the threads can be thinner in places (or even missing in the worst case) and will be more delicate. The parts will screw together properly though. This shouldn’t be much of an issue with these parts… if you are careful going forward.

Of course I have those tools. If you have to go buy a decent tap and die and handles for them, it might end up not being much more expensive to get replacement parts from WEPS. The latter would be a sure cure.
EDIT:

Maybe not, too expensivehttp://www.harborfreight.com/40-piece-sae-carbon-steel-tap-and-die-set-39391.html
Not for machine shop use every day… but could take care of the immediate issue. Just make sure it has the sizes that you need.

Do be careful when you tighten down the set screw for the micro-adjustment. It really does not take that much torque to secure it… and as Curtis points out, it can mess up the threads for the ball joint.

[Mikedoh]

I replaced mine with a nylon screw.

[Eamon Mc Gowan]

My upgraded ball joint came very hard to turn. Over time it got worse and worse. Finally I said something to Bob Nash whom I bought from. He called WEPS who responded very quickly and had one in the mail to me. However there is a new ball joint system now, that is not sealed around the ball and very loosely threaded? I liked the old design much better! Now instead of being to tight it is to loose? :ohmy: But all and all still workable.:cheer:

[Phil Pasteur]

My upgraded ball joint came very hard to turn. Over time it got worse and worse. However there is a new ball joint system now, that is not sealed around the ball and very loosely threaded? I liked the old design much better! Now instead of being to tight it is to loose? :ohmy: But all and all still workable. :cheer:

Really?? I had no idea that there are two different versions of the joints out there.
I got mine in the first batch that were sold. They are not sealed and they adjust exactly the way I would expect them to.

In fact, the entire reason that people worried about making boots for the joints is because they never have been sealed… I am pretty sure anyway.

I am curious about when you got the upgrade and exactly what kind of ball joints it had that were different than what is out there today…

Nothing but curiosity here…

[Phil Pasteur]

I replaced mine with a nylon screw.

Mike,
Where did you get those screws? What kind of head do they have on them?

I looked for them at one time and did not find anything suitable.. nothing in a thumb screw or with a wing type setup to make them easy to use… Nothing in a cap screw with allen socket or even square drive either.

[Phil Pasteur]

Guess what.. I compared the ball joints on my setup with the picture that Max posted. They do look somewhat different. Mine have a sort of gold colored coating of some sort on them (gold anodized ??). They are radius on the bottom of the joint housing and all of the way around to the part that the arms screw into…. no ridge as in the photo from Max.

They are not sealed.. though there is a plastic piece between the ball and the housing.
Interesting!

So when did that change??? Again, just curious.

[Eamon Mc Gowan]

My upgraded ball joint came very hard to turn. Over time it got worse and worse. However there is a new ball joint system now, that is not sealed around the ball and very loosely threaded? I liked the old design much better! Now instead of being to tight it is to loose? :ohmy: But all and all still workable. :cheer:[/quote

In fact, the entire reason that people worried about making boots for the joints is because they never have been sealed… I am pretty sure anyway.

I am curious about when you got the upgrade and exactly what kind of ball joints it had that were different than what is out there today…

Nothing but curiosity here…

Phil knowing my communication skill I’m probably sucking at the description? On the ball itself around the eye mine has a seal. That was the one I first got from Bob maybe 5 months ago? Around 2 months ago he sent me the replacement.
My sister just dropped off a new camera for my to figure out? We are both “challenged” this way? I will try to get a pic taken of one and then the other and post it.
Maybe Clay will see this and explain it better then me? I can talk fast (many years in sales) but I SUCK writing!

[Phil Pasteur]

I see what you mean now Eamon…
Though we have certainly strayed from what Max asked!!!

Here are the ones that I have

Definitely different than the one in the photo Max posted

Attachments:

• MAXJoint.jpg

[Eamon Mc Gowan]

Yes thank you Max and Phil. I took a pic, uploaded to the computer, opened a photo bucket account and tried to post using the upload file on the thread and it won’t go?
I may be being picky? But they are supposed to be an upgrade and are not cheap to buy? The fit is totally loose on the ball joint and the threaded part of the micro adjustment is very loose as well. The tolerances went from to tight to to loose?
We are getting away from Maxs topic and I apologize for that.

[Mikedoh]

Phil
They are just a slotted screw. A little bit of a pain to use, but I’ve always figured I could just snip off a portion of the nylon and leave it in the thread channel as a buffer between the two metal screws

Bought them at Lowes or Homedepp.

[Mark76]

Guys, you have different screws from the ones I have… Has WE changed the screws some time ago? My screws are from the first PP 2 batch. I like the WEPS really a lot, it’s one solid piece of engineering, but if there is one thing that could be improved, it’s that the screws sometimes get loose during sharpening. I’ve read lots of mails that I should use Loctite, but they don’t sell that in Europe. Do your screws work better than mine?

Molecule Polishing: my blog about sharpening with the Wicked Edge

[cbwx34]

Got a picture of what you have now?

[Author]

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