Unfortunately the current rods are larger that .250"
The current rods measure (in mm) 6.43mm
The old .250 in rods measure (in mm)6.33mm
It is not a huge difference but it makes for a more accurate fit with the handles.
This is not new news, it has been documented more than a few times in other thread.
You can’t tell the difference when the paddles are on the rods! Their paddles are already proprietary. Why not just make the new paddles to fit point 0.25? Because using 0.257 keeps that size proprietary to WE.
$5.12 for two 0.25 rods which my other rods are is a hell of a lot cheaper than $38 with shipping. For +642% more for 0.02 … Im happy with non singing rods now!
I’m the guy who uses 0.257" rods. They are slightly bigger than the new WE rods and may not fit over every handle without some “tuning.” I simply spun a 0.243 (6mm) bronze rifle bore brush in the tight spots until they worked. You can buy 0.257" rods from McMaster, but probably not in stainless. It’s a drill rod size for size “F” drills.
Running a 0.250 diameter die over 0.257" rod is a real PIA. Even 0.250" rod is really tight, and the .257" rod stock is a tough tool steel (HSS) On the larger rod, the die wants to drift out of alignment, which will result in a rod that will not maintain the angle unless you lock it down with a jam nut. One solution is to make several attempts until you get one that goes on straight before you cut the rod to length.
When Clay came out with the new Gen3 Pro in 2017, he increased the diameter of the rods slightly. I don’t know for sure, but he may also have decreased the bore size of the new handles slightly. The result would be a significant improvement for the new rods/handles fit and still work with the older handles. I don’t think this was some scheme to make the WE more “proprietary” - just an incremental improvement.
The size of the rods is due to the more complicated evolution of the paddles. As we began experiencing problems with the older design of paddles, which specified a 0.250" but were consistently larger and creating too much slop, we increased the rod size. When we switched to the new paddle design, we had to make the bore match the majority of rods already on the market. It would be much cheaper for us to use stock 0.250" rod but instead we have to start with larger diameter material and turn it down on the Swiss machines.
The singing noise is common now with the new paddle design, but what you’re experiencing sounds excessive. We can take a look at them if you’d like to see if there was a bad batch from a worn cutter or some other cause that left an overly rough finish.
OK thanks for that explanation Clay. I have a short vid of it and I was going to post it on Youtube but I didn’t because I did not want to deter anyone who saw it on Youtube from buying this accessory from you.
After the holidays, I’ll send the vid to Kyle to get his opinion on how loud mine are. Now I can see why the circles are there taken with my digital microscope and from your explanation and what is causing the singing. They are from turning in a lath to reduce the stock. IMO they should take it one step further and polish that texture off while they are still in the lath.
I just attributed the texture to a bad batch of rods. Similar to that bad batch of paddles where all my numbers quickly wore off. I know Kyle would have replaced them but I did not want to go through the entire break in process again with an entire set of paddles. I dremeled the numbers back on and filled the etchings in with a black sharpie.
Do you have any “old stock” of 12 inch rods left which are probably 0.25? If so could you put a set aside for me and I’ll send you back the singing set. I find my 8 inch or 10 inch set work fine for my needs.
I can give the set I just made up to my office mate who also has a WE system.