Sometime back I dropped my counterweight and cracked most of the plastic around the knurled tightening screw.
Huntied around for a while looking for a genuine or another Astro style replacement but found they were generally more expensive for what they are.
I happened on a stainless steel M8 eye bolt from a boating store. It cost about $6 a and was quite longer than the original but I simply cut off the excess thread. I left it a little longer than needed in case I wanted to use it for a wider CW sometime in the future.
I reckon it looks really good, is easy to turn by finger, and has the added advantage that I can just carry the CW by sticking my finger through the eye or maybe store it by hanging it up somewhere.
Just thought I’d post this small snippet for general information.
One thing to keep in mind with stainless steel is it is prone to " galling " this is where the threads seize. It is worst with stainless to stainless but can happen with stainless to other metal type joints.
You can ( should ) lubricate the threads to help stop it, do a search on what you can use or may have on hand that is suitable.
If / when it happens the threads will seize and the only way to separate them it to drill out the bolt and to re-tap, I was sceptical until it happened to me.
Thanks Ed.
Thats something I knew nothing about.
I actually thought that a stainless steel bolt would be less likely to rust into a steel thread and a brass pin but galling would obviously be a more serious problem than that.
Have heaps of different lubricants about and was intending to give it a light greasing with something like a lithium grease but after doing a bit of research as you suggest a specialist anti galling lubricant would be better.
The two that I have narrowed it down to are Tef-Gel and Lanocote which is basically a lanolin wax.
Both are relatively expensive (Tef Gel $30 for 10gr) but some have suggested Lanocote can be bought more cheaply from a chemist as Anhydrous Lanolin, which is used as a facial wax. If so, probably the first time I would have found something cheaper at the chemist.
I'll check around.
What comes to mind is, how much are you willing to lose if beeswax does not work and are you able to drill out and re-tap the hole with the seized bolt in it?
The idea of a stainless steel bolt is appealing for is lack of on-going maintenance but like everything there is a cost to it.
