DISCLAIMER - I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE CONTENT POSTED BELOW, ALL RIGHTS AND OWNERSHIP BELONG TO VESTRATTO. THIS IS A REPOST FOR NON EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS.
February 5th, 2023
THANKS FOR AN EXTRAORDINARY JANUARY
Vestratto has only been in business a little over a year so its no surprise that we had a record January. Last January we were busy replacing all of the FOUNDERs edition Anvils with USERs. For that reason alone a year on year comparison wouldn’t be fair. But let’s just say that - even compared to the heady times of the dreaded WAIT LIST - we had our second best bookings month ever. In fact - it has taken us a bit by surprise so we are all pulling a bit of overtime. Naturally this “catch-up” effort is not going to come at any expense to quality but it does mean we are running a bit behind. For any of you that are spooked that I’m actually absconding with your deposits to the Caymen’s its nothing that sinister. We are diligently chugging through the backlog and are even evaluating the purchase of another CNC machine to help with the demand. Thank you for your patience.
UNIVERSAL STEM ADAPTOR UPDATE
Early on in the USA project I made the incorrect assumption that if I directly copied a Dynavap interface directly we could introduce an adaptor for the CopperCore oven that would work with most, if not all stems. While we absolutely can guarantee that the first USA interface fits snugly in every 7.9mm bore there have been instances where folks have felt there was too much wobble of their CopperCore with a particular stem. Obviously the CopperCore is much heavier than a Dynatip so in order to stabilize the interface we have taken several additional steps for this next generation of USA adaptor. I am personally very pleased with it. I have worked quite hard on looking at all the variables and coming up with a set of compromises that satisfy the requirements for the BIG FOUR. Simrell, Revolve, Dynavap and glass. For smaller makers the WALTER DCS 150 line of drills offers a 7.9mm that does a great job for us drilling hundreds of holes each sharpening.
I also believe that by publishing this information makers can take a few hints in standardizing their own stems so that as a community we all work towards a higher level of inter-operability. Early on VESTRATTO made some choices to “standardize” on certain parts and quite frankly the reception was a bit chilly. But I don’t plan to move off that position because ultimately having standards benefits you guys, the customers. Thank you to those who got us stems to validate.
The changes to the updated USA are:
1) the o-ring groove width has been reduced to 0.043” to mitigate excessive flattening of the o-ring when compressed inside the 7.99 mm bore. This will give a more secure connection.
2) the o-rings have been spaced out wider to increase the resistance to deflection of the inserted stem. This reduces wobble.
3) the adaptor diameter in the region of the o-ring grooves has been increased to 7.8 mm. If the stem is deflected it will now hard stop against the interior wall of the standard 7.9mm bore. 100 percent of USA adaptors will ship with a certificate of compliance. If it doesn’t fit you need to start chasing after the stem makers.
4) the length of the USA adaptor insertion has been increased to utilize the full 6mm insertion depth available on the Simrell and Revolve Gen 2 stems. The deeper the insertion the more stable the connection. The depth has been set so that the “insulation” o-ring will be compressed 0.010” at the Revolve’s snap-lock position. Neither Dynavap nor Simrell utilize an internal snap lock feature so the Revolve Gen2 defined the maximum depth we could utilize.
5) the “insulating” o-ring has been set back 0.01” from the final insertion o-ring to increase the moment arm. If using borosilicate glass or an 8mm id steel liner tube I recommend removing the “insulating” o-ring to maximize insertion. The borosilicate is 8mm id which is definitely a looser fit and benefits from the extra depth.
6) the inner bore of the USA has been increased to 5.5 mm to provide improved airflow adjustment with OMNI variable position condensers.
I cannot guarantee that the USA will work to your satisfaction with every stem because, while there is a lot of agreement among manufacturers the only guaranteed fit is for the lighter Dynavp tips. I have done my best to achieve a best fit for Simrell, Revolve, Dynavap and borosilicate glass. If there is a stem you want to guarantee a fit for just send it through to my attention and if necessary I will update the adaptor for a personalized fit or tell you in detail why it won’t work.
Lets take a look at the BIG 4 in detail. The USA works best for
a 7.9mm steam with 6mm of insertion depth. Imperial 0.311 inches diameter, 0.236 inch insertion.
I’m quite certain you are going to be happy with the USA changes. We are making the USA gen 2.0 as I write this and plan to start shipping through the backlog this week with completion of everything by next week.
Candidly, by doing this deep dive on all these competitors stems it has got me hatching a cunning plan of my own. More on that soon.
Cheers
John