ADM Vixen dovetail-mounted counterweight

[Jane C]

This product is so close to being an excellent product, but someone was half asleep when designing it.  So I am now going to have to spend time & money sorting it out.

1. The main thread, a 1/2 inch UNC thread (13 turns per inch) is attached to the Vixen clamp via a small screw.  But how do you tighten this screw without gripping the main thread so hard you are likely to damage it?  There's nothing else to grip.

2. The handle to turn the thread on the clamp is too short, so that it bumps into the counterweight.  That's a simple design oversight.  It only needs to be about half an inch (12.7mm) longer.  This means you can't screw the weight down tight.

3. Finally, there is nothing to stop the counterweight gradually unscrewing over time and falling off.  It's heavy enough to hurt and do damage.  

Problems 1 & 3 could be easily fixed with an internal thread like at the other end, into which you place a screw with a big flat head with a knurled rim like the one shown.  The weights would then not fall off so easily, and you could react the torque needed to tighten the screw at the base.

Dear ADM, you can have my ideas to upgrade your product free of charge.

[Jane C]

My fixes to the problems.  

1. Use Loctite 243, the grease-tolerant version, to affix the long threaded stud.

2. Affix two 1/2-inch -13tpi stainless steel nuts, and use big wrenches to screw them very tightly into one another.  The stud is stainless, so I wanted to avoid mixing materials to deter galvanic corrosion.  Two nuts tightened into one another tend not to come undone.