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le_bruce
climber
Oakland, CA
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Apr 28, 2017 - 09:08am PT
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edavidso - have to chime in here to say that you have built one damn fine looking piece of gear.
I also for some irrational reason find it really cool that these are coming out of good old Oakland.
Cheers to the makers out there.
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Jon Beck
Trad climber
Oceanside
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Apr 28, 2017 - 10:16am PT
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Looking good. My only (possibly ignorant) comment would be about the solid shaft. Wouldn't it tend to transfer more force to the axle carrier (or whatever is it called). Obviously side pulls are to be avoided, and a horizontal placement might be asking for trouble if there is nothing to limit the movement of the shaft.
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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Apr 28, 2017 - 11:25pm PT
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Oakland? Extra cool!
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k-man
Gym climber
SCruz
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Apr 29, 2017 - 08:18am PT
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My stomach hurts just looking at that item. All I can say is that I hope to never find myself in a position where I need one of those things.
Except for maybe has a candle holder or something.
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nutstory
climber
Ajaccio, Corsica, France
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Apr 29, 2017 - 08:39am PT
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If, one day, you find yourself in a position where you need one of those things, and you have no one of them, I promise you that the candles on your birthday cake will be in the wind… ;-) (as usual, forgive my so poorly spoken english)
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Moof
Big Wall climber
Orygun
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Apr 29, 2017 - 07:15pm PT
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Small brass, and big cams: Love to have them, hate to use them.
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Tom
Big Wall climber
San Luis Obispo CA
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Apr 30, 2017 - 12:34pm PT
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Some bad news on the manufacturing front.
Yeah, I hear that one. I have had numerous issues with contracting out for parts: very expensive, very late, and defective parts coming off of a CNC machine.
Regarding that broken cable loop in the photo above:
I used to silver solder fittings onto 7x19 stainless steel wire rope for tensegrity furniture. And, using a torch on that material was a Pain In The Ass.
The issue, for me, was not exactly annealing the metal. It was that the thin wire strands would rapidly oxidize, even with black flux, and the chromium and nickel would form carbides, and the cable would become extremely weak. The key, for me, was to keep the flame away from the wire rope, and let the heat from the fitting conduct to it. When I brazed lapped splices, with no fitting, I had to be very gentle with the torch, and just barely get the metal hot enough to flow the silver solder.
The 1x19 wire rope I use for the Valley Giant cable loop is much, much less susceptible to degradation during a brazing process. But, I still focus the flame on the fitting, and avoid heating the cable directly.
To paraphrase Chuck Pratt, as presented in his article The View From Deadhorse Point:
Some day, when I am younger and have more time, I will figure out how to avoid the brazing process altogether.
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edavidso
Trad climber
Oakland, CA
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Tom, I can empathize with you on supplier woes. After concluding that the axle supplier folded and forgot to tell anyone about it, I found a new axle supplier and ordered 100 more axles, which should be here in about 4 weeks. I wrote the previous supplier to tell them I was cancelling the order and after over a month of complete silence they told me they were ready to ship the axles. In any case, I should have more axles than I know what to do with pretty soon.
I also share your experience on the silver soldering. I did have better luck with the 1x19 handle loop since the wire strands are larger and less susceptible to oxidation. It was difficult for me to assemble and get to stay in place though due to its stiffness. I do heat the fitting instead of the wire but still have to go fast to keep the wire from oxidizing and not wicking solder. I managed to get rid of the silver solder joint at the base but still have the joint at the handle to deal with.
As to the question on the solid stem, it transfers more moment to the stem end (I-beam part) but that's a very small force compared to the tensile force produced in a fall, which doesn't really depend on what the stem looks like. And yes, probably best not to use in a horizontal. That's not really how these large cams are used. The stem will not break if bent - I've bent it over 90 degrees and back again and it still held full load - but the cam will probably not be immediately usable if you bend the stem over an edge. You can bend it back and keep going but might be difficult depending on where the bend is.
I had enough axles on hand to finish 5 cams that I sent out today. Here they are:
I sent them out today. They are sent in the retracted and locked position. You simply hold like a normal cam and twist the trigger in the expected direction (i.e. to align the wires with the control horns) and the cam will open. I need to use two hands to lock back into the retracted position. I posted a youtube video to show how this is done: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGwuHYyQENQ
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nutstory
climber
Ajaccio, Corsica, France
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It is a great privilege to get a sample from The First Batch.
Thank you very much Erick!
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Tom
Big Wall climber
San Luis Obispo CA
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Erick,
I am not trying to say that, "You are re-inventing the wheel".
You are not re-inventing the wheel.
What you are doing is evolving the state of the art, here, with respect to large climbing cams. You are pushing the envelope, so that the gear is better, so that people can be safe. Striving for lightweight gear is, generally better, with respect to mountaineering equipment.
You are right here, in a most delicious way, in a valuable quest for advancement of the state of the art.
I admire you. You are striving to make the gear better.
The manufacturing headaches afflict both of us.
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matty
Trad climber
under the sea
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Great to see!
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OlympicMtnBoy
climber
Seattle
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Eagerly waiting for batch #2!
Also really enjoy/appreciate this civil dialogue between Tom and Erick, both clearly talented guys working on cool stuff and innovating along the way. Props to both!
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msiddens
Trad climber
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Way slick. So nice to see quality and an ingenious design and from CA too
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Willoughby
Social climber
Truckee, CA
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May 12, 2017 - 05:56pm PT
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I got a VG9 in the mail today and am STOKED! Almost immediately I realized something that I'd never seen, but would love to see compiled: a list of climbs where these cams are either critical or at least are really comforting to have. E.g., I know they're far from mandatory, but pretty useful for some folks, on TM's Deviation or Pratt's Crack. Seems like a good question to post over at Widefetish, but that site is pretty quiet these days.
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NutAgain!
Trad climber
South Pasadena, CA
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May 12, 2017 - 06:00pm PT
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I don't have one, but would have used it on this thing in Saline Valley:
Made it up pushing a #6 tipped out and then leaving it behind, but a #9 would have made the safety factor casual.
Hourglass Right in Yosemite is another climb that would be really scary without a #9, at least until getting established fully inside the chimney.
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Alexey
climber
San Jose, CA
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May 12, 2017 - 09:02pm PT
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Hourglass Right in Yosemite is another climb that would be really scary without a #9 it was scary with #9 too. Take them both VG9+ Merlin#8. I remember it was place when #9 become too open and I can not move it up any more. So I left it behind and crack soon narrowed and would take it back, but I did not have Merlin#8 at this time.
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nutstory
climber
Ajaccio, Corsica, France
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May 13, 2017 - 12:20am PT
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The right toys for Hourglass Right in Yosemite ;-)
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'Pass the Pitons' Pete
Big Wall climber
like Ontario, Canada, eh?
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May 13, 2017 - 11:28am PT
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Yosemite Lodge circa 2001.
PtPP: "Hey Brian, check out this awesome 9" cam Tom made!"
Mr. Way: "So what? EVERYONE makes those..."
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