Weight Holder
Misc
New Weight Holder System introduced
In August 2015, NKK introduced a new feature that its users will never really need to know about. It is an adjustable counterweight holder system. The spindle arm that holds the spindle also has a a built-in counterweight system under the NKK Logo plate. This system was "fixed" and was not previously adjustable. Since wooden components and some steel parts vary in size and weight slightly, they can affect the overall balance of the ball winder.
Fortunately, our design had a fairly rigid set of size and weight characteristics and as a result, it normally ran smoothly as you cranked the handle (was free of wobble). However, we would run into a unit in production occasionally that, for combination of reasons, would wobble due to a weight imbalance. When that happened we would have to machine out a cavity under the arm and install another weight. This was because the primary weights were permanently affixed inside the wooden arm during assembly and were not adjustable.
When the Small Diameter Spindle was used, boring out the wooden arm was often times required. Machining out a large 2" diameter hole under the arm was a time consuming process and did not always completely eliminate the imbalance problem.
We finally devised an innovative system to remedy this problem which consists of using specially designed steel washers that we could add or subtract to get the best balance possible. So even though we make every unit the same, if a unit gets to final assembly and test and we find that its balance is not optimal, we can quickly and easily insert another weight or modify the weights that are inside the weight well in the spindle arm.
When we include a Small Diameter Spindle with a unit, we can alter the weights so that they work with both the standard spindle as well as the SDS. In the unlikely event that they do not work with both, we can give the customer another weight to add when they want to use the SDS.
Often times, weight imbalances on older units can be corrected by simply using one of our new white plastic collars on the end of the spindle shaft. These are now fitted on all new production units. If you happen to have an older unit and you are experiencing a balance problem, please contact us and we can help you out.
So, although our customers will typically never need to understand how the weight system works on our HDBW, it is nice to know that we can now resolve it if it ever does occur. Because of this new feature, our ball winders are now more than likely the smoothest running ball winders in the market.