Pure Quill is an old New England expression meaning “The genuine article...the real thing, authentic, or not phony”
look up Manfrotto replacement parts.
Thanks,
Kirk
at age 73:
"The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep"
"Bogen"
OK so it seems that both the cast aluminum & the plastic levers are easily broken.
And expensive to replace @ $11.50 Each plus shipping from England. Ouch!
I think the problem is the material, cast aluminum & plastic are just not strong enough to endure the rigors professional field work & travel
Judging from what I see on ebay it’s the #1 problem with these tripods.
I wonder what it would cost to have someone CNC machine these parts out of solid bar stock aluminum with a beefed up design.
I am pretty sure that the milled solid aluminum would probably bend before it broke.
Any machinist here have any ideas?
I know its feasible but is it practical?
I was thinking if we got the cost per unit reasonable we could offer retrofit levers that will last a lifetime & keep a lot of these tripods out of the scrap heap.
Just my thoughts...ramblings of an insomniac.
Pure Quill is an old New England expression meaning “The genuine article...the real thing, authentic, or not phony”
Heres the place I used for parts - fwiw the metal levers work fine. I have a bogen 3055 that I replaced the levers on and have been using professionally for 26 years
http://www.bogentripodparts.com/parts.htm
Well, I think you just made my point.
Yes, the levers work fine ( they clamp the leg in place firmly) except they break very easily.
You have had to replace the levers yourself..why because they break?
My tripod only has 1 of the original 6 levers and I still need a new one( they only come in plastic now)!
To my way of thinking if 5 out 6 levers have broken that is an 86.8% failure rate. Oh & I still need another so make it 6 out of 6 replaced a 100%.
That is a design problem in my book.
One look at the tripod my dad gave me & you can tell that it was well taken care of & not abused in any way.
He used once or twice a year on vacations to photograph birds with a 500mm lens.
The only replacement levers available are plastic. I have no doubt they will break again.
Frankly I think Manafrotto is making a killing selling these plastic parts at $11.50 each plus shipping from England.
Think I will buy a new plastic part so all the levers are there & then dump the Bogen on ebay.
Too bad its a pretty nice tripod except the for the levers.
Pure Quill is an old New England expression meaning “The genuine article...the real thing, authentic, or not phony”
Think it might help to reinforce them with fiberglass cloth?
Shucks, you can even get small sizes of carbon fiber at ye olde hobbye emporium.
Use 'em both.
Bookmarks