The SAGA continues ...

[DOC]

So here's the latest SAGA news. As someone mentioned, maybe SAGA was not a good name as the development of this product has become something of a SAGA. The initial test run of 50, we took some and put them into the field. MONUMENTAL FAIL. These things were falling apart faster than you could swing your detector. To say they were under-engineered was putting it lightly. I had the basic concept of how this should be designed, but ultimately I depend on my fabricators to use the right material and finally design the product to withstand the rigors of metal detecting. Literally the only thing that performed well was the handle and the storage clip. I was shocked because I have been using the same company for 25 years and they have never let me down. And considering that they are working to totally re-design the piece, they didn't let me down this time either, it's just that it is taking a lot of time to make sure we get it right.

The straps were totally worthless. If you pulled on them, with very little force, they broke. We are now making the straps of super rubber. The pivot joint, was made too weak. Various pieces were just snapping. The pivot pin was either falling out of the joint or simply breaking. The ball joint which I thought would be a great idea, was actually a pitiful execution. It actually allowed too much play in the joint and made it feel like you had little to no control over the Swing Arm. Precisely what I did not want to happen. There were only really two movement I wanted. Obviously the first, a pivot joint that would move out and away from the detector, to the right or left depending on which side you mounted the SAGA on. The second movement was a rotation joint allowing up or down movement to prevent breaking the pivot joint. Literally every Swing Arm out there has the ability to move out and away from the machine by some method that is not a true pivot joint, and designed with some very minor collateral allowance of up or down motion, but this limited range of motion causes a lot of breakage of the competitor's fake pivot joints. After going through the process I now know why competitors have designed their fake pivot joints in this manner, because they only needed one mold, which lowers costs significantly. My design requires 4 different parts and 4 molds. That does not count the 5th mold for the rod storage clip which my competitors do not offer. In addition to which competitors Swing Arms will not work on all detectors. The rods on detectors have started to come in all shapes and sizes making it difficult to design a mount that will fit them all. I think I have accomplished that feat. The swivel joint and storage clip can be mounted on a variety of different rod sizes and shapes.

I could only laugh at what an absolute failure this thing was. If it had been one little thing that was wrong, then I would have been mad, but when the entire damn thing is an abortion, well all you can do is laugh and say let's go back to the drawing board. Literally until the Corona Virus came along this Swing Assist Guide Arm was the worst thing to ever come out of China.

To save time I went to a local tooling shop with my new plans on how to make this thing bullet proof. I am happy to report that the resulting prototype is strong like a bull, and extremely sturdy. It is in the hands of my factory in China and they have already done the CAD renderings. This will be a winner! -Doc

 

[beatup]

sure hope it works out for the good Doc