I've noticed that on some unisys mirages, the hip rings are actually forged by a different company than the chest rings are the 3-ring harness ring...
... i was wondering if this is fairly common.... so if anyone has a fully articulated mirage to hand it would be good to hear if the stamp on the leg strap hardware match the stamps on the other hardware.
On the one i have here, the hip rings have a "W" in a pentagon stamped on them (i.e. Wichard hardware) whereas the chest rings and 3-ring harness ring have a large "B" followed by a tiny small "F" and "I" (vertically aligned) enclosed in a diamond (Bourdon hardware). All hardware is stainless steel, and are the same shape and finish, except the Wichard hardware has a slot that is *very* slightly different shape.
And if anyone has any suggestions as to why there is mixture of hardware, it would be very interesting to hear. I have asked the manufacturer but had no response.
I don't know exactly how common it is for them to mix and match. Most rig manufacturers own sewing machines not metal forging machines so they buy from another company who is good at making said part. As an exception Jumpshack has a metal shop and most of the R/C handles for other rigs are made by them.
I also wouldn't be worried about this practise as all the hardware has to meet stringent requirements in testing, Q/C and traceability.
You are right, it isn't something to be concerned about... but there must be some reason for using hardware from different forges at specific places on the harness. In addition to this, i'm trying to get a feel for whether this is the case for all mirage harnesses...
(This post was edited by andyhughes on Oct 27, 2009, 5:10 AM)
hmmm... not 100% convinced on that one... unless they ran out of hardware from one forge half way through building this particular rig....
what about the other mirages out there - what hardware do they have on them?
(i don't get to see that many Mirages over here in the UK - for some reason there aren't many about - so my survey pool is quite small... hence the dz.com post...).
hmmm... not 100% convinced on that one... unless they ran out of hardware from one forge half way through building this particular rig....
what about the other mirages out there - what hardware do they have on them?
(i don't get to see that many Mirages over here in the UK - for some reason there aren't many about - so my survey pool is quite small... hence the dz.com post...).
Since I had my rig next to me as I sat down, it has the same markings on the hip rings as it does for the harness ring connector. Looks like a diamond, cant really make out whats inside of it (could be a B) and 04 next to it. Also has 444SS (Im guessing its 444 stainless steel)
Nice one - thanks for posting that. That is Bourdon hardware (it is a "B" with a tiny "F" and "I" like the logo on http://www.bourdonforge.com/). Why they try stamping letters that quite that small is beyond me ;p.
Interesting to hear that it is all the same hardware...
hmmm... not 100% convinced on that one... unless they ran out of hardware from one forge half way through building this particular rig....
what about the other mirages out there - what hardware do they have on them?
(i don't get to see that many Mirages over here in the UK - for some reason there aren't many about - so my survey pool is quite small... hence the dz.com post...).
I don't know for sure, but perhaps the bin was partly full of one type, and shipment of a different type came in and got mixed in. If they all meet spec, would they have to be segregated by manufacturer?
