STA-LOK cones can be an issue?

[gjordan]

I have re-read the Norseman cone thread a couple of times and think it is a shame that cones are not available. I have a bunch of STA-LOC ends and was looking to pick up spare cones for possible later use and discovered that cones for the early STA-LOCs are no longer available. I didnt know there were early and late model STA-LOCs, but RIG-RITE web site talks about it. The way to tell is by the number of flats on the nut that you tighten the fitting with. If it has 6 flats (hexagonal like a standard sort of nut) it is an early fitting and cones are not available. If it has 4 flats it is the newer fitting. Why do companies sell an expensive product and not make the inexpensive spare parts available? It turned out that mine are the newer ones, but you could get into trouble if you accidentally ordered the wrong cones. Just a little information here. ____Grant.

[Jim Cate]

Yep, ran into this years ago when re-rigging Insatiable I prior to our first departure. Got new cones, couldn't get things to work right. Had a neighboring rigger try... he couldn't either. Called the parent company in the UK, and after a lot of expensive humming and hawing, I mentioned that the old cones were brass or some other yelllow metal, and could I re-use them? "OOOHHHH, brass cones" they said, "those are the OLD model Sta loks, and the new cones don't fit" And even then (1985) you could not get the o ld cones. They did sell me the new parts at cost, but still... and NO ONE in the SF bay area knew about this change over. Pretty odd... and pretty expensive!

Jim

[gjordan]

In looking at prices for cones, I noticed that the companies that advertised STA-LOC cones are charging about 5 times the price compared to the companies that advertise Norseman cones (even tho they dont have any). I dont know how many early STA-LOCs are still out in use, but there are a hell of a lot of Norseman fittings. Some machine shop should be able to make a profit supplying cones. ____Grant.