For those who have and use the Atlas clone bipods, I had a few hours on a rainy day today and did some experimenting to improve how that bipod functions. For those that don't like these, I can understand. I am not a big time bipod user and thought that the inexpensive clone would fit my needs. If I was in need of a fully reliable and proven bipod for critical situation use then the Atlas would be much better than this one, as would many other brands that have been discussed. But for me such isn't needed and this is for those who have similar needs but would like better function of the unit.
After disassembling the unit and studying function for a while, I did the following things.
1-I deburred the slot and polished the ball shaped pivot head lightly. I also rounded the shoulder of that round pivot head as well. Also, I smoothed the center hole and rim of the concave washer that the pivot ball fits against. All of this makes the tilt movement very smooth.
2-I put a flat washer under the concave washer to raise it slightly. This allows noticeably more tilt range by raising the entire platform slightly. This isn't necessary or possibly even needed but without it the mounting bracket edges hit the body of the bipod before maximum possible tilt. With this washer in place you can get the full tilt range allowed by the slot in the pivot head. It doesn't have to be a specific thickness and I used one from my spares bin that dropped into the hole and still allowed the silver bolt to pass through.
3-I put a thick o-ring under the tension spring to increase tension. A washer would have probably been better but I couldn't find one that would fit into the hole and over the diameter of the bolt at the same time. Such an o-ring does drag on the bolt a bit during panning but it isn't much. It may wear or condense over time but it could easily be replaced with a metal washer of some type. I may fit a washer there later when I have time to drill one to the right inner diameter and turn the outer down but the o-ring seems to work fine for now.
4-on the large adjusting nut I removed a bit of the raised bevel that surrounds the base of the tapped central body of that adjusting nut because it was contacting the body of the bipod. Again something that might not be necessary but it seems best that the adjusting nut be able to rotate freely during panning and I thought that if contact was only on the narrower end of the tapped area then it would drag less and rotate more freely.
Finally, I dropped a pellet into the threaded hole in the adjusting nut and compressed it with hammer and punch. It took 4 pellets for mine. This makes the adjusting nut tighten onto the end of the chrome bolt that holds the mechanism together. The result is that you can then pan the unit without it loosening because with the nut effectively tight onto the end of the chrome bolt and the reduction in drag on the adjusting nut base from step 4 above, the adjusting nut will now turn WITH the main bolt instead of dragging on the bipod body and unscrewing when panned. This approach is less than ideal because any change to tension adjustment might cause the nut to loosen again but it would depend on how much one wants or needs to adjust that tension. Another possibly better way to accomplish this might be to drill and tap the bottom of the adjusting nut (or possibly drill and tap from the side through one of the scallops) and place a set screw to tighten the adjusting nut to the main bolt. I may do this in the future if the current setup loosens.
The clone will never be as good as the original. Material quality and fit/finish are surely not the same. But with the steps above, it functions well and doing such only costs as much as a washer, an 0-ring, and your time. For those that have these units and want to improve them, I hope this can help.
Happy New Year to all.
After disassembling the unit and studying function for a while, I did the following things.
1-I deburred the slot and polished the ball shaped pivot head lightly. I also rounded the shoulder of that round pivot head as well. Also, I smoothed the center hole and rim of the concave washer that the pivot ball fits against. All of this makes the tilt movement very smooth.
2-I put a flat washer under the concave washer to raise it slightly. This allows noticeably more tilt range by raising the entire platform slightly. This isn't necessary or possibly even needed but without it the mounting bracket edges hit the body of the bipod before maximum possible tilt. With this washer in place you can get the full tilt range allowed by the slot in the pivot head. It doesn't have to be a specific thickness and I used one from my spares bin that dropped into the hole and still allowed the silver bolt to pass through.
3-I put a thick o-ring under the tension spring to increase tension. A washer would have probably been better but I couldn't find one that would fit into the hole and over the diameter of the bolt at the same time. Such an o-ring does drag on the bolt a bit during panning but it isn't much. It may wear or condense over time but it could easily be replaced with a metal washer of some type. I may fit a washer there later when I have time to drill one to the right inner diameter and turn the outer down but the o-ring seems to work fine for now.
4-on the large adjusting nut I removed a bit of the raised bevel that surrounds the base of the tapped central body of that adjusting nut because it was contacting the body of the bipod. Again something that might not be necessary but it seems best that the adjusting nut be able to rotate freely during panning and I thought that if contact was only on the narrower end of the tapped area then it would drag less and rotate more freely.
Finally, I dropped a pellet into the threaded hole in the adjusting nut and compressed it with hammer and punch. It took 4 pellets for mine. This makes the adjusting nut tighten onto the end of the chrome bolt that holds the mechanism together. The result is that you can then pan the unit without it loosening because with the nut effectively tight onto the end of the chrome bolt and the reduction in drag on the adjusting nut base from step 4 above, the adjusting nut will now turn WITH the main bolt instead of dragging on the bipod body and unscrewing when panned. This approach is less than ideal because any change to tension adjustment might cause the nut to loosen again but it would depend on how much one wants or needs to adjust that tension. Another possibly better way to accomplish this might be to drill and tap the bottom of the adjusting nut (or possibly drill and tap from the side through one of the scallops) and place a set screw to tighten the adjusting nut to the main bolt. I may do this in the future if the current setup loosens.
The clone will never be as good as the original. Material quality and fit/finish are surely not the same. But with the steps above, it functions well and doing such only costs as much as a washer, an 0-ring, and your time. For those that have these units and want to improve them, I hope this can help.
Happy New Year to all.
. The entire concept of cloning is a totally different matter.