sgoss66
Well-known member
Hi all.
Almost all detectors made today are nose-heavy/imbalanced, especially when swinging a large coil. That nose-heaviness affects each person differently -- some more, some less, and some very little at all. For those who ARE affected negatively by the nose-heaviness, a very good solution is counterweight (adding weight to the butt end of the shaft). All of the push by manufacturers to make machines as light as possible is GREAT, but it's only half the equation. A light, but very nose-heavy machine, can cause substantial issues, just like a heavier, but very nose-heavy machine. BALANCE MATTERS.
Nose-heaviness, if it's going to be a problem for a given person, will often manifest in the wrist, first. This is often why folks focus on "handle angle" as being "the issue," or the shape of the shaft (s-shaft vs. straight shaft). But, the issue is most often the IMBALANCE that is causing the issue. If a machine is nose-heavy, then it is your WRIST that is having to apply the "counter-force" to lift the coil, and KEEP it lifted. And over time, for many, fatigue/discomfort results. Along with the wrist, the discomfort often translates to other parts of your arm, often manifesting in the elbow, and for some even the shoulder. BUT -- the root cause, when you trace it back, is that almost ALL machines built today have a relatively heavy coil out at the end of a long "lever" (shaft), with very little if any compensating weight at the OTHER end of the shaft. And so, to lift the coil, YOU have to do that job -- with muscular exertion, as there is no "weight" at the other end of the shaft to "assist" with lifting the coil. Just think of the old see-saw/teeter-totter on the playground, analogy. YES, you could use your muscles to lift a child that is sitting on one end of the teeter-totter...but how much easier is it to simply set ANOTHER child on the OTHER end, and allow the WEIGHT of the second child, to lift the first...
This is an ergonomic problem, and a recipe for fatigue/discomfort. Counterweighting will resolve it in almost all cases, as soon as people get past the "mental hurdle" of "but I'm making my machine heavier if I add counterweight." Yes, you are. But, it's "heavier" in the "right way." There's a reason, when we carry a very long item (such as a board, for instance) that we instinctively carry it FROM THE MIDDLE. We KNOW that such an item is easier to carry when it's in BALANCE (equal weight on both sides), than when it is not (i.e. we pick up the board too close to one end).
The D2 shafts I'm now building are better balanced, because I FIRST reduce the overall weight of the shaft itself (via carbon fiber), but THEN, I REDISTRIBUTE the weight, also, by using a heavier arm cuff than the stock cuff. The result is a shaft that weighs essentially the same as the stock shaft, BUT, with an extra 3 to 4 ounces AT THE BUTT END (via the cuff). Beyond that balance improvement, I ALSO can build these shafts "counterweight-ready" -- i.e. with a fitting installed in the butt end, to allow attachment of my optional counterweighting system. SO, for anyone who wants their Deus to be even BETTER balanced, the ability to counterweight the shaft is therefore also an option, with my counterweight-ready shaft.
Again, it's a physics issue; using the teeter-totter/see-saw on the playground analogy, you are at least in the ballpark of visualizing WHY the issue with modern machines is BALANCE, and how it can be rectified by counterweighting.
Steve
Almost all detectors made today are nose-heavy/imbalanced, especially when swinging a large coil. That nose-heaviness affects each person differently -- some more, some less, and some very little at all. For those who ARE affected negatively by the nose-heaviness, a very good solution is counterweight (adding weight to the butt end of the shaft). All of the push by manufacturers to make machines as light as possible is GREAT, but it's only half the equation. A light, but very nose-heavy machine, can cause substantial issues, just like a heavier, but very nose-heavy machine. BALANCE MATTERS.
Nose-heaviness, if it's going to be a problem for a given person, will often manifest in the wrist, first. This is often why folks focus on "handle angle" as being "the issue," or the shape of the shaft (s-shaft vs. straight shaft). But, the issue is most often the IMBALANCE that is causing the issue. If a machine is nose-heavy, then it is your WRIST that is having to apply the "counter-force" to lift the coil, and KEEP it lifted. And over time, for many, fatigue/discomfort results. Along with the wrist, the discomfort often translates to other parts of your arm, often manifesting in the elbow, and for some even the shoulder. BUT -- the root cause, when you trace it back, is that almost ALL machines built today have a relatively heavy coil out at the end of a long "lever" (shaft), with very little if any compensating weight at the OTHER end of the shaft. And so, to lift the coil, YOU have to do that job -- with muscular exertion, as there is no "weight" at the other end of the shaft to "assist" with lifting the coil. Just think of the old see-saw/teeter-totter on the playground, analogy. YES, you could use your muscles to lift a child that is sitting on one end of the teeter-totter...but how much easier is it to simply set ANOTHER child on the OTHER end, and allow the WEIGHT of the second child, to lift the first...
This is an ergonomic problem, and a recipe for fatigue/discomfort. Counterweighting will resolve it in almost all cases, as soon as people get past the "mental hurdle" of "but I'm making my machine heavier if I add counterweight." Yes, you are. But, it's "heavier" in the "right way." There's a reason, when we carry a very long item (such as a board, for instance) that we instinctively carry it FROM THE MIDDLE. We KNOW that such an item is easier to carry when it's in BALANCE (equal weight on both sides), than when it is not (i.e. we pick up the board too close to one end).
The D2 shafts I'm now building are better balanced, because I FIRST reduce the overall weight of the shaft itself (via carbon fiber), but THEN, I REDISTRIBUTE the weight, also, by using a heavier arm cuff than the stock cuff. The result is a shaft that weighs essentially the same as the stock shaft, BUT, with an extra 3 to 4 ounces AT THE BUTT END (via the cuff). Beyond that balance improvement, I ALSO can build these shafts "counterweight-ready" -- i.e. with a fitting installed in the butt end, to allow attachment of my optional counterweighting system. SO, for anyone who wants their Deus to be even BETTER balanced, the ability to counterweight the shaft is therefore also an option, with my counterweight-ready shaft.
Again, it's a physics issue; using the teeter-totter/see-saw on the playground analogy, you are at least in the ballpark of visualizing WHY the issue with modern machines is BALANCE, and how it can be rectified by counterweighting.
Steve
