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Oversized dovetail plates on Steadicam Flyer causing assembly problems

19 years old. Gear and prices may have changed since.

What the thread found

  • Some production batches of Steadicam Flyer dovetail plates have been manufactured approximately 1mm too wide, making them extremely difficult or impossible to fit onto the stage
  • An oversized dovetail that forces onto the stage may become completely stuck after the first few millimeters, and attempting to remove it with force can damage the top stage
  • The manufacturer offers replacement dovetails for affected units and can be contacted through authorized dealers
  • If a dovetail is too tight to fit properly, attempting to force it on risks rendering the stage adjustment mechanism unusable since the dovetail cannot move freely for balancing adjustments

Depends on

  • This issue affected specific production batches of unknown quantity from around 2007
  • The exact number of affected units is not documented
  • A newer dovetail design mentioned as nearly twice as long as an older model was subject to these manufacturing tolerances

Parts

Dovetail Plate, Top Stage

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