I've got a great Chinese cheapy cage. The problem ,is aligning the integral lock with the key , as it takes ages to get totally aligned with the cage and the base ring Sure, it's easy to lock when not attached to your body - I think it's because it's cheap, the tolerances arnt as quite as good as they ought to be. Any suggestions when, on the body, it's easy to align pins, cage and base ring? Thanks
It's going to be sitting at a different angle when it's been filled. So long as you have the pins lined up into the ring and can get it fully seated, you'll need to probably press it downward to get things lined up. I noticed the same problem on the one I tried.
Most of the Chinese cages are made to pretty crappy tolerances. I have one that requires a bit of fiddling to get the lock inserted. You can, carefully, bend things. I've also cleaning up milling marks with a 1/4" stone which seems to help. As does lightly lubricating the lock.
Yep, lubing the lock does seem to help. Far more fiddly than I'd originally thought - it's a bit hit or miss with me and ,more recently, been more of a miss. Was even thinking of putting some blue tack in the holes to try and keep cage more stable. Thank you for your advice , glad it's not only me
I think it's just the nature of the beast, these devices just are not made to a very high standard with a minimum of quality control. Personally I think the Chinese are missing out on a opportunity to produce a product with somewhat higher quality at a reasonable price that would still be far less than the custom makers. It's beyond me why they haven't come up with the idea of a "semi-custom" device. How difficult could it be to produce cages in, say, 1/4" - 3/8" length increments and rings in 1/8" - 3/16" increments. Pick the cage length, pick the ring diameter, and you have near custom at a fraction of the price.
In my opinion, it's fairly easy. But depending on the device, you have to push it away from you when it's aligned with the holes for the lock (assuming it's integrated). The quality is not the best, but for the price, one can't complain too much. The only thing I don't like is the skin irritation from the steel that's used in some devices, which causes me to have to remove it after wearing one for 30 minutes or so. It's been a while since I've slept with one on.
In regards to the discomfort, duct taping the ring does reduce the pain. But I'm not sure if it's suitable for this to remain a device whilst sleeping or not.