RE: Who wants good Retracts?
Three good points about retracts have been brought up...
1 - They need a lot of torque to operate
2 - The struts bend.
3 - The struts rotate
1 - If you saw the video, you'll know that mine need minimal torque. As I said before, a STANDARD servo will easily operate both gear (I have done this and it works very well, however I prefer to use a retract servo only for the scale speed)
2 - I'm not going to lie and say my struts never bend. Wire struts bend - Period. However, to help combat the problem, I use 3/16 wire (Instead of the standard 5/32) You can add a coil to the strut - and I have done that on some sets - and it helps a little. So the bottom line is: Yes, they still bend, but not nearly as easily and as often as the others currently out there.
3 - The gear attach by going through a hole in the cam and being held in place with a set screw. By grinding a flat on the wire, they won't rotate.
Now that I have whetted all of your appitites, I'm going to close this thread. I want to thank you all for confirming what I have been thinking all along - that we ALL want better retracts. As of this morning, I am dealing with a manufacturer who is interested in providing you with a better set.
Let's hope this works out for all of us!