Yesterday when I picked up my Jet 40″ K-body clamp a screw and two washers fell on the floor.  When I inspected the head I found the box housing the slider latch is supposed to have four screws holding the lid in place.  There was only one left in mine and it was very loose.  I checked all my other K-bodies and their screws were in place and tight.  Apparently it was an isolated incident.  Just in case, you may want to check your K-bodies.  Maybe one of them came off the assembly line on a Monday or Friday in the same batch as my faulty one.

After swapping the head with a head from one of my two 12 inchers (I rarely use them), I took it apart.  The threads on the screws are 10 mm long but only about 1 mm engages with the threads in the box.  Apparently they had been over-tightened and stripped the box threads.  By omitting the washers I was able to get enough threads to engage and hold the lid on with the two screws.  That should hold it until I can find some 4 – .7 screws that are slightly longer.  BTW there are at least 17 wrong ways to put a K-body head back together.  I am sure if I took it apart again I could find some more.

Cheers, George