OXZAOX Lock: development log, rev 14
A connection has one job: disappear
Every foil rider has felt a bad connection. A faint click on the pump. A wing that drifts a degree after a hard touchdown. A bolt that needs a wrench and a prayer in February water. The connection is the part of the foil that is easiest to ignore on a spec sheet and hardest to ignore on the water.
OX Lock is fourteen revisions into not being noticed.
What rev 14 changed
Load path. Earlier revisions carried part of the bending load through the bolt threads — the industry norm, and the reason so many foils develop play. Rev 14 moves that load onto a machined shoulder on the fuselage. The bolts now do one thing: clamp. They no longer locate.
Torque. Because the bolts no longer locate the wing, the torque spec dropped. Lower torque means less thread wear, less chance of galling on titanium hardware, and a beach-side tighten that a 6 mm key can do by feel.
Stiffness. Measured deflection at the wing tip under a fixed load fell compared with rev 13. We are not publishing the number — it is measured on our rig, against our previous revision, and a single figure would be marketing, not engineering.
What broke on the way
- Rev 9 seized. A tolerance stack that looked fine on paper bound the wing to the fuselage after salt cycling. Fix: looser fit, tighter shoulder.
- Rev 11 chattered. The shoulder was too short; under pump load the interface rocked by a hair. Fix: longer shoulder, less bolt.
- Rev 13 passed every mechanical test and then fretted at the contact faces after a season on the test fleet. Fix: surface finish change plus a hardware spec change to full titanium.
Why T8 stays
OX is where the REVSTAR system is going. T8 is how most riders get here. Every fuselage size (FU600, FU700, FU860) ships in both a T8 version and an OX version, so a rider coming from SAB- or Phantasm-style gear can keep their mast today and move the rest of the system over when it suits them. Migration matters more than purity.
If you are on T8 now, the OX vs T8 migration guide walks through which part to change first.
What's next
Rev 15 is a hardware revision, not a geometry change: one bolt kit across the whole system, titanium only. Details when it ships — not before.
Questions
What is OX Lock?
OX Lock is OXZA's proprietary quick-connect interface between front wing, fuselage and mast on the REVSTAR system. It is designed to feel like a single piece once assembled — no perceptible flex, no corrosion management, no tools needed on the beach.
Is OX Lock compatible with T8 foils?
OX and T8 are different interfaces. OXZA builds REVSTAR fuselages in both OX and T8 versions so riders with SAB / Phantasm-style T8 gear can migrate one part at a time. See the OX vs T8 migration guide.
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