stem to steerer uneven gap betweens bolts !?

[bad boy]

Hiya

Just wanted to gauge opinion on this.

I sanded down my new stem a while ago to make it more carbon friendly but I cannot manage to get an even gap between the top and bottom bolts when torquing it up (stem to steerer).

Ive tried being as precise as possible regarding alternating between the top and bottom in small increments etc etc but always end up with the top bolt having a slightly larger gap than the bottom.


Could it be that my sanding has thinned some areas of the stem which is causing the uneven gaps when torquing up ?.

Im concerned its creating a pinch point but am not sure if that is correct when both bolts are of equal torque !?.

Thanks

 

[RecordAceFromNew]

Since no one responded, having thought about it a bit, assuming the gaps are identical with no bolt my 2 cents are as follows:

1. If the stem's original manufacturing or your sanding did not result in a perfectly/adequately straight inside surface longitudinally and perfectly/adequately round inside surface latitudinally, then EVEN equal torques producing equal gaps at the bolts will still cause pinch points. The same applies if the steerer tube is not similarly perfectly shaped externally.

2. The structure of the stem "could" still be so inhomogenous internally (through manufacturing fault or design) such that different torques are required at the two bolts to create equal gaps, but whether that is the case could be proved/disproved by torquing the bolts equally without the steerer, and see whether the gaps remain identical.

3. If the result is favourable in 2, then the phenomenon of unequal gap from equal torque you experience can only arise from imperfect internal surface of the stem and/or imperfect external surface of the steerer as described in 1, and pinch points will therefore likely exist if you use them.