Threaded headset bummer
 

So i had an uncut threaded fork that i had to cut to fit my headset and such. At first it was to long but after cutting it little by little and not watching i may have cut it to short. There is enough room for everything to thread on but the top nut doesnt have very many threads to turn on.

My main problem is no matter what i do i can not get the fork to not wobble. Its either to tight or to loose there is no middle. I put everything together right fork race is right cups are in all the way nothings crooked everything sits great. Im using a Tange Levin headset the NJS one not sure if there is a stack height difference between non-NJS and NJS. Anyway is there a headset with a shorter stack height? Or how can i fix this? Or do i need a new fork?

VeloOrange lists the NJS headset stack height as around 37mm. The regular Tange Levin is around 32 or 33. So replacing the headset should solve any thread problems

as we used to say at the bike shop, hold it closer to the computer. LOL personally I despise cutting forks. unless there is over an inch of extra sterer I never cut them. you can't get is smooth with just just turning the uppercup? if you are in doubt about having enough threadfs for the locknut I would get a shorter headset and start over NO CUTTING.

Do you think that'll solve the problem of not being able to get it to set right not to tight or to loose? I've checked a few websites and all them say different stack heights. But I'm guessing it's somewhere around 37mm.

I had to cut it there was like 6 inches or more of extra steer tube I didn't have much of a choice to start right now there is probably less than a 1/4" to thread on the top nut. It's mainly just not being able to get it to set right. Which I can't figure out why. Maybe I just need more grease and then when's it's tight it will spin nice.

If you are running out of threads on a threaded fork, try a Chris King Grip Nut headset. I installed one on a 1981 Ciocc frame 2 years ago. The fork was originally cut for a Campy Record headset, but it always seemed to have too few threads for the locknut. After years of messing around with a replacement Campy and then trying a Tange Levin, I went for the Chris King Grip Nut. That was 2 years ago and I haven't touched it since. It was worth the expensive price because I wanted to save the original fork to keep the bike original.

Yea I'm looking into that currently I don't have the money to drop on that but I may end up just doing that. If the bike shop can't get it set straight I don't have much of an option.

Let me get this straight. You removed 6" of threaded steerer tube and there's still some threads left? My God. What kind of fork is this? I would love to find a fork like this. Normally there's maybe only a couple inches of threading.
Doing the mods you're doing it's usually much better to leave a steerer tube a little long and then use a spacer to take up the difference than to risk cutting it too short as you have done. A shorter stack height headset may be your only solution.

Okay not 6" obviosuly, it was a normal uncut threaded fork it was actually like 2 inches probably.

Have you checked that the crown race is properly seated? Perhaps the race seat and/or head tube need to be milled & faced.

Check the easy and obvious first. The Tange uses caged bearings, if one or both are installed upside down you get the problem you described. Both sets of caged should have the "open" side facing the fork crown. If that's not the issue, try using loose bearings (make sure they are the correct size), sometimes you can get away with it.

I made sure the bearings were the right way I thought of that at first and double checked and they are the right way. I'll try the loose ball idea and see how that goes too.

Everything is sitting flush I double checked that too, if everything is sitting correctly could it still need to be milled or faced? I'm not very familiar with that. When I got the frame there was a headset installed already but it was a threadless headset which I'm still confused as to why.