cold shoe blanks?

[danno@cnwl.igs]

Like Vinny said, because I needed to locate the mounting holes myself; typical holes patterns made it difficult to mount around existing hardware on my camera. It was difficult to tell what sort of holes are drilled on a lot of the ones I saw for sale, because the shoe spring tends to hide the mounting screws. But I did manage to work it out by offsetting it around the other front standard hardware. It would have been much easier with a blank cold shoe, but at least it's done.

AAhhhh, I understand.

Thanks

[Colin Graham]

I actually just figured out a way to use an existing cold shoe- I just mounted it offset on the standard with the front hole and screwed a tiny anti-spin bar to the back of it with the rear hole.

I was asked to clarify this, so thought a picture might help.

[mdarnton]

If you give up on that, there's a very nice looking Wooden Camera brand accessory shoe with just one hole:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Wooden-Camer...-/191426346777
I've considered it for projects because it seems so nicely made.

The picture you show is of a shoe that does have holes, but the springs are on a separate piece of spring steel that slides in and locks over the holes. There's a down-bent lip at the front and the back, and the little tension springs keep it pressed down against the base, over the holes. If you want one of those, search ebay for old shoe adapters, but it will still have holes.

[Colin Graham]

That's a nice resource- many thanks for the link.
Although, with the location of the mounting hole, it might hang over the front edge enough to get in the way of the lens board latch. But I'll definitely keep it in mind for other projects.

[rbultman]

That one is a little expensive at ~$40. Maybe you could salvage one from a parts camera.

[Colin Graham]

Considering the cost of a t-slotting bit, or the extra time it took to make a salvaged part work in an odd situation like this, $25 isn't bad. $15 shipping does seem a little punitive though for something you could drop in an envelope. Anyway, there are others like it for $20 shipped.

[Leszek Vogt]

Although this piece looks really nice and sturdy....what makes it from rotating, tho...perhaps there is a small pin underneath ? Just wondering....

[Colin Graham]

I think you're right, there doesn't appear to be much to keep the one in the ebay link from spinning, in which case it wouldn't have helped in this situation.

I just misread mdarton's post. I thought he was saying there's a lip on the ebay shoe to keep it from spinning, but re-reading that post it seems he was only describing something already mentioned earlier in the thread, that most cold shoes have a spring that covers the mounting holes. This was a source of frustration when trying to find a blank one last year- it's impossible to tell what sort of holes are milled into them from product shots because this tension spring covers the holes.

It was difficult to tell what sort of holes are drilled on a lot of the ones I saw for sale, because the shoe spring tends to hide the mounting screws. But I did manage to work it out by offsetting it around the other front standard hardware. It would have been much easier with a blank cold shoe, but at least it's done.