My Deardorff V8 uses an aluminum plate with 3/8" thread. Its threads have never failed. Never over-tighten the screw.
My Deardorff V8 uses an aluminum plate with 3/8" thread. Its threads have never failed. Never over-tighten the screw.
You don't really need to guess how thick an aluminum plate needs to be in order for threads not to fail:
http://www.engineersedge.com/thread_...engagement.htm
https://www.fastenal.com/en/78/screw-thread-design
These are just a couple of the resources available.
Helicoil
That seems in line with the fact that my 32# Deardorff 1940 Marine V11 uses silver painted metal parts instead of aluminum parts on yours, has a heavy neoprene IR proof bellows as well as a rather beefy metal handle instead of the more common leather one. That being said I have been know to be sufficiently looney tunes to carry this boat anchor and all of the necessary contributing components as far as a quarter mile to a shooting location. Being perfectly honest I have yet to accomplish this in one trip as two is invariably necessary.
We have wandered quite far afield from the issue at hand. Pierre's tripod plate problem. I'd say, drill some holes and screw it into those slats. That and every Lotus camera owner should wonder about how secure their tripod plate is.
Agree on the deviation of the original topic and I apologize.
Depending upon the thickness of the wooden slats and their ability to properly support the base plate, one could also consider adding a similar sized top plate to anchor the tripod mount using flush mounted through screws. My concern structurally is the lateral force imparted upon the tripod mount could test the rigidity of the wooden base slats. Being perfectly honest wooden slats as the base of a camera is a risky design premise in a vain attempt to save weight and it very well could be why the builder of the camera did not add screws to the plate originally. Lets face it. How hard is it to add some screws for the builder? Just saying.
Screws to secure a base plate to wood should never depend on the wood alone to remain anchored...they should be machine screws captured on the opposite side with washers/lockwashers/blue-locktited nuts. A decent/cheap/lightweight alternative is to simply install a T-Nut from the inside of a wooden base - so that the "capture" occurs from the tripod-head side. But do set this T-Nut so that it will not spin at some point in the future.
And yes...those slats will not represent enough weight savings to offset the true risk that they impose structurally. If one were to simply weigh the material removed to create those slats, this weight saving fallacy would become even more obvious...no matter that a manufacturer might choose such a route to arrive at some pre-determined target - which in the end can be a very dangerous (and expensive) strategy. I speak from sad experience!
...anybody want to buy some custom-machined focussing shafts featuring through-holes spaced every five mm?
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