Repairing tripod socket on Speed Graphic (5x7)

[domaz]

Well the good news is a found a 5x7 Speed Graphic recently for a good price. The bad news is I found out the tripod socket is stripped out somehow. The side tripod socket seems to work fine takes a standard 1/4" screw. But the main tripod socket on the bottom seems like it is too big to take a tripod screw but it's definetly not a 3/8" socket. Can anyone give me a general idea of how to remove the old tripod socket and replace it? Or is this a harder job than I realize?

[E. von Hoegh]

Maybe it's a 5/16" thread?

[cyrus]

Is it stripped or just another size? I guess it depends on how badly it is stripped. Other than drilling it out and then gluing in an adaptor that takes a standard 1/4" bolt I can't think of any other option. I did this once using 3M's Marine 5200 glue. It works but ain't pretty (leatherette covered up the mess)

[domaz]

Maybe it's a 5/16" thread?

I'll give that size a try. But it would be strange to have the side socket be one size and the main socket be another. I suppose the previous owner (engraved University of Michigan Botanical Gardens interestingly) might have swapped the tripod socket for some reason.

[Jim Jones]

I don't recall just how the tripod socket is mounted in that camera, but a 1/4" T-nut available at almost any hardware store seems like the easiest fix. T-nuts come in different styles. Hardware stores also have threaded inserts to screw into wood and tapped for common bolt sizes, but the bottom plate of a SG may be too thin to properly support such a shortened insert. When using these inserts, I prefer to epoxy as well as thread them into place for maximum strength.

[Greg Blank]

I would have it remachined. I would check with SK Grimes to see if they can do it.
Ultimately the idea would be to insert a plug that won't move, perhaps even screwed into the camera base. Then the plug is reamed back out to the required size using a tap on a drill press. To do a "good" job having a specialized chock for the tap is required.

[Douglas Henderson]

Domaz,

I have an old Graphic 5x7. The bottom tripod mounting socket is 1/4 inch. Beyond this info, I can't really suggest how to go about with any replacement of the socket--it is buried beneath the leather covering and appears about inaccessible from the interior.

A simpler solution might be to just mount an additional metal or hardwood plate with a 1/4" socket insert.

Doug

[Jon Shiu]

Another option is to attach a quick release plate with wood screws.

Jon

[E. von Hoegh]

Put a helicoil in it.

http://www.mcmaster.com/#

[John Koehrer]

I've modified items like this by permanently installing an insert and then drill & tap it to the desired size.
It's clean and solid.

[John Schneider]

I've done a bunch of these things in items from cameras to airplanes to boats and the best way is to remove the socket and drill and tap for a threaded insert (these come coated with epoxy and permanently lock into place). Although geared toward metals and plastics I've even used these with hardwoods. For softer woods there are specialized ones, or just use a T-nut.

http://www.mcmaster.com/#threaded-inserts/=drdz11
http://www.mcmaster.com/#threaded-inserts/=drdzim
http://www.mcmaster.com/#threaded-inserts/=drdzpo
http://www.mcmaster.com/#threaded-inserts/=drdzzp

[ashlee52]

A super easy fix is to simply drill out the stripped hole and use a bolt and nut to hold a tripod quick release plate to the bottom. If you preferred you could substitute a wooden plate into which you had inserted a threaded T nut for the quick release plate. If I were doing the latter I would recess the bolt into the wooden plate, so that you had a smooth bottom.

Basically I could never imagine doing LF without having a half decent wood shop.

[E. von Hoegh]

The OP may not want a quick release plate. He did ask about repairing the threaded socket.

[domaz]

Thanks for the ideas everyone. I would rather repair the socket then attach a quick release permanently. It's a much rarer camera than the conventional 4x5 Speed Graphic after all. I'm going to look into the thread repair tools like a helicoil. I do have a tap and die kit but I've never used it. So I will definetly have to practice a bit before trying it.

[Jim C.]

If you go Helicoil, buy the kit, they have their own different size tap for coil insert.

[Steve Smith]

I would have it remachined. I would check with SK Grimes to see if they can do it.

So would I.... To the correct Whitworth thread size, not UNC which is slightly different as far as the cutting angle is concerned.


Steve.

[E. von Hoegh]

So would I.... To the correct Whitworth thread size, not UNC which is slightly different as far as the cutting angle is concerned.


Steve.

Woah!!!!
This is 1/4-20 UNC, on a Speed Graphic. Tripods have 1/4-20 UNC screws. Why Whitworth? It's not an old Beezer.:)

[jwaddison]

Put a helicoil in it.

http://www.mcmaster.com/#

Right.

[Robert Hughes]

When I built my 8x10 box camera I used a 1/4-20 'T' nut of the type normally used in mounting guitar and PA speakers in cabinets. It works just fine.

[Steve Smith]

Woah!!!!
This is 1/4-20 UNC, on a Speed Graphic. Tripods have 1/4-20 UNC screws. Why Whitworth? It's not an old Beezer.:)

Because cameras have always had 1/4" (and 3/8") Whitworth threads, not 1/4 - 20 UNC.


Screw thread
The historic standard threading for the bolt that attaches the camera to the tripod is 1/4"-20tpi (threads per inch) British Standard Whitworth (Whitworth or BSW) for smaller cameras or 3/8"-16tpi BSW for larger cameras and pan/tilt heads. Bolts using 1/4"-20 UNC and 3/8"-16 UNC screw threads are generally close enough to work when BSW bolts are unavailable. Note: A BSW bolt in a UNC nut has play, but a UNC bolt in a BSW nut will jam.

From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tripod_(photography)#Screw_thread


Steve.

[Jim Jones]

As of 1952 the American Standards Association's specification for tripod sockets was 1/4-20 UNC-1B and 3/8-16 UNC-1B. I don't have later specs or information for other countries.

[E. von Hoegh]

Because cameras have always had 1/4" (and 3/8") Whitworth threads, not 1/4 - 20 UNC.



From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tripod_(photography)#Screw_thread


Steve.

Yup. And we all know wiki is the last word on everything.....:rolleyes:

[dsphotog]

For Graflex parts/repairs/knowledge, the man to call is,
Fred Lustig in Reno, Nevada.
(775) 746-0111

He bought all the Graflex parts inventory.

[Steve Smith]

From another forum:


I just received a reply from the Technical Support Department at Manfrotto/Gitzo stating: "The threads on our tripods are British Standard Whitworth (BSW)."

The UNC thread was standardised from the older USS thread in 1948. By this time, many cameras had already been made with Whitworth threads. It would be crazy to suddenly change thread type for no real reason.


Steve.

[KG2V]

I just corrected Wikipedia - THE standard for tripod connections is ISO 1222:2010 (aka DIN 4503). As I have a machine shop, I was wondering what IS the exact spec, and without violating the license terms of the document, it's 1/4-20 UNC and 3/8-16 UNC (won't talk class of fit, length etc)

[KG2V]

Because cameras have always had 1/4" (and 3/8") Whitworth threads, not 1/4 - 20 UNC.



From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tripod_(photography)#Screw_thread


Steve.

WRONG - the standard is ISO 1220:2010 - 1/4-20 UNC