What nut size to fit tripod screw?

[Andy]

I am in the UK and I have a minature tripod for a 35mm camera.

I want to attach something else to the tripod using the threaded bolt on the tripod which normally goes into the body of the camera.

That bolt is about 1/4inch across and I have read that it has 20 threads per inch, so it gets to be called "1/4-20".

I want a nut to fit this.

QUESTION: What would be the reference or specification for the correct nut?

ISTR this threaded bolt is a slightly unusual size in Europe.

QUESTION: Can I get a bush to fit over the screwed bolt in order to be able to get a more widley available nut?

QUESTION: Is there a common nut size (as far as Europe goes) which might fit a bit loosely on the bolt but which could still be tightened?

[Frank Erskine]

On Thu, 27 Apr 2006 11:02:06 +0100, Andy had this to say:

It's a standard 1/4" BS Whitworth thread.

[Andrew Mawson]

correct

tightened?

Andy,

It's 1/4" Whitworth. Contact me off line for an address (de-spam my reply address), send me an SAE and I'll pop some in it for you.

AWEM

[Andy]

Good offer, mate! For something as small as a few nuts I'll try my local hardware store first. They're very close. Or my mate a the local garage cos that may the sort of thing he never threw away!

Thanks for the offer.

[Dave Fawthrop]

|>> QUESTION: What would be the reference or specification for the |>> correct nut? | | |On 27 Apr 2006, Andrew Mawson |wrote: |> |> It's 1/4" Whitworth. Contact me off line for an address (de-spam my |> reply address), send me an SAE and I'll pop some in it for you. | |Good offer, mate! For something as small as a few nuts I'll try my |local hardware store first. They're very close. Or my mate a the local |garage cos that may the sort of thing he never threw away!

Take the offer Whitworth screws are like hens teeth nowadays.

[Roger Mills]

If your mate at the garage doesn't have Whitworth, he'll probably have UNC instead. These are the same diameter and TPI as 1/4" Whitworth, and will do just as well. OK, the threadform is *slightly* different - but only the purists will notice the difference.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

You'll be lucky. Pretty well everything has been metric for ages.

Whitworth nuts and bolts weren't much used on cars being so coarse, and not really on any car soon after WW2 when things went to unified threads.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

UNC nuts and bolts were pretty rare on cars - they're usually UNF. UNC threads were used into cast aluminium etc, though. But UNF threads on the other end of the studs if not bolts.

[Owain]

It would, however, be unwise to do anything for other people without having public liability insurance.

Or offer a full-time position as an inspector :-)

Owain

[Simon]

I've never seen 1/4" BSW screws for sale, but RS sell nuts and studding in that size.

[Christian McArdle]

Obviously, there are a raft of things that need to be done before forming a business in any field, including insurance.

Christian.

[Stuart]

Very Odd ..These last two mesages about training as an electrician are showing up in the thread about the size of a tripod screw..Never seen that before .

Stuart

[Guy King]

The message from "Pat" contains these words:

Yeah, of course you can, you just have to know where to look. There's little call for it so the big DIY barns don't carry it, but car shops, the proper sort where there's a bloke who actually knows something about cars, have 'em.

If you're really lucky you'll find a car shop with a biscuit tin of fine unsorted top quality tat which will contain just about anything you'd ever need.

[Dave Fawthrop]

|Really, you can't get non-metric stuff? In the US, every hardware |store carries both metric and non-metric. Somebody, somewhere, must |have one.

The USA is on a different planet. I once tried to get some A4 copies, and failed miserably.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

I'm willing to bet they don't carry BSW.

The US isn't in the EU therefore hasn't standardised on things like this. Although I prefer UNC and UNF to Metric. But UNC and UNC aren't just US - they were the first attempt to have standard threads between the UK and US (and maybe others) in mainly the car industry.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Might be difficult. A die cuts the thread on a bolt, etc. You use a tap for threads in a hole.

[Helen Deborah Vecht]

Dave Fawthrop typed

I read a case report from the USA in a professional journal yesterday. It gave the patient's temperature in Fahrenheit...

[Dave Fawthrop]

|Dave Fawthrop typed | | |> On 28 Apr 2006 08:00:38 -0700, "Pat" wrote: | |> |Really, you can't get non-metric stuff? In the US, every hardware |> |store carries both metric and non-metric. Somebody, somewhere, must |> |have one. | |> The USA is on a different planet. |> I once tried to get some A4 copies, and failed miserably. | |I read a case report from the USA in a professional journal yesterday. |It gave the patient's temperature in Fahrenheit...

They also lost a spacecraft by doing half the job right in Metric, and the other half wrong in impe^h^h^h^hUS measurements. They are idiots of the first order as far as international standards are concerned.

[Dave Fawthrop]

|In article , | Pat wrote: |> Otherwise, check with your local school and see if their technology |> class has a die so you can cut the threats into another nut. That |> might be a good school project for the teacher. I had threads cut into |> an enlarger's lens holder that way. | |Might be difficult. A die cuts the thread on a bolt, etc. You use a tap |for threads in a hole.

Any one with a small lathe should be able to cut any small thread

[Andy Dingley]

Doesn't matter 1/4-20 is exactly the same as 1/4 Whit, to an accuracy that's better than the likely manufacturing accuracy.

I use 1/4-20 for tripod thread inserts because I can buy them from Canada (Lee Valley) more easily than I can be bothered to cut them with a tap and die.