on 9/3/02 10:32 AM, Daniel J. Mitchell at DanielMitchell@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
wrote:
> On a semi-related topic, what size are the _screws_ in cameras? I spent a
> frustrating half-hour in the local model shop trying to get all their
> different screws to fit, and it seems like none of them are compatible -- in
> the end, I shuffled things around, and everything worked okay.
>
> The weird thing is that the camera that was missing a screw was an old
> Rolleiflex TLR, and the one that donated one was a semi-spare XA3 -- a long
> way apart in time, and the screws still match up -- but the screws seem
> completely unavailable otherwise..
>
> -- dan
Many are metric sizes. A lot of camera screws are 'custom' in that they have
specific lengths, may have shoulders or plain shanks, or have off-size heads
relative to the length or thread size.
For the standard metric screws, they are defined by a diameter and a thread
pitch (most screws are defined this way) and then the length. So a screw
that is "M2.0 x .3, 10mm" will be approximately 2.0mm diameter (actually the
diameter is measured at a specific point in the threaded portion, sort of
the mean thread diameter) with a pitch (spacing between thread peaks) of
.3mm, and the length will be 10mm (depending on what the head type is this
could be the length under the head or the overall length).
The problem with camera hardware is that much of it is custom screw-machined
to a special design and therefore only available from the OEM. Another
problem is that the standard stuff is usually very small sizes, so most
hardware/fastener distributors don't have it, especially in metric. Micro
Tools has a listing of some standard camera-sized screws of various head
types and theads.
--
Jim Brokaw
OM-1's, -2's, -4's, (no -3's yet) and no OM-oney...
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