Looking for Thread Adapters

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Daniel_Han
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Joined: Tue Dec 29, 2015 11:05 pm
Location: Australia
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Looking for Thread Adapters

Post by Daniel_Han »

Hi everyone!

I'm looking for a specific type of thread adapter.:
M6 to 1/4'' male to male, M4 to 1/4'' would do, but I prefer the former.

This is a weird thing to ask for, as two different screw standards exist here. I looked all over the web and did find a site offering the adapter, but unfortunately they had none in stock, and weren't looking to restock anytime soon. I am out of luck.

I want to mount my arca-swiss clamps that are 1/4''-20 threaded to my precision devices, they take M6 bolts. I was able to find a clamp that took M6 bolts, contacted the company (Photoclam), and they never responded.

An M6 bolt can't take a 1/4'' nut due to thread differences. It will go in and lock tight, but not all the way in:
Image

Here's the plate I salvaged from ballhead number 83714 I don't even know how many ballheads I have at this point... (and yeah, that's a massive ballhead)
Image

Perfect fit on the labjack:
Image

Any source for such an adapter will be greatly appreciated, or a workaround that doesn't involve machining would be great too!

Thanks in Advance :D
The world of Macro is a world that most people are missing.

Chris S.
Site Admin
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Location: Ohio, USA

Post by Chris S. »

Daniel,

Quoting a seven-year-old post:

"As I purchased them, the Noga gauge stands each came with a tip designed for holding a gauge used by machinists but of little use in my application. However, unscrewing this tip revealed a hole with M6 threads. Inserting an M6 to 1/4-20" thread adapter gave me a standard threaded screw end compatible with common photography equipment. Here is a Thorlabs AP25E6M thread adapter ($1.70) screwed into the M6 hole. I may switch to the Edmund Optics NT58-988 thread adapter ($5.50). The Thorlabs thread adapters work well, but do not have a barrier to act as a positive stop between the thread sizes, which would make using them more convenient. The ones from Edmund do. [Later note: I did, after writing this post, try the Edmund Optics NT58-988 thread adapters, but found that they are not long enough to reach the Noga threads--so I don't recommend them for this application. So far as I currently know, the Thorlabs AP25E6M thread adapter is still the best bet.]"

--Chris S.

mawyatt
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Location: Clearwater, Florida

Post by mawyatt »

Why not tap the ARCA Clamp with an M6 then you could use an M6 thread, or the other way around, tap a 1/4-20 thread to the M6 device, whichever way works?

ChrisR
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Post by ChrisR »

mawyatt wrote:Why not tap the ARCA Clamp with an M6 then you could use an M6 thread, or the other way around, tap a 1/4-20 thread to the M6 device, whichever way works?
I agree. It's worth a try.
Chris R

Daniel_Han
Posts: 25
Joined: Tue Dec 29, 2015 11:05 pm
Location: Australia
Contact:

Post by Daniel_Han »

Chris S. wrote:Daniel,

Quoting a seven-year-old post:

"As I purchased them, the Noga gauge stands each came with a tip designed for holding a gauge used by machinists but of little use in my application. However, unscrewing this tip revealed a hole with M6 threads. Inserting an M6 to 1/4-20" thread adapter gave me a standard threaded screw end compatible with common photography equipment. Here is a Thorlabs AP25E6M thread adapter ($1.70) screwed into the M6 hole. I may switch to the Edmund Optics NT58-988 thread adapter ($5.50). The Thorlabs thread adapters work well, but do not have a barrier to act as a positive stop between the thread sizes, which would make using them more convenient. The ones from Edmund do. [Later note: I did, after writing this post, try the Edmund Optics NT58-988 thread adapters, but found that they are not long enough to reach the Noga threads--so I don't recommend them for this application. So far as I currently know, the Thorlabs AP25E6M thread adapter is still the best bet.]"

--Chris S.
Thanks for the headsup! I have this exact item in my cart and just realised.
Not too bad either, $2 a pop seems just okay.

How hard would it be to tap an M6 thread? I should look into doing so. Seems like the easiest way.
The world of Macro is a world that most people are missing.

Chris S.
Site Admin
Posts: 4042
Joined: Sun Apr 05, 2009 9:55 pm
Location: Ohio, USA

Post by Chris S. »

Daniel_Han wrote:How hard would it be to tap an M6 thread? I should look into doing so. Seems like the easiest way.
If you drill and tap a fresh hole, say in one of your Arca-style plates, it's very easy. Just buy an M6 tap, corresponding drill bit (a quick look indicates 5.2mm--make sure it's a bit intended for drilling metal), and T-handle. Then watch a couple of YouTube videos on the subject and you should have no problem. If you want to be extra careful, you can buy a cheap piece of aluminum stock to practice on first.

But if you're talking about re-tapping an existing 1/4-20 threaded hole to an M6 thread, I'd be much more wary (haven't tried this, but think it would just make a mess). If this is what you need, the thought comes to mind of drilling out the existing threads and putting in something like a Heli-Coil screw thread insert.

--Chris S.

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