Screws

Tulips

A
Tulips

  • 0
  • 2
  • 107
Community Church

A
Community Church

  • 2
  • 0
  • 135
cyno2023053.jpg

H
cyno2023053.jpg

  • 9
  • 2
  • 199

Recent Classifieds

Forum statistics

Threads
183,064
Messages
2,537,685
Members
95,721
Latest member
Ken Seals
Recent bookmarks
0

mtnbkr

Subscriber
Joined
Jul 12, 2005
Messages
412
Location
Manassas, VA
Shooter
Multi Format
I'm missing a screw on the bottom of one of my SLRs (Canon New F-1). Where is a good resource for replacements or how can I determine the size/pitch of the original so I can source a replacement from non-photography sources?

Chris
 

ic-racer

Member
Joined
Feb 25, 2007
Messages
13,359
Location
USA
Shooter
Multi Format
Broken cameras are the best bet. In the heyday of film camera manufacturing, many times the hardware was manufactured on site. Rollei, Minox, Bolex...all made their own little screws, springs and fittings.

In the old days one could get parts from the distributor. I recall in 1983 writing to Fuji USA for the tiny screws that hold the top of my Fujica ST701 and a new shutter speed dial that fell off and they sent them!
 

Molli

Subscriber
Joined
Dec 28, 2009
Messages
890
Location
Victoria, Australia
Shooter
Multi Format
I'm not sure if this helps, but I had a stripped screw in the bottom of a Canon EOS Elan II (EOS 50) some years ago. I couldn't get the screw out (I needed to replace the film door) so asked at a jeweller's. He removed the screw for me and sent me to the optometrist across the way and they simply handed over a new screw which fit perfectly (as in, it's still in place twelve years later).

I have since bought a cheap watch repair kit filled with thousands of tiny, likely screws off ebay but have been fortunate not to need to find out their suitability as yet. Let me know if you'd like me to post you a dozen assorted in an envelope. 😁
 

BobD

Member
Joined
Dec 22, 2006
Messages
1,013
Location
California,
Shooter
Analog
It's probably the same screw that appears on the bottom of other Canon models of that period.

But, to be sure, I would look for a bottom plate being sold as a part on eBay that includes the screws.
 

Bill Burk

Subscriber
Joined
Feb 9, 2010
Messages
8,374
Shooter
4x5 Format
I’d take a chance on it being same as Pentax ES-II, if you already have any Spotmatic and you find the screw fits, then you have a good supply because the price for a mint looking ES-II with clean black screws is going around twenty dollars plus shipping.
 
OP
OP

mtnbkr

Subscriber
Joined
Jul 12, 2005
Messages
412
Location
Manassas, VA
Shooter
Multi Format
Thanks all, I hadn't considered mere jeweler's screws.

That said, I thought this was a missing screw, but upon further investigation, it appears that it's a socket for a locating pin for the motor drive. It's an open socket on every pic I can find and there's a corresponding pin on the motor drive pics I've found. Crisis averted. :D

Chris
 

Molli

Subscriber
Joined
Dec 28, 2009
Messages
890
Location
Victoria, Australia
Shooter
Multi Format
Always a happy moment when one discovers a problem isn't a problem after all!
I had a work colleague convince me that someone had stolen my hubcaps once. Yeah, car didn't have those to begin with, but thanks for the moment of anxiety!

I'm glad to hear that all is good and we also, now, have a little repository of useful advice for anyone else with a screw loose! 😁
 

guangong

Member
Joined
Sep 10, 2009
Messages
2,923
Shooter
Medium Format
There is a giant nationwide fastener company (name escapes me right now) that was able to provide me with tiny screws for my Makina 67. Although not identical heads, they fitted. There were only 6 such sized screws in their whole supply chain...I bought 4 (two for spares).
A second thought: perhaps I should have tried a fastener supplier in Japan. When I was younger, bars had a sign that read “We grow old to soon, and grow smart too late.” My thoughts at the time were that Makina made the screws in house.
 
OP
OP

mtnbkr

Subscriber
Joined
Jul 12, 2005
Messages
412
Location
Manassas, VA
Shooter
Multi Format
There is a giant nationwide fastener company (name escapes me right now) that was able to provide me with tiny screws for my Makina 67. Although not identical heads, they fitted. There were only 6 such sized screws in their whole supply chain...I bought 4 (two for spares).
A second thought: perhaps I should have tried a fastener supplier in Japan. When I was younger, bars had a sign that read “We grow old to soon, and grow smart too late.” My thoughts at the time were that Makina made the screws in house.

Probably McMaster-Car. I thought about them as well, which is why I asked about the size/pitch of the "screw" I thought I was missing. I do a lot of tinkering on various things and virtually nobody makes their own fasteners, but MC is likely to have them if you know what to buy. :smile:

Chris
 

Nicholas Lindan

Advertiser
Advertiser
Joined
Sep 2, 2006
Messages
3,505
Location
Cleveland, Ohio
Shooter
Multi Format
Custom screws are common. Any well equipped factory or machine shop will have an Automatic Screw Machine for producing custom fasteners.

Cameras, at least the ones I have taken apart, are all custom screws. Often a standard screw can be munged-up to fit, sometimes with enlarging and re-tapping the hole for a larger standard screw. A large box of parts cameras is a great help in finding a replacement for a screw that fell to the floor to be nevermore.
 

Dan Daniel

Subscriber
Joined
Jul 4, 2009
Messages
2,103
Location
upstate New York
Shooter
Medium Format
Probably McMaster-Car. I thought about them as well, which is why I asked about the size/pitch of the "screw" I thought I was missing. I do a lot of tinkering on various things and virtually nobody makes their own fasteners, but MC is likely to have them if you know what to buy. :smile:

It could be worth getting a metric screw pitch gage like here. Put thread against it, hold up t light, esy to find the exact pitch. Diameter usually falls onto a 'whole' number- if it measures 1.42mm, almost certain 1.4mm is its name (threading has variation in actual dimensions from both design and manufacturing tolerances).
(good company, by the way, with most things cheaper than McMaster since they aren't trying to do everything for everybody)

Although custom screws are common, standard thread pitch and diameter is also quite common. I've used screws from a Rollei on a Minolta TLR. On and on.

Knew someone who was an antique gun collector and restorer. Pre-Civil War American guns were his specialty. He could cut threads at any number you'd throw at him. As he explained, before the Cvil War, a machinist didn't care if his threading matched anyone else's. He made what he needed and got on with it. But the war brought about mass production at a variety of locations. A part made in Vermont had to fit a part made in Connecticut. No more making your own threads, you worked to specifications.
 
Last edited:

Helge

Member
Joined
Jun 27, 2018
Messages
3,424
Location
Denmark
Shooter
Medium Format
One reason never to throw out old cameras. At least try to give them away. Screws and other small bits and bobs are impossible to source because people either want full price “that they have seen on eBay” for a beater or just blindly throw the poor camera out.
 

guangong

Member
Joined
Sep 10, 2009
Messages
2,923
Shooter
Medium Format
I was brought up with: "Learn all your life, still die stupid."

That’s even better.!
Probably McMaster-Car. I thought about them as well, which is why I asked about the size/pitch of the "screw" I thought I was missing. I do a lot of tinkering on various things and virtually nobody makes their own fasteners, but MC is likely to have them if you know what to buy. :smile:

Chris

No, that’s not the name. No auto . The company has regional offices in some major cities. Amazing how they can do inventory. I sat with agent and screws of several sizes were experimented with to determine size, which was not in local stock but which company did have. Not perfect, head is slightly to large, but better than nothing. I believe “fastener “ is in the name.
 

Dan Daniel

Subscriber
Joined
Jul 4, 2009
Messages
2,103
Location
upstate New York
Shooter
Medium Format
One reason never to throw out old cameras. At least try to give them away. Screws and other small bits and bobs are impossible to source because people either want full price “that they have seen on eBay” for a beater or just blindly throw the poor camera out.
The Pentax K1000 is a great camera to scrap and tear down. It seems to have so many parts that fit other cameras. Springs, screws... it even has a direct match for a gear in the Fuji GW690 wind system that Fuji started making from plastic, only to have them break far too often. The Pentax is metal; a little machining to make its mount fit but that's nothing compared to making a new gear at that size. Grab those K1000s when you can.
 

Pieter12

Member
Joined
Aug 20, 2017
Messages
4,802
Location
Magrathean's computer
Shooter
Super8
Careful. My technician is constantly complaining about people forcing the wrong screws and rendering them difficult if not impossible to disassemble and repair properly.
 

Bob Eskridge

Member
Joined
Jul 30, 2005
Messages
410
Location
Southern USA
Shooter
Multi Format
That’s even better.!


No, that’s not the name. No auto . The company has regional offices in some major cities. Amazing how they can do inventory. I sat with agent and screws of several sizes were experimented with to determine size, which was not in local stock but which company did have. Not perfect, head is slightly to large, but better than nothing. I believe “fastener “ is in the name.

Probably Fasenal. They are even in smaller cities.
 

guangong

Member
Joined
Sep 10, 2009
Messages
2,923
Shooter
Medium Format
Probably Fasenal. They are even in smaller cities.

That’s it...Fasenal. While they are in smaller cities, I went to the one in Ft Lauderdale, their inventories are interconnected...amazing operation.
 

MattKing

Moderator
Moderator
Joined
Apr 24, 2005
Messages
42,360
Location
Delta, BC, Canada
Shooter
Multi Format

John Koehrer

Subscriber
Joined
Apr 3, 2004
Messages
8,243
Location
Aurora, Il
Shooter
Multi Format
hotetey on amazon has a metric assortment for about $11. Als o
Micro-Mark has screws $$$ but an assortment of good quality tools.
 
Photrio.com contains affiliate links to products. We may receive a commission for purchases made through these links.
To read our full affiliate disclosure statement please click Here.

PHOTRIO PARTNERS EQUALLY FUNDING OUR COMMUNITY:



Ilford ADOX Freestyle Photographic Stearman Press Weldon Color Lab Blue Moon Camera & Machine
Top Bottom