Tapered tap for cable release socket

The standard is ISO 6053 1979 and taps are likely available. However, I am awaiting response from maker / supplier for what it is going to take to get one.

Witold said:

The standard is ISO 6053 1979 and taps are likely available. However, I am awaiting response from maker / supplier for what it is going to take to get one.

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Did you ever get a response ?

neilt3 said:

Did you ever get a response ?

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Sadly I did, the maker is not making them any more. So the point really is that there WAS a tap/drill special set just to do the whole thing in two step process, seemingly an easy one to get professional socket made. The set was never cheap and last price I managed to see was in a $150 range, I believe already special order at the time. Somebody has them, but I doubt it will ever surface on auction site.

On the plus side I have seen a few attempts at 3D printing of the socket and images look quite good. Intend to get one to do some testing for durability . If the printing is successful in plastic then I suppose it could be done with metal feed as well.

Ian Grant said:

All my Copal/Compur/Compund (except 1)/Protor/Ibsor/Epsilon/AGI etc shutters have straight threads as do my Pentax cameras. The one 1912 small Compound takes a pneumatic air release. I'm not sure I have a single tapered thread socket, I do have two straight threaded cable releases.Ian

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It was always my impression that the tapered male thread was produced to accommodate a variety of slightly different female threads. Personally, I always found them to be a pain in the a$$ and have always worried about cross threading as you tried to jam them in place. The Compur shutter on my Graphic wouldn't take a tapered release no matter what and I ended up having to scare up a straight threaded one.

thuggins said:

It was always my impression that the tapered male thread was produced to accommodate a variety of slightly different female threads. Personally, I always found them to be a pain in the a$$ and have always worried about cross threading as you tried to jam them in place. The Compur shutter on my Graphic wouldn't take a tapered release no matter what and I ended up having to scare up a straight threaded one.

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Some absolutely shocking input, from both of you. Tapered socket is probably as standard in a long production as one could think. Pentax cameras with straight threaded socket? Which one? I am yet to find one and I have pretty much full representation of Pentax models with exception of 67. Better yet, find me a cable release made by Pentax that was NOT tapered, I would really like to have one of these. I mean not just pure mechanical ones, the Remote Switch A for Pentax 645 was electrical cable with tapered thread for connection (you could use standard mechanical cable or this Remote Switch A with P645).

And as stated there was a clear international standard provided for the tapered socket/cable release thread and there was a lot of good reasons for it, none of it to circumvent lack of quality control, even if it might help connecting something that was indeed not made up to snuff. Tapered thread allowed for super quick connection while centering both pieces by design before threads engage. Cross threading? I suppose anything can be messed up, no matter who or how made it.

This is very interesting. Are brand new mechanical cable releases still being made? Are new releases from B&H or equivalent new-old-stock?

Kodachromeguy said:

This is very interesting. Are brand new mechanical cable releases still being made? Are new releases from B&H or equivalent new-old-stock?

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Kood supply a selection of cable releases , long reach (air) bulb released are available too .
https://www.firstcall-photographic.co.uk/kood-cable-release-black-vinyl-18in/p4557

Lots of new ones are available from China and elsewhere too .

Witold said:

Sadly I did, the maker is not making them any more. So the point really is that there WAS a tap/drill special set just to do the whole thing in two step process, seemingly an easy one to get professional socket made. The set was never cheap and last price I managed to see was in a $150 range, I believe already special order at the time. Somebody has them, but I doubt it will ever surface on auction site.

On the plus side I have seen a few attempts at 3D printing of the socket and images look quite good. Intend to get one to do some testing for durability . If the printing is successful in plastic then I suppose it could be done with metal feed as well.

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Thanks for the update .
I have a shutter that I bought years ago whose socket and a small piece of its body had been ripped off .
I didn't pay much for it , but intended bending a piece of metal to the right curve , drilling a hole in it and tapping the thread into it before glueing it on .
I wanted to use the correct tap , but not at that price , even if available !
I'll have to make something do instead .

thuggins said:

The Compur shutter on my Graphic wouldn't take a tapered release no matter what and I ended up having to scare up a straight threaded one.

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The german standard is the taperd thread. Maybe Gauthier made their Compur shutters with a straight thread for the US market once.

Kodachromeguy said:

Are brand new mechanical cable releases still being made?

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You can buy directly from the german manufacturer. They also offer custom solutions.
https://www.drahtauslöser.com/SITE/index.html

(Currently they are not selling to the USA though.)

I have several ancient cable releases with that gSw logo on the plunger face.
They all came with various Z-I and Voigtlander classics I acquired.
All have tapered thread ends.

New guy here and first post. So yes, I do know this is an old thread but the subject is unique enough that it probably rates continuing this thread instead of starting a new one. At least, I hope others here see it that way.

I write magazine articles about my home shop projects and want to start making videos of them as well. I found this thread because I am making a simple aluminum bar to mount two digital cameras side by side on one tripod. That will allow me to use one for still images and the other for videos without making a lot of changes while I am concentrating on the work needed for my project.

The camera that I use for stills is not all that sensitive to light so it often needs relatively long exposures. I have been using a 2 second delay to trip the shutter to allow the camera and tripod vibration to dampen. It works, but obviously is not ideal. A shutter release cable would be a lot better. And NO, there is no provision for an electric/electronic control. So I would like to add an old fashioned, mechanical shutter release cable - sooner or later. I am looking into this as a separate project for some time in the future, but wanted to start with the design now.

In addition to no provision for an electric release cable, there is none for a mechanical one either. And don't tell me about a new camera: that is not in my budget at this time. The cables are all over the internet for $10 to $25 USD. But how to hold the end over the shutter button?

I was aware that the thread was a tapered one. I have a Unimat lathe which has both a rotating head stock and the ability to cut threads. It is almost designed for this task and perhaps, the least expensive way to cut this thread and therefore to make a tap for it. I have not made a tap before, but am willing to try it. The 50 TPI becomes a 48.5... TPI thread pitch when the 14 degree, 10 second angle is taken into account. The Unimat uses master thread patterns to cut threads but 48.5... is not a standard thread so I don't have that pattern. I may need to make a new pattern. I have a South Bend 9" lathe which can cut many, many thread pitches. All in all, I think this is something I can do if/when I can find the time.

I wanted to say thanks for the information in this thread. It has been very helpful.

@Chips&Chips - if you're making a dedicated cable release for a particular camera, you don't need to match the threading of the cable you buy. You can make the end of the cable permanently attached to whatever device you're going to make to press the shutter button on your camera. That could be done by way of a clamping block of some sort - would be non-destructive to the cable and be far more durable than a couple of threads in a bit of sheet metal.

It's probably been mentioned in this thread but a standard M3 thread (0.5mm pitch) will hold a tapered cable release just fine. I've done it multiple times.

But I'm sure it would be fun to make a custom tap. Please show us the results if you ever make it.