Bolts for lanterns

[Thirdtap]

'Lo

I have recently had the suggestion of putting ny lock bolts and spring washers on the hire stock to help with focusing. I know in theatre most people prefer wingnuts but it seems it the conference world they would prefer ny lock bolts. So having looked at my lantern stock I have noticed varying lengths of bolts used on the yoke to attach to the hook clamp. So I thought might as well start from scratch and replace all the bolts and nuts over time.

The question is does anyone have any personal recommendations for bolts and possibly the correct size possibly including suppliers? I believe most use the M10 size bolts but without correct markings I am not so sure. The bolts should have room for at least three washers and a spring washer.

lantern stock consists of:

Thomas pars,

CCT minuette fresnels and profiles,

Source 4 Pars, Parnels, Zooms and fixed profiles,

ADB 1Kw fresnels

Coda 1s

 

Thanks Awfully

[Brian]

I wonder what the rationale of using Nylocks is?

After a few uses you'll need to bin them and fit new because the Nylon insert gets worn.

Certainly it should all be M10, cheapest place I've found is Screwfix. IIRC I use 30mm and 40mm for all of my gear.

[MarcT]

Some bigger lanterns (IIRC Sil 30s, Cantatas, etc) need M12 fittings.

CCT Minuettes are definately M10. I don't know about the others on your list.

 

Be sure to get bolts which are threaded right the way up to the head, otherwise you'll have trouble using them with lanterns which have a threaded yoke.

 

As Brian says, 30 or 40mm bolts are the way to go. These are difficult to obtain in hardware stores (they only seem to stock much longer ones).

 

Regards,

Marc

[Brian]

If you are looking for them in Screwfix they call them 'Set Screws', part nos 18249 is M10 x 30 and 11957 is M10 x 40 (guess who's just placing a screwfix order?).

[Thirdtap]

Thank you that was the information I was looking for.

Otherwise it might have been a case of placing an order and hoping for the best. Got a bag of slightly larger than needed wingnuts that I ordered once. Must have ordered the M10 thread in the large size

[Just Some Bloke]

If you're ordering adjustable spanners don't for get to order metric rather than imperial. :D

[peternewman]

Hi,

 

Bit of a thread hijack here, can someone confirm that the bolts used on old strand pattern stuff are 5/8ths Whitworth, also can you get them from places like B&Q etc.

 

Thanks in Advance

 

PN

[Bryson]

the bolts used on old strand pattern stuff are 5/8ths Whitworth, also can you get them from places like B&Q etc.

 

I've found that in this situation, a 12mm metal drill bit is your friend. Much less hassle in the long run.

[Peter Tovey]

can someone confirm that the bolts used on old strand pattern stuff are 5/8ths Whitworth, also can you get them from places like B&Q etc.

Depends on the model. The newer ones, like the 23 and 123, were manufactured with 3/8 whitworth threaded holes in the yoke. Some of the older ones (patt 30 etc), had 5/8 (or 1/2") bolts welded onto the yokes. You'll have great difficulty in finding appropriate nuts / bolts in the like of B&Q, but a decent hardware shop will be able to help.

 

As Bryson suggests though, probably much wiser to drill out all the yokes (I would use a 13mm bit to allow use of M12 bolts personally)

 

Peter

[robloxley]

We have all our yokes tapped with the right sized hole - M12 in our case - then you don't need a spanner to hold the bolt while you tighten the wingnut up. I've found that spring washers give enough friction without going for nylock nuts. Someone once attached a load of hookclamps with aerotight nuts and that was tedious!

[Stu]

I personally prefer a nut (with washers etc) which I can do up with an AJ while focussing - I feel you can never get the wingnut tight enough TBH, or if it's a small little one (or old rusty one) it may as well not be there....

 

Stu

[Ike]

If you are looking for them in Screwfix they call them 'Set Screws', part nos 18249 is M10 x 30 and 11957 is M10 x 40 (guess who's just placing a screwfix order?).

Your not the only one. I placed one with them a while back for a load of M10 X 30 set screws, penny washers and wing nuts. The M10 wing nuts are quite heavy ones so there's no chance of breaking them if tightening with an AJ.

[gareth]

The old Strand stuff, as has already been stated, used either 3/8 or 1/2 Whitworth threads. Can be confusing when you're in a venue with a mixture of older and newer stuff.

 

On the subject of what to use hardware-wise for attaching hook clamps to trunions, I don't think you can go far wrong with the traditional combination : bolt - washer - trunion - washer - clamp - washer - spring washer - wing nut. There are very few occassions when it's not possible to get enough friction with a wing nut in order to make the lantern stay where you want it to be. Very rarely you might need a bit more of a lock-off, so replace the wing nut with a hex nut and give it a super-dooper lock-off with an AJ. And of course there are situations such as West End rigs which are going to sit in place for many months when you might want to use Nylocks or something, in order to tighten things down more than you normally would. But by and large, I think it's much more convenient to be able to carry out the whole focussing operation, including locking a lantern off, without the use of tools.

[Brian]

Has anyone tried the Flints headlock ? Flints Headlock They seem like a really nice idea.

 

Edit: Link Fixed (hopefully)

[James]

Depends on the model. The newer ones, like the 23 and 123, were manufactured with 3/8 whitworth threaded holes in the yoke. Some of the older ones (patt 30 etc), had 5/8 (or 1/2") bolts welded onto the yokes. You'll have great difficulty in finding appropriate nuts / bolts in the like of B&Q, but a decent hardware shop will be able to help.

 

As Bryson suggests though, probably much wiser to drill out all the yokes (I would use a 13mm bit to allow use of M12 bolts personally)

 

I like to keep the 3/8's threads in my P23's and P123's as it has allowed me to mount them on mic stands on a number of occasions which have been very useful.

 

James