Threaded Spacers

[Dave RobsonParticipant @daverobson35737]

As a new member I apologise if this is in the wrong section.

I have a small project waiting to start but I'm having trouble locating certain items.

I'm looking for threaded spacers/standoffs, they will have to be stainless steel, 3mm diameter with 2mm through thread & 2.5mm with 1.6mm thread.

I've scoured the internet but found nothing so far apart from one company who would make them to order with a minimum order of 2000 pieces (I'm only after 100 max).

There are a number of companies in the U.S. who make them but they are charging a fortune in postage.

Can anyone suggest a source for these items?

Thanking you in advance.

Dave

[Dave RobsonParticipant @daverobson35737]

[MICHAEL WILLIAMSParticipant @michaelwilliams41215]

Hi Dave ,

Many varieties of spacers , standoff’s and other mechanical hardware items are manufactured for use in computers and other electronic assemblies .

What you describe should cost about 10 p .

Try supppliers like RS Components and Farnell .

Regards ,

MikeW

[John RuddParticipant @johnrudd16576]

You don't mention how long these spacers are?

[Dave RobsonParticipant @daverobson35737]

I've tried the usual contacts in the computer/IT world, unfortunately, they either don't go that small or they only have hexagon or nylon spacers.

I forgot to mention that I need round spacers.

Ideally, they will be 25mm length.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

You may have a job getting 25mm long ones through threaded, could they be threaded from either end with a standard length tap or do you need a screw to go all the way through?

Sounds like a job for someone with a repititition lathe to me

J

Edited By JasonB on 05/01/2014 17:34:37

[jason udallParticipant @jasonudall57142]

ss 3mm x15 mm thread twoends 35 mm long…we used to make them by the 500 lot..price £1.87. cost £1.65..

only made them because we made better jobs for them also…

 

btw below m3 spiral flute taps are only available as custom order…..and the yield in ss in 1.6 mm taps is about 10 holes per tap

 

best of luck

…

Edited By jason udall on 05/01/2014 17:52:13

[MICHAEL WILLIAMSParticipant @michaelwilliams41215]

Search on Coupling nuts or Sleeve nuts rather than on spacers .

You will be lucky to find round ones but lots of hex ones available – length may be a problem though .

How many are needed – I ask because there are several retired and hobby people around the country that run ‘ shed businesses ‘ and they can make small quantities of parts reasonably well and at modest cost .

MikeW

[Dave RobsonParticipant @daverobson35737]

Posted by JasonB on 05/01/2014 17:33:39:

You may have a job getting 25mm long ones through threaded, could they be threaded from either end with a standard length tap or do you need a screw to go all the way through?

Sounds like a job for someone with a repititition lathe to me

J

Edited By JasonB on 05/01/2014 17:34:37

Thanks for all the replies.

I could possibly get away with 20mm, if not through threaded then threaded from either end would work.

There is not a single screw to go all the way through, it will be screwed from each end.

I've found a lot of 2mm screw suppliers so far, I just need to find the spacers. (I'll try the coupling nuts suggestion next, thanks for the tip.

**LINK**

Dave.

[Sub MandrelParticipant @submandrel]

Dave,

If it's a one-time assembly, consider using self tapping screws, then you can just use bits of tube.

Neil

[Dave RobsonParticipant @daverobson35737]

Posted by Stub Mandrel on 05/01/2014 20:11:01:

Dave,

If it's a one-time assembly, consider using self tapping screws, then you can just use bits of tube.

Neil

Thanks for the replies Gents,

I've considered using tube & self tappers but unfortunately that would not be sufficient.

I've found the items that I need in the U.S. (Imperial version) but they charge a fortune in postage.

Here's a link to the website to show an example.

**LINK**

Thanks,

Dave

[Steven VineParticipant @stevenvine79904]

What about threaded rod with 4 nuts and 4 washers for each standoff. Or use threaded rod and 2 nuts in conjunction with a piece of tube to provide the spacing.

Steve

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

If you are having them made then you should get the screws first and think hard about the length since most of the 1/4 inch in your example link is not contributing to strength. There will be a huge difference in yield between tapping 4mm and 15mm.

[Dave RobsonParticipant @daverobson35737]

Well, I've decided the best option is to find a small lathe & make them myself.

3mm solid rod, cut into 25mm lengths, drilled & tapped 2mm x 0.4mm pitch.

I received a quote from a company who are asking £5.60 each with a minimum order of 100!

I only need 12 of them.

By the way Gents, could you let me know the correct size hole to drill to take a 2mm tap into stainless steel?

Would it be 1.6mm Cobalt?

Thanks,

Dave.

Edited By Dave Robson on 07/01/2014 11:09:57

[Anonymous]

Posted by JasonB on 05/01/2014 17:33:39:

Sounds like a job for someone with a repititition lathe to me

Edited By JasonB on 05/01/2014 17:34:37

Funny you should mention that! But sadly I'm way to busy to help in the short term.

Dave: If you drill 1.6mm you'll almost certainly break the tap. I assume you'll be using an austenitic stainless steel? I'd drill 1.75 or even 1.8mm, ie, about 50% thread depth.

Regards,

Andrew

Edit: Can't speel!

Edited By Andrew Johnston on 07/01/2014 11:21:09

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

Rather than a lathe you need alignment jigs – 1.8mm opened out to 3mm the other end for drilling with a Dremel then 2mm/3mm for tapping.

A cheap/old lathe might not be so good at finding the centre of a small rod depending on how accurate you want – no idea how much you know about lathes and what you're expecting. However it could still make you the jigs above. It is as easy as falling off a log but the log is currently floating down the olympic kyak course so getting on is the hard part.

[Dave RobsonParticipant @daverobson35737]

Thanks for all the replies.

Excuse my ignorance but I'm electrical by trade.

I've drilled & tapped many M10 holes over the years but I've never gone down to 2mm.

Possibly my best option would be to try one of the many small workshops in the area.

We have plenty of small industrial units around here

[Douglas JohnstonParticipant @douglasjohnston98463]

Tapping 2mm in stainless steel is a perfect example of where you don't just look up standard tables for the tapping drill size. This is a mistake I made for ages until I realised that increasing the diameter of the drill was the best way of keeping my small taps from breakling. As has been pointed out you can get away with 50% thread engagement in these small diameters while retaining good strength.

Doug

[MICHAEL WILLIAMSParticipant @michaelwilliams41215]

Why stainless ??

If you want appearance and / or corrosion resistance then ‘ Nickel Silver ‘ could be used .

If you want strength then HS Brass or similar could be used .

There are certainly many material choices available which may be easier to work than stainless steel .

As regards tapping small threads in difficult materials you need good quality sharp taps such as TiN coated HSS ones from a reputable maker .

Where available serial taps work much better than traditional taper/second/plug .

With serial taps each successive cut is quite small and risk of non-cutting and broken taps is reduced .

Extreme pressure lubricants help a lot but can be difficult to remove totally – may need components to be boiled in detergent or soaked in solvent if cleanliness matters .

Just a final note on costs – ? 5-60 each is quite reasonable . It may not seem so to people on this site but it’s peanuts by industrial standards of pricing for small numbers off bespoke components .

Probably better to spend your money on a small lathe and some tooling .

Plenty of cheap imported lathes available and much cheaper and much more fun to make things yourself anyway !

Regards ,

MikeW

Edited By MICHAEL WILLIAMS on 07/01/2014 15:54:01

Edited By MICHAEL WILLIAMS on 07/01/2014 15:56:26

[Sub MandrelParticipant @submandrel]

Much better. You can spend £560 and discover you are now a model engineer with a small workshop and a pile of little spacers.

Unfortunately you will get addicted to lathe work and end up buying lots more toys essential tools.

Neil

[Ray HulockParticipant @rayhulock43360]

Posted by Dave Robson on 06/01/2014 12:46:52:

Posted by Stub Mandrel on 05/01/2014 20:11:01:

Dave,

If it's a one-time assembly, consider using self tapping screws, then you can just use bits of tube.

Neil

Thanks for the replies Gents,

I've considered using tube & self tappers but unfortunately that would not be sufficient.

I've found the items that I need in the U.S. (Imperial version) but they charge a fortune in postage.

Here's a link to the website to show an example.

**LINK**

Thanks,

Dave

I'm in the U.S. until the 16th. If they can get them to me (zip code 83705) before, say the 14th I'll bring them back for you and post from the IoM. Let me know asap on rhulock@manx.net. Ray.

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