Plastic tripod bush repair?

[coomber]

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>My son has a Kodak easyshare compact camera which he uses on a tripod regularly to take series of still shots of lego scenes to make animated films.</p>

<p>Sadly his camera has a plastic tripod bush and I guess his 11 year old hands have been too rough with the metal tripod adapter and now the bush has had the threads totally stripped. The tripod plate slides in and out without really catching at all, so I guess it's too worn to be rethreaded.</p>

<p>Anything about that could be poured in to then cut a new thread into maybe?</p>

<p>Thanks in advance,</p>

<p>Craig.</p>

[Mattman944]

<p>I don't think you can fix the existing threads. I would buy a 1/4-20 T-nut (Home Depot) mount it in a piece of hardwood the size of the bottom of the camera (the same thickness as the T-nut, or slightly thicker). Either counterbore the wood slightly or hammer it hard so the T-nut will be flush. Epoxy the hardwood to the camera, with the large side of the T-nut toward the camera.</p>

[paul_wheatland]

<p>Some older discarded camera ever ready cases have a holding screw which if it has a thread on one side and a threaded hole on the other side could be a solution. Epoxy the item to the bottom of the Kodak and you are good to go!</p>

[MichaelChang]

<p>Hi Craig, you can probably mount a threaded T-nut if there's enough plastic remaining, but it'll probably need to be cut down to size. See picture below:</p>

<p><img src="../users/MichaelChang/Images/CAM_0348.JPG" alt="" /></p>

[tom_mann1]

<p>BTW, Craig, I think you meant to say, "bushing", not, "bush".</p>

<p>Cheers,</p>

<p>Tom M</p>

[coomber]

<p>Thanks for all the responses - I think I have one of those old ever ready cases with the holding screw in that Paul mentioned. Should fix it up fairly well I'd think, after all this isn't a heavy long lensed SLR, just a cheapish compact.</p>

<p>Bush, bushing - yeah maybe! I did post after a 12 hour day at work so I wasn't firing on all cylinders!</p>

<p>Glad there is a solution, wouldn't want early equipment failure to put my son off photography, even if most of the time he makes cartoons from it!, given his patience and amount of post processing maybe I can get him doing all my computer developing work?</p>

<p>Thanks again,</p>

<p>Craig.</p>

[steve m smith]

<p>Some old cameras have a 3/8" Whitworth thread with an insert which reduces it down to 1/4" Whitworth. If there is enough plastic you can drill out the camera base and either re-tap the thread to 3/8" or epoxy the insert in place.</p>

[coomber]

<p>Just to provide a bit of feedback, I tried the fitting from an old folding MF camera ever ready case and as it has a longer thread than the tripod adapter plate, it's found enough left to grip his wee compact nicely. Should it end up working lose I can apply some adhesive to keep it there.</p>

<p>Many thanks for all the great suggestions.</p>

<p>Craig</p>