chassis and chamber, rods and tubes?

[Crystal Chambers]

While I have a good understanding of chassis design, I'm having some trouble with figuring out the right sized tubing for threaded rods. Or even what sized rods for that matter. Any advice would be great.

So far I have roughly a 4" section of chassis which could be 8/32 threaded rod.

The crystal chamber needs to fit within a 1.125" ID (1 and 1/8th") with rods 1.5" long. For this I'm thinking maybe a 4/40 thread.

I thought I knew which tubes might fit but trying to get accurate measurements with a measuring tape just isn't cutting and they need to be tight where I don't have much space. I tried to search the OD of the threads but too much other stuff came up in the way.

[Sunrider]

Try googleing standoffs this is the term most common to what is used. Here is a good looking site I found.

http://www.unicorpinc.com/

[Jedi-Loreen]

Cool site.

[acerocket]

I have quoted from Unicorp before. Their prices are OK. You have to buy in large quantities to see a good price drop. For instance, I recently was quoted on some .125" od 2-56 threaded round standoffs 3/16" long. Most places do not carry 2-56 standoffs but Unicorp can make them. They quoted me $0.85 each for 650 pieces and $0.35 for 1000 pieces with a 7 to 8 week lead time.

If you use 4-40 threaded rod, you can use unthreaded standoffs. You can ususally find these with a .115" id and a 3/16" od in various lengths and materials. Alternatively, you can use 4-40 threaded standoffs. These are almost always 1/4" od and they also come in various lengths and materials.

You could also use some 5/32" tubing witha .014" wall. Most hobby stores and craft supply stores carry a line of tubing for hobbiests under the K&S brand name. They sell a 5/32" od .014" wall tubing in brass, aluminum and sometimes even copper (if your store has the full product line). This tubing cuts really easy with a dremel and a 3' long piece is only a few dollars. If you only need a few of each size or have odd lengths, this may be the best way to go.

[Crystal Chambers]

Thx guys I'll look into that ....I found some at mcmaster, I looked everywhere and under spacers and standoffs the threaded ones didn't have the thread going through the middle.

Edit..pish! They don't ship to Canada anymore. Thanks for the link Sunrider...I'll try them
Edit nice...the only problem so far is the chart system...they need drop down menus. These people do NOT make it easy. I'm starting to not like this. The unthreaded don't have any indication of ID and the threaded aren't long enough.

[FenderBender]

I use the threaded 4-40 ones from Digikey. They are 3/16ths OD and Digikey is the only place so far that I've found them. They only come in 1" lengths, but you can combine them with 4-40 set screws (I order 3/4" ones from McMaster) or cut them to length and make any length you need.

[Crystal Chambers]

FB - you say the standoffs for 4/40 are 3/16ths OD? Found them and digikey has a .ca too....canuck friendly! Thx!
I may have to stack them to get the length but I need to put in the other "crystals" along the standoffs too so that works!

I think I have a few solutions like relatives in the US or other sites to order from. Plus I'm only using 4/40 with spacers and the rest will be solid delrin should I be able to get that. I also need some other materials like acrylic and other brass parts not easily found...but will be well worth it.

The only reason I couldn't take the time to figure it out is I need all the parts here in no more then two weeks so researching the history of nuts and bolts is not realistic...at this point. plus I already spend nearly 8 hours measuring emailing waiting..double checking before McJerks.com told me they don't ship to Canadaka...lol

I do encourage this thread to continue though, Some of the measurement and conversion can be tricky to figure out best fit for rods and tubes. If anyone has any conversion sites...articles on threads etc. I think this thread could handy to those building their first chassis.


edit...45 minutes later found standoffs I want but still looking for threaded rod or long bolts....I have money but I don't think they want it..lol This is getting silly I'm calling the local business park.

[FenderBender]

Yeah, 3/16" OD. Tiny. They rock for doing chassis when you need cram-fu, espicially in MHS or smaller diameter pieces. Yoda uses this size for his Graflex chassis too. As for brass and such, not much easy places to find that except hobby stores, some small hardware stores and plumbing sections (brass fittings for PEX and other barbed hose fittings work great for dress up stuff).

[Rhyen Skytracker]

I usually go to a local hardware store called Ace Hardware. I have 2 stores close to me and one carries everything you can think of but the other one doesn't carry much in brass rod and tubing. I can get all different sizes of the brass tubing and rod and also get it in aluminum. They also carry tons of small nuts and threaded rod and nylon spacers and many many more things that work for making chassis. I till take a pic of what I got on my last visit with my crappy camera. LOL

[Crystal Chambers]

lol....My biggest problem is it takes 3 hours on the bus there and back to get to the good industrial places...no sidewalks, and I work nights so my day minutes on my cell are expensive. If I drove and had a landline or better cell package it wouldn't be so difficult to find things locally.