I got several of itâs sibling 3-in-one tripod lights from woot quite a few years ago⌠Love them, but it looks like one of them costs more than I paid for 3 back then.
Stanley 95-155 3-in-1 Tripod LED Flashlight - Stanley Light With Tripod - Amazon.com
Edit to fix mobile URL
It isnât as out-of-box-ready; but Iâve found the fact that attaching a 1/4-20 UNC nut to the approximate center of gravity of virtually anything handheld will make it compatible with photographic tripods(and the entire universe of tripod-related accessories) to be handy from time to time.
If the flashlight is burly enough, you can just drill and tap; if that seems too drastic, or the flashlight isnât up to it, you can attach the nut externally, or modify a âquick releaseâ plate to suit.
The Joby Gorillatorch, on three flexible legs with magnets in the feet is also good.
Yes that 1/4-20 tap was one of the best investments.
Those rubber-padded pipe holders/hangers are also a good prefab for a tripod adapter, whether it is for a flashlight, a laser, or a microphone. Just add a piece of something with the tripod thread.
Some come with a short stub with a M8 thread hole. The 1/4-20 thread can be cut into a hole drilled coaxially into a M8 bolt, though care is needed as thereâs not much material between the bottoms of the outer thread and the tops of the inner thread, and the bolt can shear during thread-cutting (donât ask how I know).
More details here:
http://shaddack.twibright.com/projects/machining_TripodM8adapter/
Too many times I see these âCool Toolsâ and follow up with a look at Amazon.
As always I make a point of checking out the 1 star reviews.
And too often I find that the recommended âtoolâ is, in many cases suffering from major flaws.
Seems to be an agreement the legs are flimsy, wonât stay clasped together and the the leg feet/battery covers strip their threads really easily.
Whatâs with these wacky recommendations?
And a proper lug wrench is the 1st tool to consider for the example picture!
Yes!
I have had one of these for at least 10 years. The under appreciated aspect is that it is very stable with the low center of gravity of having the batteries in the legs.
it is rare that a headlamp isnât more convenient though.
Most Stanley branded stuff is ok if youâre looking for something relatively cheap that will get the job done, but donât expect any of it to be good quality or last too long.
Ach. That second photo makes me wince. I hope the metal didnât make the dreadful âshriekingâ noise that metal being torn sometimes does.
I imagine that the 1/4-20 standardization in photo applications hits you somewhat harder than it does in the US(where metric fasteners are indeed common; but not as common as in Europe); but I like the conversion of a bolt into an adapter, very clever. Iâll have to keep that one in mind.
I think it did but not that loud. (Or my tolerance is high.) The fraction of millimeter could not make that much noise anyway. The sound 3-mm thick steel tube makes when telling you that you overestimated its load-bearing capacity is quite worse.
I thought it could be a problem, but got the idea to ask anyway and my local hardware store had the taps. And the bigger 3/8-16 one too. Of course they did not have the M12-0.5 one for camera lenses.
Coaxially drilled bolts are a handy design element. You can use them as bearings for low-load applications, or (when the head itself is drilled or turned-in into a hole of desired diameter) they can hold a small ball bearing (which can then be held in with one to three little screws from sides - donât overtighten or you deform the bearing case and it wonât turn freely), and many more applications. (Thought: would a friction bearing be improved if a piece of hollowed threaded bronze rod was used instead? Or maybe weld or braze a bit of low-friction bronze or other suitable alloy into the somewhat-bigger hole, then redrill it to the desired diameter?)
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