knobs for 2 mm square shaft

Have questions about the equipment used for macro- or micro- photography? Post those questions in this forum.

Moderators: rjlittlefield, ChrisR, Chris S., Pau

bbobby
Posts: 54
Joined: Sat Jan 15, 2022 12:40 pm
Location: Indianapolis, IN

knobs for 2 mm square shaft

Post by bbobby »

I got a nice stage few months back... a bit cumbersome to use wrench for adjustments and mostly collecting dust now... Manufacturer https://www.charles-supper.com/en/page/category.cfm do not offer option to buy knobs at all.. anybody knows about suitable knobs for that? Shaft is 2 mm square...
20220824_101011.jpg

colohank
Posts: 113
Joined: Sat Jul 24, 2021 6:07 pm
Location: Fruita, Colorado, USA

Re: knobs for 2 mm square shaft

Post by colohank »

These don't appear to be metric, but something like this might get you in the ballpark. If you can find a fit or near fit, then it should be an easy matter to attach knobs with threaded brass inserts using epoxy or a two-component putty like Bondo. Or maybe solder on brass wings to make keys.

https://www.amazon.com/Precision-Metals ... 7190&psc=1

A trip through a Grainger catalog might also be fruitful.

lothman
Posts: 953
Joined: Sat Feb 14, 2009 7:00 am
Location: Stuttgart/Germany

Re: knobs for 2 mm square shaft

Post by lothman »

you should also find a watch winding key in this size.

klevin
Posts: 129
Joined: Fri Dec 14, 2012 5:28 pm
Location: SW New Hampshire, USA

Re: knobs for 2 mm square shaft

Post by klevin »

Why not try a potentiometer knob, one with a decent set screw? They're for a 6 mm shaft with a flat where the set screw pinches. It might not be elegant, but I suspect it would fit fine, maybe with a longer set screw?

PeteM
Posts: 175
Joined: Sat Jan 05, 2019 12:06 am
Location: West Coast, USA

Re: knobs for 2 mm square shaft

Post by PeteM »

You could always drill about a 2.8mm hole in a knob (readily available with a bore yet-to-be-drilled) and then file the ID square.

Peter M. Macdonald
Posts: 187
Joined: Tue Jan 20, 2009 2:59 pm
Location: Berwickshire, Scotland

Re: knobs for 2 mm square shaft

Post by Peter M. Macdonald »

Buy or make a 2mm short square piece of metal rod. Should be fairly easy to file down a small bolt, either by hand or with a rotary tool. Then hammer this into the centre of a small wooden knob. Pull out the rod, then stick the knob onto the shafts. May not have the beauty of knurled brass, but ought to work.

Pau
Site Admin
Posts: 6038
Joined: Wed Jan 20, 2010 8:57 am
Location: Valencia, Spain

Re: knobs for 2 mm square shaft

Post by Pau »

klevin wrote:
Wed Aug 24, 2022 2:27 pm
Why not try a potentiometer knob, one with a decent set screw? They're for a 6 mm shaft with a flat where the set screw pinches. It might not be elegant, but I suspect it would fit fine, maybe with a longer set screw?
Good idea, although maybe in place of a potentiometer knob also a shaft coupler would fit, there are lots of different models available like
https://es.aliexpress.com/item/10050023 ... pt=glo2esp
https://www.amazon.com/uxcell-Coupling- ... B07P6XBFSL

Search shaft coupler rigid "3mm". I think that 3mm would fit well (2.83mm is the hypotenuse of 2mm side right triangle)
Pau

bbobby
Posts: 54
Joined: Sat Jan 15, 2022 12:40 pm
Location: Indianapolis, IN

Re: knobs for 2 mm square shaft

Post by bbobby »

Thank you all for the input!

EricRed
Posts: 18
Joined: Thu Jan 15, 2015 11:47 am
Location: SF Bay Area

Re: knobs for 2 mm square shaft

Post by EricRed »

I'm pretty sure your goniometer head is a Huber, not a Charles Supper. See:

https://www.xhuber.com/en/products/4-ac ... -versions/

In a previous life I used these for x-ray diffraction studies. You adjusted the heads with a "key" that came with the head. They got lost, and at the time, you could buy replacements. The Huber keys are shown on this link:

https://www.xhuber.com/en/products/4-ac ... ies/tools/

This page doesn't indicate the size of the drive. Huber has been around for a long time. I bet they have used the same square screw head the entire time. I would check with them to see if you can buy a replacement.

Your head looks like it may have been made for a special application. The specimen mounting hole isn't what I'm accustom to. Usually there is a receiver hole that takes a "pin" holding the sample which is held in place with a set screw. The key often has a hex wrench on the end opposite the square drive. You can see one of these on the page above. Also shown on that page are bases for the head. I don't see one on your head, but since these are intended to mate to a specific apparatus, they might be more of an hindrance than help to you.

Eric
-- Eric --

bbobby
Posts: 54
Joined: Sat Jan 15, 2022 12:40 pm
Location: Indianapolis, IN

Re: knobs for 2 mm square shaft

Post by bbobby »

EricRed wrote:
Thu Aug 25, 2022 10:34 pm
I'm pretty sure your goniometer head is a Huber, not a Charles Supper.
Eric
You may be right, it well could be Huber... and I will send them email about these "keys" for sure. They seem long...
Thanks!

dy5
Posts: 122
Joined: Sun Feb 07, 2010 7:50 pm
Location: College Park, MD

Re: knobs for 2 mm square shaft

Post by dy5 »

Had the same problem for a Philips goniometer. Those shafts are 1.5-1.7 mm.

This tubing fits over the shafts quite nicely: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00G6J6NG4?ps ... ct_details. (also available in brass) You can glue it into progressively larger tubing sizes ('telescoping') so that it will fit snugly into the 6 mm hole of a small potentiometer knob. That will keep it relatively centered. Depending on the type of knob, you might have to make the length of square tubing longer so the knob doesn't block your view of the goniometer shaft.

patta
Posts: 86
Joined: Mon Apr 20, 2020 9:51 am
Location: Stavanger Norge
Contact:

Re: knobs for 2 mm square shaft

Post by patta »

lothman wrote:
Wed Aug 24, 2022 12:10 pm
you should also find a watch winding key in this size.
That is the solution I use. They look like keys, not knobs, but do the job.
A "00 clock winding key" should take 2mm square shaft.

soldevilla
Posts: 684
Joined: Thu Dec 16, 2010 2:49 pm
Location: Barcelona, more or less

Re: knobs for 2 mm square shaft

Post by soldevilla »

For all these things, a 3D printer is your best friend

Post Reply Previous topicNext topic