Threaded Spacers

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

You don't mention how long these spacers are?

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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 [email protected]. Ray.