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Repairing a C-stand


Thomas Worth

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I've got a couple stands that could use some tightening. However, the bolt that holds the base together needs to be held in place from inside so it won't turn when I try to turn the nut on the bottom. How do I hold the head of the bolt? It seems that I'd need a very long socket extension. Any ideas?

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I'm not familiar with C-stands so this may not work, but if you use an adjustable spanner, you can hold the bolt still with pliers or a grip whilst turning the nut. Then, as soon as the bolt head is a bit tight against the tube you can tighten as required.

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The problem is the bolt head is inside the main body of the C-stand. If I turn the bottom nut, the bolt itself turns because there is no star / lock washer, etc, at least not on this stand. There's no way to hold the bolt head unless I have something long enough to all the way down the length of the main body/tube (after the telescoping stages are removed).

 

I attached a diagram that shows how it's put together. This is a Matthews stand, but all Century-style stands share this same design as far as I know.

post-565-047258000 1290738142.jpg

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OK, so it's the spring loaded type, held with a nylock nut to stop it undoing when you unfold the legs.

 

I think you're right, you'll need a long socket handle to hold the bolt head. It's possible that if you just poke a long rod down to compress the bolt head against the spring the friction might be enough to hold it while you tighten the nut. But nylock nuts grip pretty hard.

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My way might still work if you ditch the nyloc nut and use a plain one. Grip the thread gently with pliers while you tighten the nut. Then when there is some thread protruding below the nut, hang on to that. Perhaps you can reduce the friction with some oil. A star washer on top of the nut might help it bite.

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My way might still work if you ditch the nyloc nut and use a plain one. Grip the thread gently with pliers while you tighten the nut. Then when there is some thread protruding below the nut, hang on to that. Perhaps you can reduce the friction with some oil. A star washer on top of the nut might help it bite.

mark,

your way risks gumming up the threads for future repairs, and turning a Nylock nut esp. one that large is a LOT of torque. More than what you could hold with pliers one handed on a sliver of thread.

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Weld a deep well socket on the end of a long piece of steel tubing with a "T" handle welded to the other end. 1/2" EMT (thinwall) conduit would probably work. If you purchased all the materials and cut them yourself, a welding shop would probably knock it together for less than $20, maybe much less (a six pack or dozen Krispy Kreme's would probably get it done for nothing).

 

Use the mill (factory cut) end for the socket to ensure an exactly square cut for the socket to sit on.

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If it were me, I'd take a piece of 5/8 steel rod, grind four flats (3/8, or 1/2" square) to make a tight fit in the socket and drill a cross hole at the other end of the rod for a tommy bar. No welding, no damaging a socket, power drill, angle grinder or bench grinder, done!

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  • 7 years later...
I was trying to fix a broken 40" Matthews c-stand (spring-loaded model, legs were frozen up) and I, too, had a problem getting the lock nut off the bottom, so I searched for an answer and came up with this thread.
Although all of these ideas are decent and probably work just fine, I have a stupid simple solution for removing the lock nut:
1. Remove the telescoping sections from the main tube.
2. Get a 3/4" (I think this is the standard nut size for Matthews c-stands) deepish socket and an impact driver (I used a basic 18V Makita, nothing fancy).
3. Pour a few handfuls of copper BBs (or lead shot or maybe small sinkers) into the main tube.
4. Keep the stand vertical and remove the lock nut with the impact driver.
5. Try not to get excited and dump your BBs all over the floor when the nut spins right off.
6. Tilt the stand and pour the BBs into the container they came in (I had a carton) or whatever.
Just reverse these steps to put it back together.
And when the nut is back on, you might have to bang on the tube with a mallet to shake the BBs out... otherwise you'll have a very annoying c-stand maraca. ;)
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These problems come up like little seasonal flowers. My solution was simple, but worked..

http://www.cinematography.com/index.php?showtopic=65016

 

Jon Wolding's version sounds interesting, though I can't say I get it.

 

 

 

In theory the BBs fill the space between the hex head of the bolt and the interior of the tube, wedging the bolt in place so you can remove the nut.

Edited by JD Hartman
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Easy way to fix, is take a deep socket wrench and a long 3/8" threaded rod tighten the deep socket with a 3/8" nut in the socket, and then one on the outside effectively making a very long socket extension, i have used this many times to change out the busted spring on the matthews stands.

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  • 4 months later...

Hi guys,

 

A small thing in my c-stand broke in half and fell out.

 

It's the part that holds the screw against the telescoping thing inside, preventing the stand from contracting down. Here are some pictures:

 

- This is the part that I lost (the one on the photo is a second one that didn't get broken) -->

https://tinyurl.com/yce4och8

https://tinyurl.com/yatjysqa

 

- This is where they fit -->

https://tinyurl.com/ybyutgoc

https://tinyurl.com/ybqfqnz4

https://tinyurl.com/yddj8s46

 

Looks like an easy fix, but is there any way to buy a replacement? Found absolutely nothing online. Any help is much appreciated!

 

Many thanks,

Kamil

 

 

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