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Switching from brass to stainless helicoils was a game changer for me
After my 3rd stripped screw hole on an old Pentax body back in 2019, I finally gave stainless a shot and haven't looked back. Anyone else find the brass ones just don't hold up on vintage gear?
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sammoore1mo ago
Wait, are you saying brass helicoils are just bad in general or just on old gear? Because from my experience, brass helicoils work fine on newer stuff, it's the vintage threads that are the problem. @loganl22, you mentioned your Nikon winder getting rock solid after the swap, which makes me think it's more about the older metal being softer or corroded over time. Stainless just cuts into that old metal better and holds, but brass is still solid for applications where you don't want to risk galling on a steel screw. Not saying you're wrong, just that it might not be brass vs stainless as much as it is new vs old.
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loganl221mo ago
Stripped three holes before switching myself, starting to think brass helicoils are just fancy thread-shaped decorations. My old Nikon went from a loose screw in the winder to rock solid after swapping, no contest. Maybe the vintage gear just hates brass more than I thought, stainless feels like actually fixing the problem.
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