# Why Doesn't it fit?



## smoke665 (May 17, 2018)

Ordered a cheap 32" grid off flea bay for my Buff 32" Octabox. Got it in but short of tearing something up, by pulling so hard it will not fit my softbox. Are they supposed to be stretched that much or is there a trick to installing them? I'd need about a couple dozen more hands to get the thing stretched and fastened.


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## tirediron (May 17, 2018)

I'm guessing you answered your own question, 





> Ordered a cheap 32" grid off flea bay


.  They're not normally tight, all of mine go on and off very easily.


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## smoke665 (May 17, 2018)

tirediron said:


> I'm guessing you answered your own question,
> 
> 
> 
> ...



kinda what I was afraid of.


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## Derrel (May 17, 2018)

I once bought an inexpensive Made in China, "Bowens Mount" 22-inch beauty dish off of e-Bay; of course the doggone thing was NOT correctly manufacturer, and the dead-simple, three-lug Bowens mount was whacked. It took me quite a bit of time with a file to laboriously remove metal from all three lugs AND the receiving end of the monolight, just to get the ***-*****d thing to fit. Yeahhhhh...

I've had okay luck with MIC softboxes that came with their OWN grids; easy on- and off with the Velcro on multiple MIC softboxes. Consider that the grid you got might be slightly "off" in dimensions, which is something I've sort of come to expect from many MIC products. Perhaps after a thousand or so mount/dismount cycles, the material will have stretched a bit, and it will fit easily. ;-)


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## smoke665 (May 17, 2018)

Derrel said:


> after a thousand or so mount/dismount cycles



Trying to figure out how to get the first cycle!!!!! I've had some good, and some bad experiences.


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## ac12 (May 17, 2018)

Had the same experience with a generic cheap lens hood for a Canon lens.
It was so TIGHT that it could not be put onto the lens, for fear of breaking the lens.  IOW it was useless.
After studying the problem and MANY MANY minutes of scraping the plastic with a knife, I was finally able to get the hood so that it could be put onto the lens with the normal amount of effort.

Some/many of these cheap "made for" something have very sloppy manufacturing tolerance.
This was a case of, I got what I paid for.

But having said that, there are some decent stuff coming out of China, at affordable prices.
So there is both good and bad that have to be sorted out.


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## tirediron (May 17, 2018)

My brother bought a set of uber-cheap, MiC extension tubes (cheap as in, <$20/set).  He used them once; it mounted easily, but required a trip to the local camera repair shop (where a hack-saw was involved), to get it off.


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## snowbear (May 17, 2018)

smoke665 said:


> Derrel said:
> 
> 
> > after a thousand or so mount/dismount cycles
> ...


Both pieces metal -> arc welder (TIG welder if one or both are aluminum)
One piece plastic -> Superglue


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## smoke665 (May 17, 2018)

I don't buy cheap often and then only on something I think they can't screw up. The grid  actually looks to be constructed fairly well.


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## Derrel (May 17, 2018)

smoke665 said:


> I don't buy cheap often and then only on something I think they can't screw up. The grid  actually looks to be constructed fairly well.



Is it possible that you could do a bit of DIY modification to get the grid to mount easily?


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## mrca (May 18, 2018)

I believe some manufacturers measure across the face of the octa while some measure over the curved area resulting in a smaller face diameter.  I have a number of octas and soft boxes and I am guessing that is the problem.  I welcome any clarification.  I know the manufacturer's egg crates can be expensive, but they fit.  I have one on a 3x4 soft box but use a folding speed ring so  if I pop the pin in the speed ring, it folds the soft box and grid as well as diffusers and egg crate flat.  Snap the speed ring flat once on location and the box is back to fully assembled.   I have not seen any folding speed rings for octas however.


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## smoke665 (May 18, 2018)

@mrca I wondered if that might be the case. Mine measures 32" from flat side to opposing flat side. 

@Derrel I haven't broached the subject yet with DW, might have to take her out to eat first. I find it's harder for her to argue and enjoy her meal at the same time


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## smoke665 (May 18, 2018)

Mystery may be solved, but the solution is still in the wings. I measured the my octa flat to flat at 32", so that's what I ordered. I went to Paul Buff's website where they list the soft box as 35". Apparently have no clue as to how these are sized, but it likely explains why the grid is way to small. The grid on Buff's site is $45 plus shipping so roughly $50. Even though the seller has offered a refund, the amount I get back after paying shipping isn't hardly worth it. Trying to convince the DW to modify this one to fit. Fingers crossed.


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## pixmedic (May 18, 2018)

as my old partner used to say...."with enough lube, and enough force...anything is possible"


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## smoke665 (May 19, 2018)

Learned something with this. Apparently the size of an Octa Box is apparently measured across the corners of the octagon, not the flats. Duh! So the 32" one I ordered is to small, but thanks to my DW the problem is solved. She added velcro extensions around the outside to make up the difference.


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## tirediron (May 19, 2018)

smoke665 said:


> Learned something with this. Apparently the size of an Octa Box is apparently measured across the corners of the octagon, not the flats. Duh! So the 32" one I ordered is to small, but thanks to my DW the problem is solved. She added velcro extensions around the outside to make up the difference.


Think of how far the craft of photography would NOT have advanced if not for the DW!   Glad it's sorted.


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