# Light stand compatibility



## Nwcid (Sep 23, 2018)

I currently have 3 old, yet NIB, Smith and Vector S9 light stands.  These are not very heavy duty stands and were pared with Q60 lights.  

The stands end in bare poles with a 3/8" diameter so I thought I would get an adapter to use with my speedlights.  I got the adapters and they are 3 way adapters that have 1/4" threaded, 3/8" threaded or if you pull the plug out, it has approximately a 5/8" hole with set screw.  I assumed the hole was a reasonably standard size and these would capture the bare pole, which they obviously do not.


 

I also have a new, heavier duty light stand and it has an opening that takes a "double ended spigot", which would work with the above adapters.   

I have been googling and come up short, what adapter do I need to go from bare 3/8" to either 5/8" or a standard thread mount?


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## Nwcid (Sep 24, 2018)

Well today I ended up making my own adapters.  I was hoping not to have an adapter hooked to an adapter, but it works and I get a few more inches of height out of the stand.  I only have 2 of the original adapters, but I only have 2 speed lights along with my new strobe and stand. 

I took the 1/4-3/8" stud out of the new adapter pictured above.  I then hit the nuts/bolts bin in the shop looking for something that would work.  Turns out that a 3/8" bolt is threaded right for the stud and the shaft is the right size to fit into the original adapters I had.  I took the sawzall and cut both end of the bolt off, after measuring of course, then cleaned up the edges with a Dremel. 



You can see the stud sticking up from the original adapter


Here is it all assembled with the new adapter attached on top of the old one


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