Need a tripod for an old B. Nickel spotting scope.

[Billy Shears]

Can anyone here help me to locate a tripod for an old spotting scope, made by B. Nickel, of Marburg, Germany. I have from my father. Dad had it since at least the 1960s, and he always said it dated from the World War Two era. I do not have any provenance to substantiate this, but it seems plausible, since the leather case is stamped “Made in Germany,” not “Made in West Germany,” as it should have been had it been made after the war, but no later than about 1965-1970.

I have had the scope since the mid-1980s, and I have always wanted to use it, but I have never been able to find a tripod to fit it. The primary difficulty is that over here in the United States, the screws don’t have metric threads, so anything I can find in stores will not fit. Does anybody here know how to measure the size of a metric thread when you only have the female end to measure from, and where is a good source for metric-threaded tripods for old European spotting scopes.

And BTW, I just wrote to Nickel AG in Germany, hoping they could help, and was told: "Our company bought the Nickel an Hertel & Reuss brand names in 1995. Unfortunately we do not have any documents on spotting scopes and can't determine the age or the type of thread for fitting it to a tripod."

 

[dprice3844444]

make an adapter.find out what the screw size is on the tripod that you like,and take the screw part out and have one done in the metric size needed.

 

[GarySTL]

Take the scope to a good hardware store and go to the loose hardware section. Try different metric screws until you find the right one. Then make a note of the designation on the tray it came from. It will be something like M6x.075

There's a metric thread chart here: http://mdmetric.com/tech/thddat3.htm

 

[dprice3844444]

but that chart only work in maryland

 

[Art Eatman]

Ace or Tru-Valu. NAPA store.

 

[ugaarguy]

but that chart only work in maryland

No. Metric is the same everywhere in the world.