HeliCoil Helical Coiled Wire Inserts. Band-Aid is a brand synonymous with bandages, while Heli-Coil is a brand synonymous with thread repair inserts. Encounter a stripper and the solution is often touted as,”just HeliCoil it.” HeliCoil and the similar designs inspired by this design are available from a number of other companies. A helicoil kit will come with directions, special size drill bit, special size tap, helicoil install tool and the helicoil.

• How To Helicoil Aluminum

Depends on the size of the screw and how much material you have to work with. If this is a clamp bolt, cheap tripods use screws going directly into the casting. Quality units either use a captured nut, Nyloc nut and eccentric toggle or a tee-head bolt with threaded knob. If this is a plate with a fair amount of metal surrounding the hole and it's deep enough, I would get a Heli-Coil kit. D amp amp d sublime chord handbook. With this kit, you drill the hole oversize with the supplied drill, use the supplied tap and then the tool to install the helical insert. Another thread repair is Keensert which, if you have yet more metal because it's a larger device, a locking insert that doesn't require delicate use of Red Loctite to keep it in place.

All the above probably are not recommended in the case that the threaded hole is in a casting that doesn't have spare metal, so the previous recommendations of drilling oversize and tapping for a larger bolt might be the best. Which might not be a solution if the threads are common photography standard attachments between devices. If the screw has stripped out the treads in the hole it will go into, there is little choice.

The hole is now too large, for a screw that is now effectively too small. You cannot simply 'fix' this without some work. You can use a larger screw, thus one with a larger diameter. This will require you to re-thread the hole for the new screw diameter. You might have to first pre-drill the hold to enlarge it more, depending on the tap you will use.

How To Helicoil Aluminum

You could fill the hole completely, using an material. In theory, that material can now be re-drilled and then tapped for the screw thread you have. Be careful though to not overheat the aluminum body. In either case, it will take some effort to repair.

Nutsert is a thread repair system that restores or installs threads in just about any material and any thickness. The threads are steel so they last through repeated use.

They are available at 'Fastenal' dealers/stores. There are two types flanged for thin materials and flangeless for thicker materials. The flanged units are similar to a large rivet with threads where the usual pin would be. While a rivet expands by pulling the pin into the rivethead, nutserts use a threaded insert that expands the insert and is then removed leaving the threads intact.

I wouldn't be surprised if your local dealer would demonstrate how they work on your tripod.

Did you buy an actual Helicoil brand set? Many places carry the Recoil brand because they are cheaper.

Recoil usually doesn't include the drill bit, has a crappy, short tap and has a split piece of tubing instead of a real installation tool of the proper thread size. With the Recoil set, you have to make sure you tap the hole deep enough so the insert isn't in the tapered part of the thread or the bolt will wedge in the hole. If I have to use a Recoil set, I make an installation tool out of a bolt by filing or grinding across the end to make a notch to turn the insert. This makes sure that the thread is full size. Many of the Helicoil installation tools are hollow so they are left threaded in while the handle is put in the hole to break the installation tang without bending the insert.