PA speaker mast clamp

[RonA]

The wife has a small band & was doing a gig last night. I jump in as Roadie & soundman. Some time ago we bought some gas assisted speaker stands as the speakers are blo*dy heavy to raise.
They were sold as Ultimate stands & made in the good old US of A. They've only been used a few times but the clamp (two piece clamped collet type) that holds the stand at the chosen height has broken completely on one & not far off on the other.
I can get replacement spares from America, although the stands are sold in the UK nobody it seems sells the spares. Also I think they've been made out of the wrong type of "hard" plastic which has contributed to their failure, so I'm disinclined to buy new spares as they will probably go the same way equally quickly.
I'm contemplating turning some replacements out of something like Nylon (open to better suggestions) but the problem would be forming the "peg" (NB it doesn't have to be hollow) which juts out from the bottom of the the collets to hold onto the lower part of the stand (see photo). Any thoughts on it could added I only have a lathe to hand.
Had my own thought if I purchased some Nylon rod & drilled a tight hole in the collet, then turned the rod in a drill, would it generate enough heat by friction to weld both together? Would this work?
RonA

 

[the snooper]

How about making a mould and pouring some aluminium replacements

 

[Luke]

If you made the sleeve thicker, the peg could be cross-pinned with a hole drilled from the end face.

 

[the snooper]

If you made the sleeve thicker, the peg could be cross-pinned with a hole drilled from the end face.

No holes they are gas assisted

 

[RonA]

If you made the sleeve thicker, the peg could be cross-pinned with a hole drilled from the end face.

Unfortunately that can't be done as the gas strut is in the way. Thanks for the suggestion though.
RonA

 

[the snooper]

View attachment 98980 The wife has a small band & was doing a gig last night. I jump in as Roadie & soundman. Some time ago we bought some gas assisted speaker stands as the speakers are blo*dy heavy to raise.
They were sold as Ultimate stands & made in the good old US of A. They've only been used a few times but the clamp (two piece clamped collet type) that holds the stand at the chosen height has broken completely on one & not far off on the other.
I can get replacement spares from America, although the stands are sold in the UK nobody it seems sells the spares. Also I think they've been made out of the wrong type of "hard" plastic which has contributed to their failure, so I'm disinclined to buy new spares as they will probably go the same way equally quickly.
I'm contemplating turning some replacements out of something like Nylon (open to better suggestions) but the problem would be forming the "peg" (NB it doesn't have to be hollow) which juts out from the bottom of the the collets to hold onto the lower part of the stand (see photo). Any thoughts on it could added I only have a lathe to hand.
Had my own thought if I purchased some Nylon rod & drilled a tight hole in the collet, then turned the rod in a drill, would it generate enough heat by friction to weld both together? Would this work?
RonA

Didn't you consider wind up stands at the time, I have a pair that fit the top hats, they are used for my lighting rig, hang all the lights then wind up, very easy to lift and the lights and trussibg are way heavier then a speaker

 

[RonA]

Didn't you consider wind up stands at the time, I have a pair that fit the top hats, they are used for my lighting rig, hang all the lights then wind up, very easy to lift and the lights and trussibg are way heavier then a speaker

What you suggest might have been a more reliable solution but having splashed out a substantial amount of cash on the gas assisted stands I am loathe to chuck them away without a bit of a fight. The basic design is a sound & well proven, it's just they've chosen to use cr*p materials to implement it.
RonA

 

[the snooper]

What you suggest might have been a more reliable solution but having splashed out a substantial amount of cash on the gas assisted stands I am loathe to chuck them away without a fight.
RonA

I would be the same and like you looking for an fix, reading the peg, machine from plastic then heat up the area and push the plastic through to form the peg

 

[outofthefire]

Do you send the speaker up on the gas then tighten the clamp to stop it dropping back down? If so you could use veg tanned leather instead of the plastic I reckon it will grip better and probably won't need the peg. If i've got hold of the wrong end of the stick ignore me.

 

[the snooper]

You could also machine from aluminium then get the peg welded in

 

[RonA]

Do you send the speaker up on the gas then tighten the clamp to stop it dropping back down? If so you could use veg tanned leather instead of the plastic I reckon it will grip better and probably won't need the peg. If i've got hold of the wrong end of the stick ignore me.

If you'd seen the full clamp rather than the damaged collet the purpose of the the "peg" to hold down the clamp would become apparent. The gas strut only negates some of the speakers weight to reduce the effort need to raise the stand.
RonA

 

[mike os]

Turn in brass steel or aluminium and solder or weld the pin in?

 

[the snooper]

Turn in brass steel or aluminium and solder or weld the pin in?

Brass is a good idea due to being able to use solder which makes the whole process easier