US source for K&M 18950 leveling feet?

[Mighty Motif Max]

Hey all,

 

Went to set up my keys rig after an out of state gig trip and it looks like I am missing one of the leveling screw-in feet for my K&M 18950 stand. It's likely way out in western ND, so it's a lost cause. There seems to be only one place in the UK that has that part available, and none anywhere else that I can find. Being in the US, I'm not super fond of paying around $25-ish (including international shipping) for a screw. K&M has US distribution, but I'm not seeing anyone with this particular part available.

 

 

This is the part:

https://spares.bandm.co.uk/k-m/k-m-spare-foot-f-18950-m8x27-disk-30mm.html

 

Anyone had any luck with finding a good parts supplier here in the US? I bought my stand from Thomann, so I don't have a connection with a US retailer for parts (in case a service department may have something). Thanks!

 

Edit: it seems to be in the general category of a self-leveling M8-thread furniture foot, but I have no idea what is actually a suitable replacement, looking at Amazon listings and such. Plus it would be nice to have it match the other three feet.

[b3plyr]

Try this. You may have to get past the German and search a little, but I used this a while back.

 

https://www.k-m.de/brand/us/support/support/

[bjosko]

Well, that is one of the reason I recommended some kind of a bag for the stand. It happened for me twice, luckily I found it once inside our band trailer, second time between the trailer and the rehearsal room.

They came loose during transport.

[Mighty Motif Max]

13 minutes ago, bjosko said:

Well, that is one of the reason I recommended some kind of a bag for the stand. It happened for me twice, luckily I found it once inside our band trailer, second time between the trailer and the rehearsal room.

They came loose during transport.

This is the first time in 2.5 years that I had an issue...I actually do own the bag, but it seemed really clunky. Not sure why they didn't just put another bolt on the other side to stop it from unscrewing all the way (I'll probably add that myself now).

[FatFingers]

I think K&M would do well to improve their distribution in the US.  Some of their stuff is available here,  but I've ordered multiple times from Thomann because no one in the US stocked the K&M parts I wanted.

[AUSSIEKEYS]

8 hours ago, Mighty Motif Max said:

 

 

Edit: it seems to be in the general category of a self-leveling M8-thread furniture foot, but I have no idea what is actually a suitable replacement, looking at Amazon listings and such. Plus it would be nice to have it match the other three feet.

 

Buy 4 furniture feet probably get all 4 in a set cheap.

 

What ive writen below is on an assumption that metric is not that common in US. Of coarse Im probably wrong on that?????

 

Do you have an Ikea close to you (im assuming there are heaps in the US as i see a lot of Ikea hacks come out of US.) You could walk in there and compare as they'll have heaps of similar furniture parts and im sure theyll all be metric. (Im sure they havent changed fittings just for the US????) 

 

An M8 is simply the diameter of the bolt ie: 8mm with its corresponding metric thread. The part should be advertised as an M8 obviously.

 

Take your existing bolt you have and place its thread within the donor bolt and if they fit within each other perfectly then they should be same thread if your eyes are good enough hee hee)

 

Alternatively thread your existing locking nut onto the donor bolt and if it easily spins to the bottom of the tread its correct. If it spins on a few threads but then binds do not try any further its a false flag moment and tightening it will wreck the thread.

 

Re: an Amazon purchase: Measure the length of your bolt in millimetres (mm) or cenitmetres (cm). Looks to me like 30mm to 35mm (also written as 3cm to 3.5cm)

 

Add to it the lenghth of rubber foot if you have to make/substitute one). The part should be advertised as an M8 obviously. Make sure it comes with or you get an actual 8mm M8 nut to tighten it like in your photo as the part you linked to is missing that locking nut. Im assuming youll have problem finding a metric nut in US?

 

Edit: i tried an exhaustive search on our Aussie Ikea website but they dont allow you into spare parts you have to contact them but i do remember a decade ago (as theres none close to me now) seeing such items on display in furniture or office section and even kitchen bench section as they have free standing kitchen benches.

 

I did see today a set of 4 feet on there without the adjustable nut for only 6 aussie dollars probably only 4.5 US dollars but it had metal feet not rubber. These items are not generally expensive but you are in a non metric country so need to try importers of overseas flat packs.

 

Surely your normal big box stores get furniture in with metric fiitings from overseas too as it stands to reason imported furniture is likely to be metric i cant imagine all is specially made to imperial for US??? Might be worth a look next time you are in a big box store if they have spare parts. 

 

An alternative shop that i used to use in my windsurfing days for stainless steel M8 nuts and bolts which used to be hard to find in hardware stores here is actual specific Nut and Bolt Shops generally located in an industrial area which specialises in nuts and bolts of all denominations for the trade (Not general hardware) 

 

These are not your general hardware stores as they only deal with trade type fastening / wants though they sell to public even single items but you stand in long ques hee hee. Im sure metric wont be foreign to them where as to a hardware store in US it may??? Im guessing here?

 

In a Nut Shop youll find exactly what bolt and nut you want even in stainless steel and theyll possibly have rubber grommet that would work for your foot. Youll find some of the most strange nut and bolt pieces youd not imagine.

 

Sorry i was bored so ive typed you a lot of Aussies blah blah. Its a sleepy sunday afternoon after a drive to the beach. God i blah blah

 

 

[stoken6]

4 hours ago, AUSSIEKEYS said:

An M8 is simply the diameter of the bolt ie: 8mm with its corresponding metric thread. The part should be advertised as an M8 obviously.

Does the USA use the M-based metric thread system? (@AUSSIEKEYSdescribed it perfectly). If an inch-based measure is common, that might be the problem. But shouldn't be difficult to source from overseas.

 

Cheers, Mike.

[bjosko]

Another Source here in Europe, perhaps you can combine it with something else that might have a favorable price to “reduce” the shipping costs.

https://www.musicstore.com/en_DK/DKK/Koenig-Meyer-Base-Plate-for-Folding-Table/art-ACC0007413-000?campaign=GShopping/DK&ProgramUUID=b3HAqJargM8AAAFlxJRyjI8m&gclid=Cj0KCQjw4omaBhDqARIsADXULuWefjoRGpzQyXK54rYWg44SKIAk7B6LXrwTYPZF8Imo77NGqWar0swaAgU4EALw_wcB

[OB Dave]

I was losing the plastic feet on on mine and I ended up replacing them with my balls. 

 

Wait, let me try that again. There is a fantastic hardware store here in San Diego (Marshall's Industrial Hardware off Miramar, for ppl in the area) and they have every kind of fastener imaginable there. I brought one of my K&M feet there, sized it up to determine the thread size and pitch (my apologies, I no longer remember what they were, other than that they were metric). 

 

They also have little drawers of weird parts, including this black, solid plastic sphere about the size of a ping pong ball, that has a threaded metric stem. So I threw out the remaining K&M feet and have been going balls out ever since. They work great, and I've yet to encounter a stage so uneven that I couldn't get the wobble out of my stand. 

 

If you don't have a fancy hardware store near you, you might at least figure out what the thread pitch is [or maybe somebody here will post it] and see if something like this is available online at McMaster-Carr, Grainger, etc. 

 

[Mighty Motif Max]

I ordered some of these guys off Amazon. They probably won't get here by the next gig so I picked up a double-braced X-stand as a backup. In theory these should work...

 

[AUSSIEKEYS]

3 hours ago, Mighty Motif Max said:

I ordered some of these guys off Amazon. They probably won't get here by the next gig so I picked up a double-braced X-stand as a backup. In theory these should work...

 

 

Fantastic

[bjosko]

Great find.

Shipping cost, especially overseas is ugly nowadays.

[OB Dave]

Wow, those are great. Please let us know if they work out for you! 

[Mighty Motif Max]

Update on the feet. So apparently the Helonge feet are significantly larger. To the degree that they stick out of the bolt too long to balance with the original feet. For now I've just replaced all four feet so it can be level, but as you can see in the picture below, the height difference is substantial (the screw can be trimmed down to not block the lower holes in the leg adjustments if needed). Otherwise the quality seems good, and they fit perfectly aside from being too tall. Do be aware that the increased diameter makes folding the stand a bit trickier but you can just rotate two feet to the side and it will fit with only a little pressure needed.

 

 

[stoken6]

11 hours ago, Abresch B. Eberle said:

the Helonge feet are significantly larger

Helonge by name, hella-long by nature?

 

Cheers, Mike.