Looking for a source for reasonable priced gas engine standoffs? Can't find a recent search....Thanks, B7

Local hardware stores. 3/4" round or square hardwood dowels. There has never been a rule they had to be aluminum or other metal. They only need to be long enough, strong enough, with a hole through the middle, to do the job. Hardwood meets or exceeds all the requirements.

Another plus is they can be any length you wan without shimming with a stack of washers or spacers. You only need to cut them to length. For $3.00 and 30 minutes of work you have everything you need.

I most recently made standoffs for a friend from a round wood broomstick. Very hard wood, maybe ash, it was a 50cc gasser and the sticks were 7/8 inch diameter. I cut them with the cross slide on my bandsaw and then set them up in the "V" grip of my drill press vice to drill through the center. We really tightened them up and there was NO compression of the wood! Cheap and very effective, plus we made them the length we needed. I rounded the cut off end of the broom handle and the shorter length was not even noticed.

Sincerely, Richard

I have made several sets of standoffs from round dowel, and then I saw one of T.O.M.s earlier posts about using square stock. I found the square stock much easier to work with and get good accuracy in my measurements. It's what I use, now for standoffs greater than 1/2" or so.

Another benefit of that method is the ability to glue on lite-ply sides for added rigidity

Do I really need to post those pictures again?

YUP!

FB

Some things are timeless.

Hobby King has 20mm and 30mm aluminum standoffs in 4 packs for $3.99 + $2.99 shipping. I bought the 30mm and found they are very nice and they fit my 5mm bolts perfectly. Drilled to 5.1mm.
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...idProduct=6289.

if you are in a hurry and dont mind spending a few more $'s http://www.pspmfg.com/RCEngineMountingHardware.html

OK, a couple types, both in excess of 3" overall length.

very nice TOM

Thanks.

Total cost for both sets was in the area of about $2.00 after factoring in adhesives and sealer. Better still, I had them exactly when I needed/wanted them, did not have to execute extensive web searches for appropriate lengths, and fit exactly as desired without further modification.

For those wondering how large an engine they can handle, the engines depicted are 100cc and 115cc. There really isn't a limit.

the hardwood standoff is maple or poplar, in the first pic?

the hardest part for me would be to drill through a 3" hardwood standoff and have it come out dead center on the other end, even with a drill press

Poplar I believe. The dark ones were furniture grade Maple liberated from a cabinet shop dumpster. All that's needed is a wood with a high end grain compression resistance. Doug Fir is in there at over 1,000 psi.

the hardwood standoff is maple or poplar, in the first pic?

the hardest part for me would be to drill through a 3'' hardwood standoff and have it come out dead center on the other end, even with a drill press
[/quote]

Best is to use a lathe and fix the drill and turn the wood. I don't have a lathe so what I do is clamp the wood in a drill press vise. Since I make the standooffs round I use the "V" groove in the vise to hold and keep the wood vertical. I then drill halfway through the standoff with a smaller than final drill size. I turn the standoff over and drill through to the first hole. They may be off a bit, so when I run the final sized drill through all the way it straightens out the hole.

Would work for square wood also but you have to check for squareness both ways before drilling.

Sincerely, Richard

Going from both sides down the center works for square too. The hole does not need to run true center all the way thorugh, but it does have to be large enough for a long bolt to run true center. So over drilling the hole size a little lets that happen. Wood is difficult to obtain a truely centered hole because wood density changes and causes the bit to deflect.

I nee s source for long...3-4" socket head bolts to use wooden dowel standoffs...? Where? Thanks

www.mcmaster.com, www.microfastener.com, www.mscdirect.com, and many more. Those were not "click on" links. You have to type them in yourself.