Marchioni Tiltall with detachable leg

Gary- You say in any earlier post that "If you own a Marchioni Tiltall with a 1/4-20 termination, let me know. The mythical belief is that the advent of the removable leg came with the 1/4-20 column base."  I have a Marchioni Tiltall, from late 1960s and it definitely has the removable leg. The original column cap fit it (to be a monopod), but I have since replaced it with your column which supports ballheads. I doubt this is new information, so I am a bit puzzled with your statement above. - Wayne Fulton

Wayne- Your are right, my statement is not at all clear.  With your Marchioni Tiltall - once the leg is removed from the Marchioni body, is there a "TEP-6" tripodie-type (1/4-20) base to then screw into top of this leg - or asked differently - how does your removable leg become a monopod. My Marchioni has no removable leg and only an open- ended stop at the bottom of the column. You have definitely squished the myth that the detachable leg came after Marchioni. - Gary

Gary- Oops!   Sorry, I cannot defend the monopod idea now...  I think you are correct.  I am glad you asked. The original center column had the screw-in stop on the bottom end of it, mine shown here (original column at bottom, reversed end to end).    That cap removes and will screw into the removed leg. However I discover that it is open ID and no monopod is possible, so there is no point of that.  There is a smooth one inch hole in it. I have never used the monopod, however it was always my notion that it provided one.  I am making this up now, but perhaps there was an accessory cap with 1/4" screw that did that?  My memory fails me now on this.    Anyway, it comes as a big surprise to me.    But why else would one leg unscrew? But my memory came from somewhere, and all these years, I have always "known" that one leg removed to be a monopod. I see no marking or distinction on the leg which removes, you have to find it.  Sometimes you have to use a little (reasonable) force to get it started loose, but no tools, bare hands only.  One leg will, and two will not, AFAIK.   I always assumed all Tiltalls did this. It is still a mighty fine tripod. -Wayne

Replacement Center Column Bush for Marchioni

From: Richard Karash, Feb 14, 2010

Hello Gary -- Following another blog post, I tried making a replacement for the paper/fiber bushing. A white/translucent Fuji 35mm film "can" looks just about right. Cutting a strip carefully to the right size, matching it to the existing fiber bushing. It's a great replacement for the paper/fiber bushing, perhaps a little thicker, which should help those who cannot lock the center column.

However, your headless column has a slightly larger diameter, so I have the opposite problem: I need a thinner bushing. After trying several approaches, drawing the plastic tightly over the sharp edge of a good scissors planes off a little at a time.  After a dozen strokes, I have a new plastic bushing that is just right...  I can slide the column up and down, but a moderate twist of the knob locks it down tight. Thanks for the excellent support of Tiltall. -Rick

Captions, photo above: Fuji 35mm film "can" has just about the right amount of plastic, right shape, and right thickness to replace the original Marchioni paper/fiber bushing Inset: Dark Marchioni paper/fiber bushing compared to my new plastic bushing from Fuji Film "can."  The white plastic is about the same thickness as the original, perhaps a little thicker. As is, it should help those with slipping center column.

King Home Handles with Marchioni Long Theads

When ordering the top handles (TEP-1, 2) for the camera platform, note that the Marchioni original (right) has two very long threaded bolts compared with the current Tiltall (left) and the various iterations (StarD, Uniphot, Leitz).  This means that you will need some kind of tubular spacer placed onto the bolt to effectively shortening the threads inorder for the present handles to work with the original Marchioni.  We are experimenting with various spacers - do specify a Marchioni Tiltall when ordering handles. 

As example, this correspondence from Tom Conway - Hi Gary, I just now noticed that the new TEP-2 handle won’t lock the elevated position when screwed in all the way like the old one did. The short handle does lock it. I can see that this replacement TEP-2 wasn’t machined completely. The thread goes all the way to the end. On the short one, the thread is recessed back in about 1/4 “. Also I see that this replacement TEP-2 is aluminum while the original appears to be stainless steel. Can you please help me? I need the new TEP-2 part you sent me replaced. It is defective. It won’t lock the mechanism. Is there any chance I can get an original part? If not, do you have one that is properly made to replace this one? Thanks,Tom

Tom- With TEP 1 and 2 and the original Marchioni, I have learned that the length of the receiving screw is part of the mix and can be solved with a spacer. - Gary

Gary- A ¼” piece of 3/8” copper tubing worked perfectly! The original short handle has the same thread depth, but is bored out to 5/16” diameter for the first ¼”. I would have done that if I had a floor stand drill press. My bench top drill press couldn’t accommodate the TEP 2 length. - Tom

Tom - So if I follow the 5/16" depth reasoning, that extra bore size IS a sort of spacer when the original TEP1 reached the bottom and begin to tighten. I wonder what the thinking was vs today's Tiltall? May I add this info to that blog post? - Gary

Gary- I think I’d call it a sleeve that has to slide between outer cylinder and the threaded shaft. Feel free to put the info on your blog. If I get a chance, I’ll make a drawing showing how I think the mechanism works. -Tom