Bolts for holding stuff together

Discussion Electronics
#1

I’m looking for bolts or screws to fit a Raspberry Pi and Pirate Audio board into a box. I know that I need 2.5mm screws but none of my local D.I.Y. or hardware shops sell anything less than 3mm. I’ve tried to make sense of the stuff on Amazon, I thought that 2.5x30 meant it was 3cm long, but the 2.5x10 and 2.5x30 are listed with the same dimensions and pictures that look the same. How do you interpret these figures? I’m really just a programmer, this hardware stuff is beyond me.

Does anyone know of a good source of nuts and bolts for Raspberry Pi projects?

P.S. I think it would a great if Pimoroni sold nuts and bolts the right size for putting together the boards they sell.

#2

Pimoroni do supply screws with their standoffs. And the standoffs with studs on one end help if your stacking Hats etc.


Adafruit sell the studded stand offs with nuts.


They also have this

Finding nice long 2.5 screws is tricky. I salvaged a bunch from a dead laptop but I’m slowly running out of those.

#3

Thank you for the information. I might try using the standoffs. Right now I’ve got a booster header between the boards as recommended. I don’t know if this is only needed to allow for the top plate of the Pibow coupe case or if I will need it without the case to allow space for the headphone socket and switch under the board.

I’m trying to design a box for my music player and I’m new to 3D printing. I was considering trying to design a box with some sort of holding arrangement built in that doesn’t need any screws but I don’t know if this is practical. I think I’ll do some searching and try and find out how other people design boxes for their 3D printed projects.

#4

Mounting a pHat or I guess they now call them Mini Hat to a full sized Pi can be a bit of a pain. Only two of the mounting holes line up? Two stand offs on the GPIO Header may be enough, all depends on how hard you have to push to make those teeny tiny buttons work?
Pimoroni also have these.


I just wish they had more nuts in the pack.

I have one of the original pHat Beat based Pirate radios. I added mini arcade buttons to make using it with my nubby fingers easier, lol.

#5

I took one of the bolts out of my Pibow case and tried to put it through the mounting holes on the Pirate Audio board but it’s too big, it won’t go in, so the Pibow extender pack won’t work for this.

You don’t have to push the buttons very hard so I might get away with just two screws. The other way would be to use spacers on the top two and screws short enough not to reach the Raspberry Pi underneath on the other two. I can probably leave the lower two holes on the Raspberry Pi, it’s just hanging from the Pirate audio board and it’s very light.

I can get a powerful little computer and high quality headphone amplifier on little circuit boards. I can get a clever machine that prints solid objects that I design, And then my project gets stalled because I can’t find the nuts and bolts to put it together! It’s all very annoying.

#6

A couple of the nylon stand offs from that Adafruit kit would likely work. There are different lengths in the kit. Find a length the will just sit on top of the Pibow with the Pirate Audio attached on top. Two feet to hold it level.
I feel your frustration. A 3D printer is on my want list, likely never happen though with my budget for tech stuff.

#7

I decided to see what I could do using just my printer. I can’t print usable 2.5mm bolts, the width keeps varying along their length and the nut only goes down part way then stops. I don’t know if this is a limitation of the printer or if I just haven’t set it up well enough. Larger thread sizes do work. I designed an arrangement that uses two larger bolts pressing down on the Pirate Audio Board and holding it in a frame. A Booster header makes enough space between it and the Raspberry Pi for my improvised holder. The Raspberry Pi is only supported by it’s GPIO connector. I’ve printed a prototype case and it does work, I.m listening to it now.

Thank you for the suggestions. I’ll keep them in mind for future use

#9

I have used 3mm screws all around. I drill 3.5mm holes in the corners of any Pi-model without destroying them. Also HATs I have used can be drilled 3.5mm mounting holes. Ofcourse be careful while drilling. I use only plastic screws and nuts, this to avoid any chance of causing shortcircuit…

#10

i have done that with one of my pizeros