EK1 Screw Post Thread Pitch

[Element7]

I have a question about screw post on the back of first class crosses. Has anyone ever studied the the thread pitch of original crosses with the purpose of comparing the thread pitch to other manufactures, time frames and modern copies?

My other hobby is collecting antique microscopes and I have observed while making repairs that some manufacture from the late 19th, early and mid 20th century used some of what I would call proprietary or not so common thread pitches. This has me wondering if the thread pitch varied between the different manufactures and of course I wondered if this is something that counterfeiters pay attention to.

Thanks
Kirby

[Inspector Krogh]

Good and interesting question. I have wondered myself, but I'm just too damned lazy to follow up on it myself.
I have in my collection one each of the following screwback EK's:

Interwar 1914 "Unknown maker"
1914 - model 1939 Meybauer
1914 - model 1939 Rettenmaier
1939 Steinhauer & Lück
1939 C.F. Zimmerman

None of the discs on these crosses are interchangable.

The Rettenmaier came with an incorrect disc. It can be taken down about half way, and locks up. I suspect a close, but yet incorrect thread pitch. The cross receptacle and the post on the disc are noticeably smaller in shank diameter than all the others.

Good luck!
G.

[Element7]

Hi G,

Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this. I only own one screwback so I have nothing to compare it to.

I thought the idea was interesting but I recognize that it really wouldn't really solve anything meaningful other than mine and maybe a few others curiosity. Since there's so many other relevant ways of authenticating a cross or badge it probably doesn't matter. Also if multiple manufactures buy their hardware from the same source this would complicate the question.

However, something else I thought about is in the case where a known manufacture uses a specific pitch on one badge it could in theory be used to narrow down the maker of a badge from an unknown maker. Of course this would only work if we found a large amount of manufactures used a proprietary thread.

Happy Collecting!
Kirby