Advice on fixing a candelabra? (Screw too short basically)

[Geosurface]

So I have this candelabra I'm trying to fix for someone...

it exists in three pieces basically. There's the tall stand portion, the double arm portion, and the top cup. The top cup is the center candle holder.

It goes together by the double arm portion (which holds the two side candle holders) resting on top of the stand, and then the top cup (which has an extending screw coming out of the bottom) is put through that hole in the middle piece, and screws into a threaded hole in the top of the stand.

The problem is that this thing has gotten outrageously wobbly. I don't know how that has happened or what the thing was like the day it was bought, but one way or the other the basic problem now appears to be that the screw thing coming out of the top cup is just not long enough to really go into the stand's threaded hole enough to make it stable. The middle arm thingy is thick enough at that area that it simply eats up too much of the minimal length that screw thing has, and not much is left for the threaded hole below.

Some time ago I tried coating the whole works in there with some super glue, but that didn't really do jack squat.

So I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions?

 

[edro]

Did the threaded portion screw down into the base? See if you can unscrew it so it extends up to the cup portion, then screw the cup portion on.

Also... superglue?

 

[stargazr]

Replace the screw with a longer one if you can remove it.

 

[Geosurface]

The screw thing is fixed into the cup, and down inside the cup there is no normal screw top or anything so I see no way to remove it or to attach a new one.

I made another image to make the situation clearer:

So, there is a hole in the arm thingy, which sets between the cup and the base, and there is a hole in the base, which is threaded. That hole appears to be deep enough to accommodate a longer screw on the bottom of the cup, but the screw on the bottom of the cup is so woefully short that it just doesn't go in there hardly at all, which in turn leaves the arm thingy with the two other candle holding cups on it, extremely wobbly.

 

[Meghan54]

Did the threaded portion screw down into the base? See if you can unscrew it so it extends up to the cup portion, then screw the cup portion on.

I'm betting that's what's happened over time. The threaded rod that's used to provide assembly has screwed itself further into the top over time, basically breaking itself a bit loose from the glue that was used to hold it in place as the pieces were repeatedly taken apart and reassembled.

 

[Jaepheth]

Teflon tape on the threads?

weld/sand/paint is a more permanent solution.

 

[Geosurface]

I'm betting that's what's happened over time. The threaded rod that's used to provide assembly has screwed itself further into the top over time, basically breaking itself a bit loose from the glue that was used to hold it in place as the pieces were repeatedly taken apart and reassembled.

A good theory but it doesn't look that way to me

 

[Oyeve]

Gorilla glue.

 

[Meghan54]

A good theory but it doesn't look that way to me

Yeah, that rod looks pretty immobile. Well, then, two possibilities present themselves. Either the rod was shortened (probably not) or the hole in the base has enlarged from use (more likely).

I'd use epoxy putty or thick epoxy glue to join them back as a last ditch fix. It'd be permanent, but outside of removing the rod from the top, inserting a new threaded rod with a slightly larger diameter and reaming out the hole in the base to match the new rod's diameter, seems about the only reasonable alternative left.

Now, if it were something that was valuable (silver, rare-ish antique, etc.) I'd not do the epoxy route. A proper fix would be in order but would not be inexpensive to do.

 

[lupi]

I recall something about a large quantity of butt fumbling?

 

[lxskllr]

Maybe use a Helicoil.