DIY ULCS Cold Shoe Mount

ULCS sells a strobe arm ball that will mount to a cold shoe, but I made my own to take advantage of a ULCS ball I already had. I started with a ULCS ball that had a 3/8" coarse thread stud, and fitted that to a stainless 3/8" T-nut (not the kind with prongs). I ground the T-nut down until it fit in the shoe, and added some stainless washers to act as spacers above the cold shoe frame. The ULCS ball just clamps the cold shoe frame between the T-nut and washers. The load it will take is dependant on the strength of the cold shoe frame and its mount to the housing. Good enough for a focus light or an UV controller, maybe a small strobe. And about $4 in parts.

Added info: I don't like this anymore. For one, it got a little rusty, maybe from a less noble metal contaminating the stainless from the grinding wheel. The rust stained my housing a bit. For another, and this is the bigger problem, it's too strong. The ULCS cold shoe plate is thin and would break away if it had to. This homemade cold shoe plate is so beefy that the weak link is probably my housing, so in an accident, my housing would break rather than the cold shoe. No bueno.