Collaboration Projects
Yellow Bird Thread Works takes great pride in working with likeminded artists and brands. The collaborative process always presents unique challenges. Working together to balance form and function. We work to create products that will operate exactly as expected and last for the long haul while feeling like a small treasure.
From John at The Radavist:
Continuing the momentum of our 20-year celebration at The Radavist, we're elated to share our collaboration with Connecticut's Yellow Bird Thread Works: a Radavist-designed Soft Shutter Talisman button for your camera...
As you might imagine, we have a lot of opinions about camera gear over here. After faffing with various soft shutter releases, John decided it was time to make our own. Soft shutter releases offer smoother actuation, give your finger somewhere to land, minimize camera shake, and improve camera haptics by extending the normal shutter-button protrusion. Once you use one, cameras without one will feel naked.
The issue we've found is that many are too large in diameter, made from subpar materials, and the finishing – particularly the threading – ain't quite up to snuff. Looking for ways to improve the design, we started from scratch and sketched out ideas. We wanted it to be made from metal – ideally brass – be smaller in diameter, with a clean chamfer that would look OE to many modern cameras and still fit in with older 35 mm DSLR film bodies.
Knowing many machinists in the bike industry, we approached Brian from Yellow Bird Thread Works, who specializes in brass machining. Brian's shop primarily works in aerospace fabrication, and if they know anything, it's thread pitch. Soft shutters use a proprietary JIS threading, specific only to cameras. This presented some problem-solving opportunities for Brian, who reverse-engineered the correct threading, improving on other available options. How? He deburred the threads in the machine.
The result is profoundly beautiful. Chatting with Brian, he noted, "I always deburr threads in the machine, not after. You get the most perfect threads off the machine. Otherwise, there's the possibility the burrs will come off in whatever you're threading them into when you install it. It's the goofy little things that make threads happen in the first place, but we love that stuff."
We do too, and it's why we're stoked to release this really special product to our readership. It is this level of minutiae and nerdery that we're into over here! These soft shutter releases measure approximately 10 mm in diameter, feature a chamfered lip on the top and bottom, and are deburred with in-machine JIS threads. They're then laser-etched with the RADAVIST rune insignia, featuring the Raido rune for "the ride or journey."
The button comes in a 2.5" tin, wrapped in paper, with The Radavist's Eternal Jackal on the lid and Yellow Bird Thread Works logo on the bottom. Don't toss the can; use it for dry flies, fill it with balm on your camping trip, or use it for sunblock, or even your kine bud. No judgment.
Choosing brass for this talisman means it will patina with your fingers' oils and develop a finish slowly over time, much like your favorite camera. Talismans bring luck, power, and positive
energy to the tangential realm. Photography is a mix of skill, craft, and mostly luck, so why not add a little?
Yellow Bird has reimagined the existing SPURCYCLE Key Clip. Our products work to show age, celebrate the passing of time and the accumulation of adventures. We have applied this design philosophy to the SPUR Key Clip. Made from brass and hand finished so each clip will develop its own patina. A key clip goes everywhere you go and it will show that off as time goes on.