Our church just finished a theatrical production (“The Promise”) and I was helping knock down the stage last night. It was, as one wag commented, “quake proof” construction — flooring panels about 4×8 made of OSB with 2×4 framing and bracing below. The panels were held together, and to legs supporting them, with carriage bolts.
As usual, about one bolt in three would twist in the hole so you had to grab it with pliers on the end to get the nut loose, then of course you’d have to grip the bolt farther down to wrench the nut over the area mucked up with the pliers.
Since they’re storing this set for next year I was wondering if there wasn’t a better bolting scheme available. Just a carriage bolt with a head that could take an Allen wrench would be a big improvement.
Or perhaps some sort of connector kind of like what’s used for concrete forms, etc, employing pins and wedges.
Anyone seen anything that would work for this? Generally spanning either 3″ or 4.5-4.75.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. –Benjamin Franklin
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I can think of a couple of things... a drop of epoxy in the hole just under the head before the bolt goes in... or a slot ground into the head for a straight blade screwdriver. They also makes these nifty bolts with heads that you can grab with a mechanic's wrench or a crescent wrench, I think they call 'em hex bolts or machine bolts!
There are washers with a square hole to hold the bolthead and they have prongs on them to dig into the wood, like T-nuts.
Try McFeely for them.
But what is wrong with just hex head bolt and nuts. But it does require two wrenches.
If single handled operation is desired then hex bolt and a T-nut.
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
The relatively flush nature of the carriage bolt is needed, at least when used to hold on 4x4 legs, either to present a "finished" appearance (after a coat of black paint) or because panels may butt up against each other.But, yes, machine bolts could be used for joining panels together, since the heads would not present a problem there.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
But the washers look like a good idea.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
I wonder if an impact driver would back the buts off the carriage bolts, even if the head was messed up.
Possibly, but lots of these things are in awkward spots to begin with.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
You might try what I know of as socket head bolts. Shaped like a stove bolt but with hex (allen) drive recessed in head. They pull flush with the frame and look spiffy.
Let's see...the head of a hex bolt is about 1/4" deep, right? Add a flat washer and you got...maybe 3/8" total depth. That leaves about 1 1/8" of 2X4. So why not drill new holes, starting with a spade bit to recess the hex heads?
Well, a whole host of reasons, mainly having to do with "it ain't gonna happen". It's the classical leaky roof scenario -- no pressure to fix it now, no time to fix it next time the stage goes up.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
So why ask for advice if, as you say, "it ain't gonna happen" ?
The washers, eg, require virtually no additional work, and relatively little expense. Other schemes that made the thing go together easier (eg, something like the form clips) would be justified on that account. But even if folks are theoretically willing to do the countersink job, when push comes to shove it won't get done, because it slows down assembly, and that's when the pressure is on.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
It looks like the generic name is Torque Washers.http://www.wclco.com/Lock_Washers/Toothed_Lock_Washers/lw29c.php
http://www.mcfeelys.com/subcat.asp?sid=181.
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
http://www.stage-n-studio.com/cat_main.htmLook at pages 41 and 42.Don't know if any of them are usable in the current design. But just food for though.I was also interested in the Coffin Locks.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffin_lock
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Rotolock_Side.jpg
http://www.jshaa.com/images/couplers/coffin.html
http://www.quikstage.com/pstg_decks.html
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
Caskets Locks are great for platform to platform connections. I've got boxes and boxes of them somewhere too. In our construction operations we have some plywood covered wall sections we sometimes use to block off or isolate a work area and they are set up with caskets locks to make their setup fast and painless and reusable too.
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Edited 3/20/2007 3:19 pm ET by JerraldHayes
The coffin locks probably wouldn't work out here, but I can think of lots of other projects where they would have been handy.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
I would use the washers like Bill H suggested. They work great for carriage bolts. The investment will be small, since you already have your bolts, washers, and nuts.
Jon Blakemore
RappahannockINC.com Fredericksburg, VA
I'm with you Jon... those things are so simple and work so well. I don't know about your area, but I have the hardest time finding them locally though. Even the guys at the legitimate hardware stores and lumberyards usually don't know what I'm talking about. I can't figure it out... it's not like some obscure hokey invention or something.View Image
Dan what you are looking for is the washer Hartmann described and it's called a Torque Washer.
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I spent many years working in the theatre designing and building scenery and still do from time to time and I've still got a paint can full of these things in the shop somewhere. It's a common issue you see all the time with scenery.
Another good solution provided you have a standard bolt pattern you can template and repeat over and over is to bolt from the inside of the platform out using regualar machine bolts that then run into and are captured by T-Nuts on the platform frame.
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Edited 3/20/2007 2:48 pm ET by JerraldHayes
Nice going Mr. Hayes! I tried to google those up but couldn't find them. I remember using those once. Very effective. http://www.stafast.com/images/locnuts_lock.jpg
Edited 3/20/2007 3:00 pm ET by Hudson Valley Carpenter
Yeah, I found them on McFeely's. Definitely the simplist/cheapest "fix".
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
Having take a LOT of old bolted pallets apart with carriage bolts, the easiest way is an air hammer an a 1/4" square shank screwdrive blade driven down next to the shaft on the head side.
Use the same slot next year for the screwdriver to tighten the nuts.
Or like other said, buy new bolts.
The problems isn't often with the bolts it with the holes. The holes become reamed out and then the square section of the carriage bolt head has nothing to grip on, no purchase, and it ends up spinning when you want to remove it and not gripping when you are trying to tighten them down. Yeah a screwdriver in the hole can help you sometimes remove the bolt but when you are putting the scenery back together again you really need a more efficent way to install and tighten them.
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