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I've just discovered rubber insulated brass rivet nuts McMaster-Carr. Haven't seen them mentioned in the sailing forums and wonder why. They are working great for me so far!
Years ago I removed sections of my cabin liner to gain access to the bottom of deck hardware, wiring, etc (see pictures). I replaced the sections with Luan which I secured to the remaining cabin liner with Industrial Velcro. Screws didn't work because they were likely to stab or abrade something (wiring, exhaust hose, etc.) hiding behind the liner. In addition the FRP is only about 1/8" thick. The Velcro works, but sometimes lets loose when I remove one of the panels.
The rivet nuts seems like the perfect answer. They firmly grab the thin FRP, yet flex with it. Some of the panels are in spots with difficult access (of course!). The rivet nuts flexibility makes starting the screw easy, even when I can barely reach it.
One drawback is that they are brass, so the only screws I could find were brass slotted head (I think slotted head screws should be outlawed!
)
Questions:
I've seen building applications where SS fasteners were specified with use on copper. If I use SS screws with the brass rivet nuts will I have compatibility issues? Certainly don't want problems removing them (especially with the slotted heads!). As it is, I coated the bolts with Lanacote, just to be sure.
The hole size specified for the rivet nuts is .312 or 7.92MM. The closest bit I could find was 5/16 (slightly smaller). It works fine, but why would they specify a hole they don't make a bit for (just curious)?
The last shot shows the finished application. Not a great shot, but unlike the first two, it's in one of those hard to reach locations!
Years ago I removed sections of my cabin liner to gain access to the bottom of deck hardware, wiring, etc (see pictures). I replaced the sections with Luan which I secured to the remaining cabin liner with Industrial Velcro. Screws didn't work because they were likely to stab or abrade something (wiring, exhaust hose, etc.) hiding behind the liner. In addition the FRP is only about 1/8" thick. The Velcro works, but sometimes lets loose when I remove one of the panels.
The rivet nuts seems like the perfect answer. They firmly grab the thin FRP, yet flex with it. Some of the panels are in spots with difficult access (of course!). The rivet nuts flexibility makes starting the screw easy, even when I can barely reach it.
One drawback is that they are brass, so the only screws I could find were brass slotted head (I think slotted head screws should be outlawed!
)Questions:
I've seen building applications where SS fasteners were specified with use on copper. If I use SS screws with the brass rivet nuts will I have compatibility issues? Certainly don't want problems removing them (especially with the slotted heads!). As it is, I coated the bolts with Lanacote, just to be sure.
The hole size specified for the rivet nuts is .312 or 7.92MM. The closest bit I could find was 5/16 (slightly smaller). It works fine, but why would they specify a hole they don't make a bit for (just curious)?
The last shot shows the finished application. Not a great shot, but unlike the first two, it's in one of those hard to reach locations!
