Help Required Nuts

[statalite]

Hi guys,

I'm currently looking at stainless steel nuts to help with anchor a dish mount to a pallet with circa 12 mm plywood. To a certain extent I don't think it matters which nuts I get but can you tell me the difference between a lock nut, standard nut and a nylon nut?
The lock nuts are nearly half the price of the nylon was wondering if the performance would be any different?

 

[moonbase]

Lock nuts are generally half thickness of a normal nut, ie less thread internally.
Nylon nuts have a nylon ring in them to help avoid coming loose.
Standard nut is what it says, a normal nut.

 

[moonbase]

Hi guys,

I'm currently looking at stainless steel nuts to help with anchor a dish mount to a pallet with circa 12 mm plywood. To a certain extent I don't think it matters which nuts I get but can you tell me the difference between a lock nut, standard nut and a nylon nut?
The lock nuts are nearly half the price of the nylon was wondering if the performance would be any different?

Have you plans to paint or seal the plywood, particularly the edges?

Prolonged exposure to rain can result in standard grade plywood layers separating, starting at the edges, if not painted or sealed.
Marine grade plywood is better for outdoor use but more expensive. Standard plywood if sealed or painted will last a long time though.

 

[statalite]

Lock nuts are generally half thickness of a normal nut, ie less thread internally.
Nylon nuts have a nylon ring in them to help avoid coming loose.
Standard nut is what it says, a normal nut.

Am I therefore right in thinking lock nuts won't hold as much as a standard nut?
Would a nylon offer much improvement over a standard nut or would you say the difference is minimal?

 

[statalite]

Have you plans to paint or seal the plywood, particularly the edges?
Prolonged exposure to rain can result in the plywood layers separating, starting at the edges, if not painted or sealed.

I know I will need to do that but as a novice I'm not sure what with. The pallet looks to have a wooden frame glued around the edge on top if the plywood. Considering hammering this off as the pallet would act as a water tray.

 

[moonbase]

Am I therefore right in thinking lock nuts won't hold as much as a standard nut?
Would a nylon offer much improvement over a standard nut or would you say the difference is minimal?

A lock nut is normally used as an add-on after the normal nut on the thread. It tightens against the face of the normal nut to prevent the normal nut coming loose.
You would not normally use a half nut on its own as an anchorage nut.

 

[moonbase]

I know I will need to do that but as a novice I'm not sure what with. The pallet looks to have a wooden frame glued around the edge on top if the plywood. Considering hammering this off as the pallet would act as a water tray.

For the mobile platform I created from a pallet, I braced the underside with some off cuts of decking board and gravel board then covered the top surface of the pallet with gravel board.
There were gaps of a few millimetre between the gravel board so that rain could run through.

 

[moonbase]

'ere, cop for these pics, this is how I did it.

.

 

[statalite]

Maybe we can make a separate topic from this thread.
Here's my pallet, would this be a good candidate?

 

[RimaNTSS]

looking at stainless steel nuts

What size and how many nuts you need?

 

[statalite]

What size and how many nuts you need?

I will buy some M10 for this, these are freely available

 

[RimaNTSS]

I will buy some M10 for this

And how many? If it about 10-20 then difference in price between lock-regular- nylon will be marginal, well just a couple of quids. I would suggest using regular nuts, especially if you need to weld something to them, or them weld to something. Maybe I can help you to do some small INOX construction for your setup?

 

[moonbase]

Maybe we can make a separate topic from this thread.
Here's my pallet, would this be a good candidate?

Rainwater will puddle on it due to being enclosed by the side pieces of wood unless they are removed.
If you are going to start to remove wood from it you may as well build one from scratch that is custom built for your needs.

How are you going to anchor it to the ground?

 

[statalite]

And how many? If it about 10-20 then difference in price between lock-regular- nylon will be marginal, well just a couple of quids. I would suggest using regular nuts, especially if you need to weld something to them, or them weld to something. Maybe I can help you to do some small INOX construction for your setup?

Thank you for the offer, do you have an example as I wasn't thinking I would need any more than INOX bolts, washers and nuts?

 

[statalite]

Rainwater will puddle on it due to being enclosed by the side pieces of wood unless they are removed.
If you are going to start to remove wood from it you may as well build one from scratch that is custom built for your needs.

How are you going to anchor it to the ground?

I was also thinking it would puddle and it looks like the side ones are glued so I could hammer off. this would leave the ply on top.
The plan is to have the pallet static with a static dish and weigh it down with 1 or maybe 2 large plastic plant pots, each I estimate weigh circa 15kg, does this sound feasible?

 

[RimaNTSS]

I wasn't thinking I would need any more than INOX bolts, washers and nuts?

In addition to what you're asking, there are also coupling(long) nuts, middle size (do not know the name) and normal size welding nuts. I am only missing M10 nylon nuts, as I do not have them.

 

[moonbase]

I was also thinking it would puddle and it looks like the side ones are glued so I could hammer off. this would leave the ply on top.
The plan is to have the pallet static with a static dish and weigh it down with 1 or maybe 2 large plastic plant pots, each I estimate weigh circa 15kg, does this sound feasible?

Why not just get some concrete blocks from Wickes or a builders merchant, they cost £2 each and weigh 18kg.
You could bolt the stand you have directly onto them with brass anchor bolts and forget about the pallet.

Please note I am not saying this will provide sufficient anchorage as you have not mentioned dish size but you could load extra blocks on top if needed.

Alternatively, get a pair of concrete kerb stones at around £10 each, place them side by side and use each kerb stone for two of the bolt holes in your stand base plate.
Last ones I bought I got from Travis Perkins, drove in, told the geezer what I wanted, paid, he loaded them into the boot of the car and I was on my way.

 

[statalite]

Why not just get some concrete blocks from Wickes or a builders merchant, they cost £2 each and weigh 18kg.
You could bolt the stand you have directly onto them with brass anchor bolts and forget about the pallet.

Please note I am not saying this will provide sufficient anchorage as you have not mentioned dish size but you could load extra blocks on top if needed.

Alternatively, get a pair of concrete kerb stones at around £10 each, place them side by side and use each kerb stone for two of the bolt holes in your stand base plate.
Last ones I bought I got from Travis Perkins, drove in, told the geezer what I wanted, paid, he loaded them into the boot of the car and I was on my way.

I was inspired when you previously desribed your mobile pallet on the forum, I then went about getting the first pallet I thought suitable I could find. Your concrete idea is great, as i'm a novice at DIY this didnt come to mind, would these anchor a CM 1.0 or 1.2 as these are the dishes I have.

 

[jeallen01]

Since I came across them, I've become very "partial" to using "flanged serrated nuts" like these because you don't generally need any locking washers and they "bite" into most surfaces - also a lot quicker and less "fiddly" than using separate washers below plain nuts.

A few months ago I used a LOT of them to finally stop my "boltless" garage shelving from coming apart at the slighest hint of movement - see post #506 here - as that made fitting all those bolts one hell of a lot quicker and simpler.

OTOH, I wouldn't use them where the torque settings are critical and maybe not on really hard unpainted metal surfaces.

 

[moonbase]

I was inspired when you previously desribed your mobile pallet on the forum, I then went about getting the first pallet I thought suitable I could find. Your concrete idea is great, as i'm a novice at DIY this didnt come to mind, would these anchor a CM 1.0 or 1.2 as these are the dishes I have.

A pallet is handy as a starting point for a mobile platform that can be located to different areas around a property to maximise line of sight opportunities.

For a fixed location I prefer concrete kerb stones as anchorage subject to them being sufficient weight for the dish size.
I currently have a 1.5m Prime Focus dish mounted on a stand that is anchored down to three concrete kerb stones of the type in the link below.
It has not moved out of alignment since being installed.

Marshalls British Standard Bull Nosed Concrete Kerb 125mm x 150mm x 915mm

The British Standard bull nosed kerb by Marshalls are made to be highly durable to meet the requirements of various architectural schemes. Precision-manufactured, these concrete kerb stones incorporates hydraulic pressing mechanism to ensure long-term performance and consistent look.

www.travisperkins.co.uk

Conrete blocks are less weight than the kerb stones I linked to above but I supose you could use four of them strategically placed, one per hole for the base of your stand and then stack a few more on top.
From personal experience concrete blocks are easier to drill for bolt holes as they are compressed aggregate.

To secure the ground stand base plate to the anchorage you can use either anchor bolts or threaded studs with resin.
For either method you need to get the residual dust out of the holes, especially if using the resin method.