USEFUL HINTS STUDS AND SPLIT PINS

Horowhenua Chronicle, 28 September 1927, Page 2

USEFUL HINTS

STUDS AND SPLIT PINS

The job of tightening or unscrewing a stud in, say, a cylinder block should always be carried out in a proper manner, otherwise there will be a risk of damaging a thread of the stud.

In some cases it is possible to grip the plain part of the stud with a pair of footprints, being careful afterwards to smooth off any burrs which may have been formed, but a better and more businesslike method of removing a stud is to use two nuts locked together.

One nut is screwed an to the stud until enough thread projects to . accomodate the other, which is tightened hard up against the first by using two spanners, one on each nut. just as when working on the lock-nuts of a valve tappet.

When the two nuts are tight, an attempt to unscrew the lower will result in the stud being unscrewed. Similarly the action of trying to screw down the fop nut will cause the stud to be tightened in its hole. When the job is finished the lock-nuts can be undone by using two spanners in' a manner which causes the top nut to be screwed off the stud, while the lower is screwed further on. As soon as the nuts are “unlocked” they can be removed separately with the fingers, or, of course, by the use of a spanner. A simple rule to remember when using lock-nuts on a stud is: To unscrew, pull with the spanner on the lower nut; to screw up, pull on the top nut.

Sometimes a nut which is splitpinned has to be removed, so that first, it is necessary to pull out the pin. In many pases this is by no means easy, especially if the pin is large and a tight fit in the hole. The trouble is usually that the legs cannot bo straightened sufficiently, so that any attempt to hammer it out bends it again just Inside the slot of the nut.

The best course to adopt in this cas° is to grip each leg in turn with a pair of pliers and work it backwards and forwards until it breaks off. A blunt ended punch can then be used to drive out the remainder of the pin. If for any reason the pin cannot be removed, it may, as a last resort, be sheared by unscrewing the nut. and afterwards drilling out the pieces in the bolt. This is, however, a very unsatisfactory practice.