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All About Cap Nuts Transcript

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Bob: Welcome back to Albany County Fasteners, Fasteners 101. I'm Bob and today we're going to discuss high crown and too tall cap nuts. So let's get started.

I have cap nuts here. I have a standard cap nut that you'll find almost anywhere. I have what they call a high crown and you can see, the crown's a little higher. It's probably somewhere about, I would say about, a heavy 3/8 of an inch taller than a standard cap nut. Then we have too tall. We have a too tall in a flat head and we have too tall in a rounded head.

Now the two tall come fully threaded all the way through the inside to the top. So you have full threads all the way through. You have on the too tall what they call a flat top. You can see the top is flat and it has a chamfered edge around it and on the round the top is just rounded over like the standard cap nut at the top.

They call these too tool because they're approximately, if you took the high crowns, double the height almost. But if you had two high crowns, I don't have two high crowns here but if I did, it would be close to this size and that's why they call it a too tall.

These are USA made products, they're made here in the USA. They're quality products. These are 18-8 stainless steel. They're available on our shelf ready to ship.

The question always comes up "what do I use for different things"? Depends on your application. So many different applications out there. How far is your threaded bolt sticking out on the other end? If it was sticking out that much, you couldn't use a standard cap nut. You're going to see probably about a 1/4" - 3/8" of an inch sticking out. If that was the application. So, then you would go to the high crown.

I'll just keep my finger there as a stop, and that just makes it. Those are the different applications. This one, which is double tall, will keep on going and, just so you know, you will get some gulling because the difference here with stainless steel is that you have a rolled thread on the bolt and on the actual cap nut you have cut threads. So you have two different threads running against each other which creates gulling. You can use some lubricant. That works well.

I just want to show you on this how far this will go in. So you're looking at a good 1-1/2" of this 2" bolt, that I have here. It'll go all the way in to this cap nut and there it is.

As far as applications go, there are many different applications. I've seen these used for - they get polished up - some people will take them and polish them up. Polished stainless is amazing - the way it looks. They'll take them and put them on their trucks and their cars just for the look. It's all dependent on application.

Here at my packaging machine, I want to demonstrate to you how they incorporated a cap nut. This is a standard cap nut. This is the bowl where the fasteners go in. This is a feeder and they used a cap nut, at the top, along with a lock washer to hold this cone in place so the fasteners don't build up and around the center of the machine. Here they used a standard cap nut with a lock washer to hold this cone in place.

You could also, in this application, use any of them. Here's a high crown, that works on there, and here's a double tall. You can use that on there. This is actually a lot easier because sometimes the small little fasteners that we put in this machine, they get underneath this cone a little bit. They jam under there and you have to take this off. That's why they make it so you can screw it off with your fingers. I just used the top round one.

That's pretty cool looking, but functionally it doesn't matter. The standard that comes with the machine, you can see here, the standard cap nut, finishes it off nice. Nothing can build on top during fastener jobs.

Little fasteners, like a two point five millimeter falling on top won't stay on top of this nut. It just falls off and that's just the design. I just wanted to show you on my packaging machine how that could be applied.

Using Jam Nuts Transcript

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Bob: This is what they call a jam nut. Jam nuts are about half the size of a regular finish nut in height. Otherwise the circumference and everything else is the same; they use the same wrench to apply the nut and to remove the nut.

Jam nuts, just to give you an idea what these do, you use two nuts together and then you tighten them up against each other. That's why they call them jam nuts: you use them together, you tighten them up, and I'll show you. I'll do a demonstration of that also, but typically that's how they're used. They're also used in tight areas where you can't have a full-size nut.

So I'm going to demonstrate the installation of the jam nuts that I have here. I have two of them. Jam nuts are also called thin nuts. The difference is that they're about half the size of a regular nut. You can see that here.

I'm going to put the first one on and then I'm going to put the second one on. I'm going to use an adjustable wrench to grab the bottom nut. Then I'm going to use the ratchet on the top to tighten it up.

Now I'm tightening them up against each other. That's one of the reasons why they call them jam nuts. Jam nuts are also available in nylon lock nuts where you don't have to use this situation. Obviously jam nuts can be used in many different applications such as if you have a tight area like in a car application where you don't have the room to use a regular sized nut. They'll use jam nuts or a single jam nut to get on the back of an alternator for a bracket; something along those lines. They also use the nylons in that situation.

So there's many different situations that you can use this in. They also sometimes want to put a jam nut like this to wherever it's keeping in place. They want this whole mechanism to be able to turn and move because they might be a moving arm on this bolt holding it in place. They also are used with shoulder bolts. So you'll find jam nuts used with shoulder bolts a lot on mechanical equipment. However you should know that if this is being used in a vibrating machine or something along those lines, these do have a tendency to loosen apart.

So if you want them to stay use some Loctite or some other locking product to keep them in place like they are here. And that's it.

How to Install Breakaway Shear Security Nuts Transcript

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Bob: Welcome back to Albany County Fasteners - Fasteners 101. I'm Bob and today I'm going to demonstrate to you a breakaway security nut.

So, I have here a breakaway security nut. Basically, it has a nut welded or it’s an integral part, not even welded, of the process when they made this. There is a weak point right here at the neck. As pressure gets put on the nut sides to tighten it, that will break away from the security cone nut.

Now this is almost the same thing as a tri-groove nut but doesn't have the tri-grooves in it to be able to remove this nut down the road. There'll be only one way to remove this nut. You're going to have to take an abrasive and you have to cut the ends or put some type of groove in it that you can get a flat head screwdriver in it or a vise grip around it.

So I’m going to demonstrate this now - the installation - and how it breaks away. We're going to put a carriage bolt in here. I'm going to hand-turn this on, like that. I'm gonna snug it up. Now, this is for demonstration purposes.

These particular breakaway nuts are used a lot in street signs. So, go out in the street, look at the signs you'll find them there. They come in stainless steel. They also come in zinc. I don't know if they come in hot dipped galvanized; not sure about that. But check our site. If they're available, we have them up there.

I have this snug right now on this piece of steel and I'm going to start to tighten it. Once it reaches to a certain pressure it's going to break and you're going to watch that happen right here. Okay I'm just going to turn it and it's tightening, and the other side is turning on me so I'm going to hold it and now it's gonna pop off. And that's what you have when you're all said and done.

This is the nut (hex) part that snapped off. Now you're not going to get this off. Unless you use a grinder with an abrasive and you cut grooves in it and then take it off with a wrench. So it's a process.

Thanks for watching.

How to Remove Breakaway Shear Security Nuts Transcripts

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Bob: Welcome back to Albany County Fasteners - Fasteners 101. I'm Bob and today I'm going to demonstrate to you how to remove a security nut. So, let's get started.

I have my cordless grinder with an abrasive wheel on it and I'm going to cut a groove on this side and the other side, so I can get a wrench onto this security nut that's made so you can't get anything on it.

No matter what you do, you can't grip it, so we have to create something to grip it. So, we're going to cut the edge there a little bit to flatten it out and see how we do. Here we go.

I did one side over here. I'm gonna do the other side now. Make sure you wear protection. You must have eye protection.

As you can see there, it's cut so we can get a wrench on it. That only took me about a minute - minute and a half. I'm going to stick a vise grips on it and we're going to turn it. There it is. I've taken it off. Took me a couple of minutes just to get it off.

That's how you would remove a security nut without any groove to use the tool on it. Thanks for watching.

Tri-Groove Nut Installation & Removal Transcript

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Bob: This one I have, this is called a tri groove nut. It has three grooves on it: one, two, three. There's three grooves on here. This is a security nut. This is to prevent anybody from trying to put a wrench on it. It's very hard to put a wrench on this nut.

You could probably put a vice grip on it and it'll hold it and you'll get it off but it's really a deterrent for anybody walking by who wants to try and take something. That's what it's mainly used for and it takes a special socket that goes over this nut and locks into those three grooves to be able to tighten it on.

Now I'm going to demonstrate the installation of a tri-groove nut. This is a security nut so if you want to keep something secure, such as the television, or whatever it may be from anybody removing it.

Tri-groove nuts have these three grooves and you need a special tool or socket to install it. You see they have those three grooves in it. So I'm going to demonstrate this right now, an installation of it.

I'm putting it through my 3/8 steel here. I'm going to screw it on so it snugs up and I'm going to tighten it up with this special tool. I need an adjustable on the other side. There we go.

Bear with me a minute...there we go. So I'm going to wedge it against the vice so I don't have to hold two hands. With these you can only do so much torqueing with it cause otherwise it wants to skip out.

Ok, that's the installation of a tri-groove nut. You can't put anything on this to take it off. It's all round. You have to have this tool to take it off. That's what's key to this nut. You can put this where you can't get to the head.

There are installations where you won't be able to access the head so you can't put anything on it. If you can then you would use a security screw with another type of security fastener or wrench to put it in place like a Torx with a pin in the center or something along those lines.

They also have tri-groove bolts that are available. I'm not sure if we have them on our website yet but they are available. You can't take a wrench like this and take it off because what happens is, it's been designed to where you just slide.

Now let's try the ultimate way to get this off: this is a vice grip. So if anything was going to take it off, it's going to be this. So let's see if we can do it. I haven't tried this but I'm gonna give it a shot. I'm trying to grab it on the top ridge of it and I'm gonna try and lock the vise grip; see if it holds.

Nah, see what happens once I apply pressure to it? It starts to slide off. So let's see if I can get it this way...no. There's not enough lip on the top to be able to use the vise grip to grab it. Even this way I can't grab it. So there's basically no way to get this off unless you have the tool. It's too smooth, there's nothing for the vice grip to grab. This is the tool, if you're going to use anything, to get this off.

You need the right tool, which is this: socket with the tri-grooves in the socket, and that would take it off and put it on. I'm going to take it off now. As you can see, you have the right tool...you can remove it.

And that's my demonstration of a tri-groove security nut.

Well Nuts | Review & Installation Transcript

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Bob: Welcome back to Albany County Fasteners - Fasteners 101. I'm Bob and today I'm gonna show you how to install a well nut. So, let's get started.

I have here a well nut. They fall under the category of rivet nuts also. This is an EPDM neoprene nut and inside it has a brass threaded insert. So this works well in many different applications. We'll go through those applications, right after I give you the demonstration on installing this.

I'll use this as my material that I'm attaching. Now you can attach multiple materials together with this nut and I have here a 1/4"-20 pan head machine screw with a washer on top. As in a lot of applications, if you're going through, let's say, a motorcycle windshield and you want to fasten it to a bracket to hold it on which is a great application for this. You would push it through. You would put the screw in and then you would start to tighten this screw. I'm just going to use, now this doesn't mean you should use this for your application, depending on your application. I'm using this impact just to demonstrate to you and as you can see, it's tightening up there and that's the backside of the rivet nut or well nut.

And you don’t necessarily want to use this long of a screw, you can use a shorter screw. Again, this is demonstration to give you an idea what this looks like. That was the back and this is the front. So if you were installing glass, plexy glass, this is perfect. If you wanted to install something on your boat: fish finders or things of that nature, you can use this type of application.

So well nuts can be used in many different applications. Great for shock and vibration. Pull-through is an issue. It's not the best for that. If you use this in a saltwater environment, you're gonna have to change them. I don't know how many years (they will last) depends on how it holds up, but the EPDM will deteriorate over time in a saltwater environment. I just want to bring that to your attention, but you know, great for vibration applications, motorcycles, windshields and many other applications.

This is an awesome product. Thanks for watching.