Special Screw/Connector

[Rod]

I am trying to fix some components together in a very tight space.

What I need is something not a million miles away from the carcase connectors used for kitchen units. Like these:

**BUT**

o They need to have a total length of no more than 6mm. o Ideally both screw heads would be countersunk (rather than round/pan/anything else. o The sleeve part needs to be no more than 5mm diameter.

I actually have a couple of usable screws (round headed and only slightly too long - can always file them), but need the sleeve bits.

Went to Isaac Lord today - nothing - and discussed cutting down a carcase connector but they are not threaded far enough.

I only really need two of them! Four would be as many as I am ever likely to use.

I know I have seen things like this as components (but can't remember where). I think the screw can go right through some (which would be fine.)

I also thought about riveting them (blind rivets) - but haven't got a riveter! And buying one seems excessive.

Any ideas?

(I suppose I *could* glue the parts - but don't really want to preclude disassembly in future.)

[Mike Clarke]

I don't know if they're still available but in the past I have seen similar things used for clipping sheets of paper together and they were available in a variety of lengths. If you can find any I think they'd meet all your requirements apart from being countersunk but the heads were very thin. You might find something if you try some stationery suppliers.

[Kevin Poole]

Do both halves have to be tightened/held by a screwdriver, as against a spanner of any sort? If so, how about sawing a slot across the face of a nut, say M5 (8mm across its flats) or M4 (6mm a/f)? Either use a thin (aka half- or lock-) nut, or file a normal one down, or even file one into a roughly conical form by running it onto a screw held in the jaws of a power drill and doing a bit of freehand turning on a file or other abrasive.

If you're still stuck, email me and I'll sort out a couple of countersunk-head screws and turn and slot a couple of nuts to suit.

How _do_ people survive without a lathe?

[meow2222]

If you've got a tap & die you can turn almost anything into a threaded fastener. I also like the stationery sized chicago bolt idea.

NT

[Rod]

Funnily enough, when I said I have suitable screws, those came from one of those thin card storage boxes. The head is just a plain dome - no slot or cross so they look like rivets. But the nut is too bulky. However, I think some other stationery things might well be where I have seen them. Thanks - it certainly is a pointer.

[Rod]

Brilliant - a name!!!!

(And a search on that name brought up our very own FAQ with another name

- Interscrew. Another place they are used is on shower screens. And they are (obviously) much shorter than the kitchen unit type. And for boat windows and portholes. And a stationery term - binding screws.)

Yes - I do have a (cheap and crap) tap & die set - with suitable sizes. I had become fixated in one direction. Start thinking what I could change into a nut...

[Rod]

Thank you so much. Screw head is not important - but the nuts I tried (even though quite small) were just too bulky.

A lathe is one of those things I have always wanted, but other things have come up.

I shall be combining all the responses, sifting and thinking. Maybe even getting the files out (if the shed door isn't frozen closed).

[Bill]

In message , Rod writes

They are sometimes known as sex bolts and I think they come (Benny Hill lives) in that sort of size. When we built our boat 25 years ago, I bought bronze examples in London to screw the perspex windows over the smaller sized window apertures. Last year I had to refurbish these windows and found that bronze seemed no longer to exist, brass seemed only available in the States, but I could get stainless ones from a local good nut and bolt specialist.

Every supplier seemed to have different names for them. The ones here have a slightly domed countersunk head and countersunk screws. I got them from

they don't seem to appear on their website.

Some photos of my old ones are at

this helps.

[Cicero]

========================================== Slotted nuts are readily available:

might also be able to use a brass computer motherboard standoff:

[Rod]

Thanks all. Some excellent ideas and links.

I tried some things this morning. First, got a brass countersunk screw, drilled through the head, into the shaft. Then tried to tap it. But the head broke off. Tried anyway - and it just wasn't going to work.

Got the nut and ground it down (using a Dremel and grinding wheel). Even when shaved to almost nothing, it was still fouling the thing it has to avoid.

I am admitting defeat - and going for a totally different approach. Involving a bit of wood.

[fictitious]

With a hammer head on it and you'll smash your project to pieces ..LOL

[Jon Fairbairn]

What are they made of?

That suggests they might be sheet metal...

If one of the components /is/ made of sheet metal, you could use clinchnuts, couldn't you? On uk.rs-online.com Mechanical Components => Fasteners and Fixings =>

Threaded Sheet Metal and Panel Fasteners => Clinchnuts & Thread Inserts for example, stock No. 505-375:

[Rod]

I did look at clinchnuts - but am still not convinced they would have been shallow enough. One component is metal (sheet - but carefully fabricated so not flat), the other thin MDF. The hole in the metal is already countersunk so there isn't really anything for a clinchnut to be fastened to. (It is intended to be used by a wood screw going into a lump of wood - whereas I am trying to attach a very thin sheet of MDF.

But that is another product I have seen used - but had no idea of the name or availability. Thank you.

[Frank Erskine]

RS do a F-F thread spacer kit, which might be the sort of thing you're looking for:-

's their part number 217-9293

I'm pretty certain that others, such as Maplin, might have them...

[Rod]

If there were more space, possibly. But the actual *total* distance from from to back must be less than 6mm (maybe even just 5mm). So there is only really room for something like 2 x 2mm countersunk heads and 2mm between them. So F-F would not work - something like the interscrew/Chicago (in a suitable size) might just have done so.

[mick]

Are these any good? Look for Chicargo screws at the bottom of the page.

[Rod]

Very, very close. 5.5mm between inner faces - had it been that between the outer faces I think it would have been fine. As I said earlier, I have now gone down the completely different, much less aesthetic approach involving a bit of wood.

Excellent to know - thanks.