Long bolt: make my own?

[Ron]

Just because you have problems "finding your way" using GG doesn't mean that everyone else does.

[RickH]

I always to several nuts on then cut the rod, it usually takes more than one nut to re-set the thread.

[gwandsh]

Use a wood boring bit to "counter sink" the ends of the bolt (or the one you cut from the threaded rod), so little fingers can't get at them. It won't do much to impact the strength of the wood itself.

I used this approach for all the bolts on my deck structure so that bolt ends would not be visible. Works fine and takes only a few seconds to drill in far enough to hide the bolt ends.

[Roger Shoaf]

Several points here.

You are attaching a baby gate, not putting up a barier to protect an ingress from mongol hordes.

Through bolts are not only over kill, but they make the job way more difficult than it has to be.

A few well placed wood screws will secure the gate and after the kid is old enough to not fall down the stairs, they can be removed and the repair is going to be much easier.

Another problem you are going to have is drilling straight holes, Have you ever tried to drill a hole 8 inches deep and predict where it will come out? This is no easy task.

As far as a toddler unscrewing a nut, If a not is tightened with a wrench

*you* will not be able to unscrew it by hand so a little kid would have no chance.

Another option if you really want to use nuts is to get studs. These are headless boltsthat have wood screw threads on one end and machine threads on the other. Two nuts are theaded on to the machine threads and tightened against each other locking them together. Now you drill a pilot hole and thread the stud into the wood. When the desired depth is attained, you use two wrenches and unthread the nuts.

What you end up with is a threaded shaft sticking out from the wood that can be used as an attachment point.

[tnom]

Loctite permanent thread locker

[woger151]

I might not have described the situation completely.

The post that's there isn't directly across from the attachment point on the opposite wall. Because of the location of the handrail, I can't use one of those "angle gates". So I have to "extend" the post to get a good attachment point.

I don't actually have to do it the way I'm doing it; my original idea was to use some plywood on both sides of the old post. That way I could avoid drilling the old post. But this way is easier: The post is a little smaller than a 4x4. On the end of that I'm mounting a thin board, then a 4x4. (Need the board because the post has a wooden "cap" that prevents the 4x4 from being flush. Need the 4x4 to be taller than the cap to mount the gate hardware.)

Didn't know about the difficulty of drilling 8" straight, but fortunately won't have to deal with it. I can drill the board, the

4x4, and the post one at a time.

Cheers

.- Hide quoted text -

[woger151]

[snip]

Don't worry; I used to post to different, fairly nasty USENET groups all the time. I'm grateful for all the replies here. If a few people say, "Idiot! Don't worry about the toddlers getting the nuts off!!1!" I can handle it. :-)

It's not so much that we're not going to supervise them. In fact, right now that gate is going up upstairs, where they spend no time except sleeping. Rather, my concern right now is that while they don't seem close to climbing out of their cribs, who knows? So the scenario I'm worried about is them getting out at night and then tumbling down the stairs.

The thing about the nuts is just my own, parental paranoia.

In terms of toddlers doing damage, these are twins, and someone on a local multiples group list said her twins took their diapers off at night and smeared $4it on the walls.

[snip]

[woger151]

e:

I ordered 9" hex bolts. Then I read all the replies and thought, "Damn, I wasted my money, could just use epoxy, and these bolts will take forever to get here by UPS ground." But they shipped right away, and since the distance isn't that far (just a few little Eastern Seaboard states away), they'll get here tomorrow.

OTOH, since they're hex bolts and not fully threaded, the dimensions might not quite work for sure. But then I'll fall back on some of the other suggestions here.

[woger151]

[snip]

Thanks to everyone who replied. Cheers!

[Harry K]

nt.- Hide quoted text -

Been wondering all along. Why bolts? If the post is solid wood or even just boxed 3/4" stock, wood screws (no toddler even with tools will remove a properly applied on) or lag bolts/flat washer/lock washer does the job much simpler and is just as 'firm'. You would only have to 'operate' on the one side of the post, no through holes.

Harry K

[norminn]

They will get out of cribs :o) When my younger brother was 3-4 and grocery shopping was done by walking to the store, my mom had a harness with a leash for my bro'. Just a cotton vest-type thingy so she could carry groceries AND keep him out of the traffic. I got a similar thing when one of my toddlers would not stay in bed at night. It could fasten to the bed frame, allow him to turn and sit up without getting strangled. He could turn on his light, read a book if he wasn't inclined to go to sleep. One night when I went in to check on him, he had been very quiet and I expected him to be asleep. He was awake, greeted me with a big smile as I walked in and saw that he had opened up a seam on his feather pillow....feathers all over.

Parental paranoia is healthy ..

Parents tend to react when kids are noisy, but the time to worry is when they are too quiet :o) I remember a story told by Joyce Brothers, about the difference between boys and girls. A mother was bothered by her little boys running, jumping and yelling when they played. OTOH, the little girl was very quiet. One day, mother asked the little girl what she was doing, and the little girl answered sweetly, "Nothing, mommy." Nothing but decorating the walls of her room with mommy's best lipstick. BTDT :o)

If you ever hear a "funny noise", don't ignore it.

[RickH]

ote:

No glue like Epoxy or Loctite is going to stop someone with a wrench from being able to take off the nut. Just weld it.

[DerbyDad03]

Oh, so now the toddlers he's trying to protect have access to his tools?

Put the toolbox on the other side of the gate so they can't reach it.

Or, since they're still young, they're still teachable.

Righty-Loosey, Lefty-Tighty

They'll never get the nuts off!

[Roger Shoaf]

I don't actually have to do it the way I'm doing it; my original idea was to use some plywood on both sides of the old post. That way I could avoid drilling the old post. But this way is easier: The post is a little smaller than a 4x4. On the end of that I'm mounting a thin board, then a 4x4. (Need the board because the post has a wooden "cap" that prevents the 4x4 from being flush. Need the 4x4 to be taller than the cap to mount the gate hardware.)

Didn't know about the difficulty of drilling 8" straight, but fortunately won't have to deal with it. I can drill the board, the

4x4, and the post one at a time.

This would be even easier. Counter boar the 4X4 about 3 inches deep, and then drill a clearance hole a wee bit larger than the major diameter of the wood screw. Do this in two or three places.

Next using the holes drilled in the 4X4 as a guide, drill corresponding clearance holes in the thin board.

Now you can use the thin board as a guide to transfer the location of the three holes to the post but these holes will be pilot holes for the wood screws, so the diameter of the holes would be slightly smaller than the minor diameter of the wood screw.

Now you will have a sufficient anchor to mount the baby gate and it will be cheaper than the through bolt method and plenty secure.

Or "Plan B" would be to secure the 4X4 and the thin board to the post with large stainless steel hose clamps, (Also you could add a chunk of wood to the back side of the posts to prevent denting the wood.)and then you would have no holes to repair after you take down the baby gate.

[Roger Shoaf]

Or, since they're still young, they're still teachable.

Righty-Loosey, Lefty-Tighty

They'll never get the nuts off!

Or even more devious would be to have some of the fasteners with left hand threads...

[Roger Shoaf]

It's not so much that we're not going to supervise them. In fact, right now that gate is going up upstairs, where they spend no time except sleeping. Rather, my concern right now is that while they don't seem close to climbing out of their cribs, who knows? So the scenario I'm worried about is them getting out at night and then tumbling down the stairs.

The thing about the nuts is just my own, parental paranoia.

In terms of toddlers doing damage, these are twins, and someone on a local multiples group list said her twins took their diapers off at night and smeared $4it on the walls.

As a father of twins, I feel your pain. Mine are now ten and are just finishing up 4th grade, so it was not so long ago that they learned to climb out of the crib. Funny thing was is that after the first time my son took the tumble, he was a little reticent to do it a second time, my daughter followed the same pattern about a month later.

Twins are two babies for the price of three.

Mine were born in 2000, and my wife was dreading having twins, so they became known as the Y2kids.

[mike]

I like the welding option. But if you can't, just leave a little thread sticking out and smash it with a hammer. Bolt will be very difficult to remove.

[Bennett Price]

[DerbyDad03]

My wife used to be a nanny for a farming/farm market-running family that had twins, then 18 months later had another set of twins. 0 to 4 kids in 18 months.

The Dad worked from dawn (in the fields) until after dark (at the market). Mom took some time off to be home with the kids but needed some help/relieve for a few hours a day.

At one point one of the older boys learned to climb out of the crib and would wake them up in the middle of the night. A sheet of plywood over the crib nipped that problem in the bud! He cried for a couple of nights and then accepted his fate and began to sleep through the night. The plywood only lasted a couple of weeks and then was no longer needed.

[terry]

Suggestion: If the post is hefty enough perhaps a hole/depression could be drilled into it so the nut or head of the bolt could recessed; later a peg or plug could be inserted into the hole and sanded off? If the hole is one inch deep that is one inch shorter the bolt needs to be?

Roger on ingenious toddlers. Our last used to open the 'stereo' (remember therm?) lid which I had secured with a small cabinet/desk drawer lock, using anything metallic (he must'a inherited the industrial background from somewhere!) at hand including the car keys if within reach.

Also the hole in the kitchen cabinet is still there where we used to safely padlock the cabinet with medications in it! Ah well! Today 31, he works offshore, earns twice as much as I ever did, and can fix anything from a megawatt gas turbine to an electronic thermometer! He'll be a good father too.

While he's temporarily away I'm chasing an electrical fault on his well used, third hand, 10 year old Lexus ....................... ah found it.