Split pins

Yes you're right.

As far as I can tell (checking Machinery's, Molesworth, Caxton and Spon) a cotter is a key distinguished by having two shear planes, not just one

- i.e. it goes right through something, out the other side, and the external ends are supported in two places.

They're usually tapered. This is a convenient way of locking them in place and it allows both sides to be tightened up, allowing a reciprocating force without fretting damage. In a locomotive big end there's a cotter which may or may not be tapered, as it's tightened by a separate tapered gib strip.

If there's no taper though, it's difficult to get a cotter tight against forces on both directions. This would only be useful if the load was guaranteed to only act in one direction. The only example I can think of are the suspension cables (not the catenaries) of a suspension bridge - sure enough there are plenty of Victorian pnes that use plain cotters here.

Reply to
Andy Dingley
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Indeed I do (although I'd be more likely to point to automotive uses) so it was with some surprise that I found people apparently calling them cotter bolts. Maybe it's because they fasten with a split pin, and if you call a split pin a cotter pin ...

Reply to
Rob Morley

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