I would like to know what is the meaning of a "preened wing-nut" inthe context of making a hold down to clamp a piece of wood in a jig.How to "preen" a wing nut anyway?I am reading a woodworking book on making jigs. One thing that I amreally interested is making a hold-down with wing-buts, bolts, anddoor-stops. If I can make a few of these instead of buying ready-madehold-downs from stores, I can save quite some money. But one thingthat I don't quite understand in the book is how to secure a wing-nutat the end of a threaded bolt using "preening".The hold down as shown in the book is like this:- A wooden jig has a threaded-through-nut in it.- An upside-down bolt goes through the threaded-through-nut.- The head of the upside-down bolt holds a rubber door stop.- The end of the upside-down bolt has a wing nut on it.- We are supposed to turn the wing-nut when we want to secure a piece of wood under the wooden jig. This in turn will turn the bolt, and the bolt will go down and the rubber door stop will come in contact with the wood and hold the wood in place.Obviously, the wing-nut and the bolt will turn independently if theyare not secured together, and we want them to turn together, notindependently. The book seems to say that it can make them to turntogether by "preening" the wing-nut onto the bolt. What does"preening" mean?What's the other alternative besides "preening"?Thanks in advance for any info.Jay Chan

Someone may well correct me on this, but I think it means to pin the twotogether. drill through the side of the nut, into or through the bolt, andinsert a pin to secure the two together.Alternative? loctite or something similar if there's not too much stresswhile turning.Russ...

How to "Preen" a Wing-Nut to Make a Hold-Down Clamp?

Sep 21, 2004 21 Replies

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Jay Chan 21 years ago

Thanks. This sounds easy enough. I was thinking of hammering the wing-nut at its side. I have a feeling that hammering the end of the bolt as you have suggsted should be easier, and I have a 5-pound hammer that I can use. Seem like this is the way to go.

I was thinking of attaching a multiple-angle-jig to my standard home-made cross-cut jig. Then, I can use it to make various degree angle cuts. And I plan to make two hold-downs on that multiple-angle-jig to hold the wood in place while I cut; then I won't have one hand pushing the cross-cut jig, another hand holding on the wood (this just seems too awkward).

Jay Chan

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Jay Chan 21 years ago

Do you mean you use regular pumping soldering method to solder the wing and bolt together? This sounds easy enough, especially I have pumping soldering equipments and materials available -- Doesn't every household have a pumping torch ;)

What kind of prep work that you need to do to prepare the surface for soldering?

This probably will work well for bolt that is long. However, I am afraid that this may not work for short bolt because the heat may melt the rubber door stop at the other end of the bolt; in that case, I will still need to use the "Big Hammer" approach.

Thanks for the tip.

Jay Chan

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