Stanley #25 bevel

[Bill Houghton]

Not having any Loctite in the shop and not wanting to drive into town for something that has caused me problems in the past led to devising a quick fix with what was on hand.

For me, Loctite seldom seems to be the right answer. There are just too many different types for me to keep them all straight.

jtk

Does your wife use nail polish, or do you? Nail polish is, as I understand it, a lacquer. It used to be recommended as a field fix for motorcycle repair (clear was particularly recommended, no idea why); motorcycles of my youth, other than the BMWs I rode, were really good at shaking parts loose.

I've found that the low-torque loctites leave behind a certain non-abrasive grittiness when you loosen them, which helps to keep a nut in an application like this in place. I haven't tested nail polish to see if it works the same way. Violin bow rosin, available from your local music store, is sometimes recommended for the same non-abrasive grittiness, but I haven't had great luck with it. I imagine you could use regular finishing lacquer, too, in place of the nail polish.

In their original state, those nuts on the back of the #25 have mildly distorted threads that help keep them from moving easily; but I've seen some bevels of that type lacking that feature. No idea if they were aftermarket nuts, replacing a lost nut, or poor thinking on the part of the company making the knockoffs.

[Bill Houghton]

The #18 is a great furnituremaker's bevel. I have several, and use them (two are currently locked at a setting for an interior trim project that's currently stalled; they'll be ready when I get back to it).

I am now NOT going out to the shop to count my bevels...

[Patrick Chase]

In my experience some brass bolts held together with Loctite self destructed when trying to unfasten them. For me castle nuts, staking the nut, nylock nuts or lock washers have usually worked very well.

That sounds like what happens when you use a permanent thread-locker in an application that's more suited to a temporary (low-torque) one :-).

[Jim Koepke]

That sounds like what happens when you use a permanent thread-locker in an application that's more suited to a temporary (low-torque) one :-).

That was a problem in my former work environment. Someone who didn't know a certain body cavity from a hole in the ground would pour half a bottle of the wrong type of thread locking compound. Over many years very few of my projects would have benefitted from the use of Loctite and none of them have suffered from it being omitted.

Does your wife use nail polish, or do you? Nail polish is, as I understand it, a lacquer. It used to be recommended as a field fix for motorcycle repair (clear was particularly recommended, no idea why); motorcycles of my youth, other than the BMWs I rode, were really good at shaking parts loose.

My wife does, not me. That is usually a temporary fix or is used to indicate a fastener coming loose due to tampering or vibration. Like thread seal, it doesn't actually hold the fastener. Some folks use a drop of super glue to hold loose screws in their glasses. That isn't a great idea since sometimes it can cause problems if the frames are to be used for new lenses in the future. That is where fingernail polish might be applicable.

Again, drilling a hole the same size as some brass rod, installing and cutting the rod, applying a bit of torque to the nut and a little file work took less time than it would have taken me to walk from the shop to the house to borrow some of my wife's nail polish, apply it and wait for it to dry. Maybe a picture would help?

jtk

[Bill Houghton]

My wife does, not me. That is usually a temporary fix or is used to indicate a fastener coming loose due to tampering or vibration. Like thread seal, it doesn't actually hold the fastener. Some folks use a drop of super glue to hold loose screws in their glasses. That isn't a great idea since sometimes it can cause problems if the frames are to be used for new lenses in the future. That is where fingernail polish might be applicable.

Again, drilling a hole the same size as some brass rod, installing and cutting the rod, applying a bit of torque to the nut and a little file work took less time than it would have taken me to walk from the shop to the house to borrow some of my wife's nail polish, apply it and wait for it to dry. Maybe a picture would help?

jtk

There are about a million good ways to solve any given problem, and about a million and a half bad ways. Figuring out which category you're working in is just part of life's tuition, right? Yours sounds fine, too.