bolt/nut gauge set??

shardian

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I have an interesting question for you guys. I have some projects that need bolts and/or nuts, and it is not exactly convenient for me to bring in a fullsize cabinet or break off a part to bring in to the hardware store.

Do any of you have a special kit/tool for dealing with this? I thought it would be neat to have a sort of keychain or something with varying bolts and nuts on it, so I can test in place.
 
Amazon has that gauge thing for $5.

The thing I am really needing it for is the glass lockdown bar on my Xevious. The bar needs three bolts that screw into T-nuts. I don't think that tool will gauge the inside of threaded holes. That is the main application I have seen a need for over the years.
 
The good news is most of the time these things are standardized. Like if you find a 3/8" bolt there's a good bet it's a 16 TPI one. So if you figure out the size of the hole likely the thread pitch is obvious.
 
Amazon has that gauge thing for $5.

The thing I am really needing it for is the glass lockdown bar on my Xevious. The bar needs three bolts that screw into T-nuts. I don't think that tool will gauge the inside of threaded holes. That is the main application I have seen a need for over the years.


The edges of that board are used to gauge the thread holes. I have a gage I use that came with a tap and die set I bought years ago. It has a series of blades, similar to a feeler gage, that are cut on each side for the most common thread pitches. Maybe you can find something like that.
 
a good tap set with both standard and metric fine and course threads works fine for what you want. Nothing special about them, other than they have the size marked on them.
For unknown bolts you can use a thread pitch gauge and a micrometer, or dial calipers to figure out what size bolt you have. A die set works as well, and most good ones include a pitch gauge.
The simple solution is to get an assortment of bolts, and use them to match up the threads in what you need.
 
I always thought it would be handy to have one of those bolt sizing displays like they have at the hardware store.

The ones that have the bolts and nuts welded to a plate so you can try the different possibilities and see metric/standard and the threads, etc..
 
I always thought it would be handy to have one of those bolt sizing displays like they have at the hardware store.

The ones that have the bolts and nuts welded to a plate so you can try the different possibilities and see metric/standard and the threads, etc..

That's kind of what I was thinking, though I would prefer the bolts to be on a keychain style thing like Allen wrenches usually come.
 
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