Building Tips

1. Platenuts

Platenuts are small alloy nuts which are part of a small elongated plate with holes at either end. The end holes are there to take mounting rivets. The larger central hole is threaded and squeezed so the thread is distorted. These are riveted in place so that items can be fastened together without the use of a separate nut. A screw or bolt is threaded into the platenut and tightened to hold components together.

Problem - Now these little items can be a cause of grief. Becuase the thread hole is distorted it is not easy to fasten the bolt or screw into the thread. It is thus easy to cross-thread these screws, becuase you do not know whether the resistance to turning the screw or bolt is due to the cross-theading or the distortion in the platenut.

Solution - Wherever the plans call for platenuts, it is a good idea to fit a screw to each platenut BEFORE you install them. Use a little Boelube in each thread (see image 1 below) This makes it easy to start the thread of each screw or bolt. I found that I could use fingers to grasp most platenuts while turning the screw with a suitable-sized Phillips head driver (make sure it is a tight fit - too large or small will wreck the screw/bolt). Some have very tight threads, in which case you need to use pliers. In any case, running the screw through the platenut frees up the thread and makes final application of the screw a lot easier. The scond image shows an area of the fuselage where you need to install a lot of platenuts (baggage floor area). The third image shows how this is done. the large tool with th red handles is a rivet squeezer. The containers hold flush rivets (near) and "cleco" temporary rivets. Some clecos are installed at the rear flange of the baggage floor - if you look carefully, you can see one platenut fully installed. If you are not careful, you can strip a platenut, and then you must drill out the rivets and disassemble as much construction as is necessary to replace it - this can be disheartening!

platenuts and Boelube

platenuts in baggage area

installation