Wood insert nuts, any good recommendations?

[SeanT999]

I bought these: https://amzn.eu/d/6EH2kpH but they're terrible, rounded out the drive hex after 3 inserts. Not that I want to move them but wanted to trial them before drilling my hexaply.

I'm using them for fitting bike fork mounts and for fixing down 8020 type aluminium profile (30x30mm but supporting a bed in a campervan) so need to have some movement resilience.

I've seen The Insert Company online. They do zinc alloy, brass, stainless steel and zinc plated steel. Any ideas for best material or other suppliers?

Thanks very much
Sean

 

[Spectric]

I've seen The Insert Company online.

Yes more expensive but when you compare them they have a continous thread form that cuts into the wood which gives a better pull out resistance than those jungle ones.

 

[Bingy man]

The devil is in the detail - when you get a pack of 30 or 40 for a few ££ and compare them to a pack of 10 for the same or more cost . I find driving in the cheaper ones is best done by hand rather than the current trend of using an impact driver for everything. If the bikes will likely be wet at times then consider stainless steel inserts and fixing bolts etc .

 

[Ollie78]

These can be a pain, I agree that the ones with a continuous thread are better.
But, they are harder to screw in. Last time I used stainless ones and had to go half a mm over on the drill bit to get them just right in birch ply. If you don`t have the right half mm over bits then try wax. Insert by hand with a t handle alen key.

 

[niall Y]

I had to use one of these recently to hold a grub screw in a wooden handle I was making. I did look around and came to the conclusion that as I only needed one, I would make it myself. If I were to buy them then I would definitely go for those with the full thread.

They are available with or without a flange at the top. The flange stops them sinking too deeply into the wood. Past experience shows that the Zinc ones can be a bit gutless and one has to struggle a bit, and experiment to get them to fit nicely with an Allan key. It is often easier to insert a bolt and lock nut, so that one can at least drive them in with a spanner.

The one I made in brass had a coarse 12mm metric thread on the outside. This allowed me to first tap the hole I was inserting it into. I also used some epoxy glue to further secure it. This was much less stressful at achieving a neat fit.

 

[Kayen]

Zinc alloy probably means they're made from aluminium or something comparably soft. Buy the carbon steel ones, they're so much better.

 

[pgrbff]

Rampa make excellent quality inserts in a variety of forms.