miyu1975

miyu1975

Well Known Member
Any tricks of the trade advice on this.. My fingers are to big to fit in tight space to get the bolt through the hinge holes.. I was using a pair of needle nose plyers but kept lossing the grip. I am going to buy a pair of needle nose vise grips today. Any other tips..thx
 
A dedicated needle-nose....

......with a hollow ground inside both fingers will hold the bolt without dropping it. Buy a cheapo Chinese model and this'll be it's sole use.

Regards,
 
Tape and Grabber

You can also wrap a small piece of masking/electrical tape around the washer and nut to keep them together while you get them started on the bolt. Yank the tape off after a couple of turns. Or, if you're a tool nut like me you'll buy Avery's washer wrench set instead...

I'd also suggest a 'grabber' or pick up tool; Sears sells one for $7 or you can find them at auto parts stores (Sears# 00941322000). You can grab the bolt shank and then use one finger to poke the bolt in place. Also handy when you drop the parts inside the elevator.

Mike
 
4-pronged grabber

I used a 4 pronged grabber from the dollar store to finagle the bolt into place. Came in handy in many instances.

This is an image from harborfreight:
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Not wanting to take business away from a company that supports us like Avery, but I was able to make crude copies of the Avery pins with some rod I had laying around way back when I was building. Net cost was "free" - just took a little time for bending and threading....
 
Use nails

N520TX said:
http://www.averytools.com/p-240-temporary-assembly-pins.aspx

These come in handy in all kinds of little situations - yours included.
Click to expand...

I didn't have the time to wait (or so I thought) to receive these so I made some that work just as well. I used 16d nails and used my vise and a hammer to bend the pointed end to 90 degrees. Worked great and they're cheap too. This I did to position everything and then used homestats to install the bolts, washers and nut.
 
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Small needle-nose vise grips. Put a nice strong pickup magnet on the bolt head after it's in. That will help keep you from dropping your nut & washer while you use one finger and all your telepathic powers to start the threads. A gearwrench is nice too.
 
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