Posted by Denis on Sunday, September 21, 2003 at 2:50PM :
In Reply to: Fastenal Techincal Reference Guide posted by Paul(in NY) on Saturday, September 20, 2003 at 7:17PM :
Paul;
You must remember that Fastenal sells fasteners. Just think how well they would do if everybody never reused any fasteners.
I agree that if there is any question about the stength or soundness of a bolt or nut it should not be reused. However I must add, in 25 years of working in ship engine rooms I have never seen a steam line stud or bolt fail by stretching under load while in service. I've seen plenty with the threads stripped off while removing the nuts, and I've seen many corroded through and others shear when removing because nuts were galled onto the threads. If a stud or bolt is properly speced for it's purpose it will not deform when torqued as speced but only stretch within it's elastic limit. That's why they don't come loose. Once a stud or bolt is stretched beyond this elastic limit is has already failed.
Follow Ups: