Bolts and tiny machine screws may be easily lengthened. However, no task is too basic or straightforward to be completed incorrectly, and this is a prime example. If you do it correctly, the threads on the bolt will remain intact. You just damaged a threaded fastener if you do it incorrectly.
During our testing, it is common to discover a faulty bolt or machine screw keeping components of a machine, such a lawnmower, together. That could necessitate changing the problematic fastener. Although the Popular Mechanics shop has a large assortment of bolts and screws, it is not a hardware store. This indicates that, although we may have the proper bolt or screw, it is excessively long. We shorten the fastener and resume our job after that. According to the available tools, below are the three methods we use.
Using a hacksaw, we first thread on a set of nuts that are tightened against one another. The “double nut” configuration keeps the bolt from rotating as we cut it. The length to which you wish to cut the bolt is indicated by the outside edge of the outside nut.
The bolt is then tightened around the nuts and clamped in a vice before being cut with a hacksaw with a 24-tooth-per-inch blade. The fastener is given a drop of machine oil, and the hacksaw blade is moved along the nut.
Even if technique cuts the fastener neatly, it is not flawless. After cutting the bolt to the proper length, we leave it in place and use a file to smooth down any leftover rough edges that the saw blade left behind.
Finally, we use a shop rag to clean off any metal shavings, lube the bolt's end, and thread the nuts off. The task is finished after a few repetitions of threading one nut back and forth on the end of the bolt. So, the only decision left is whether or not to bevel the end of the newly cut bolt. Some individuals file a little bevel on the end of the fastener or softly spin the end of the bolt against the wheel of a bench grinder. Although I haven't found it required, it's a perfectly excellent concept. Leave the cut bolt alone if the threads are OK. If not, give the bevel a try and see if that works.
Shear the Screw
Using a hacksaw to cut tiny machine screws might be difficult and time-consuming. Using the wire-stripper multitool of an electrician, cut the fastener to the appropriate length more quickly. These have two to five holes, depending on the model, for cutting tiny machine screws. The tool has labels for each hole, including 10-24, 10-32, 8-32, 6-32, and 4-40. (A short review of screw sizes is provided here: The fastener size is represented by the first number, such as Number 10, 8, or 6, and the threads per inch are represented by the second number, such as 24, 32, or 40.)
Snip the Bolt
The pinnacle of crude bolt sizing is a bolt cutter. This is the quickest tool for the task, whether you need to remove the bolt because it is already in place, shorten it, or change it from a bolt to a pin or threaded stud (basically a bolt without a head). Bolt cutters often fall into one of two categories: huge, two-handed models, and compact, one-handed models resembling pliers.
Cut wire, nails, staples, tiny machine screws, and bolts using one-handed bolt cutters. 4,000 pounds of cutting power may be generated by large two-handed bolt cutters. This is useful for cutting through large bolts, chain, smooth and threaded steel rod, and welded wire mesh.
The only technical aspect of utilising these instruments is to place the bolt cutter's jaws so that the bolt is closer to the bottom of the jaws than it is to the tip. This offers more cutting power. Be aware that a bolt cut with this tool will have a very harsh severed end. The cut end of the bolt must be filed or ground smooth if you need to thread a nut over it or make it into a threaded hole.
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