# making hex nut holes in wood



## klr650 (Apr 4, 2010)

Is there a technique for making hexagonal holes in wood (for instance to inset hex nuts)? The hex nut I'm interested in is 3/16" so that's a pretty darn small hole. My reason is to provide the nut with a grabbing surface so that it doesn't spin (or another way of looking at it - the wood doesn't rotate under load like a boat propeller) as well as simply removing the nut from sight.

Assuming that's not easy to do, are there washers or nuts that would work especially well at grabbing onto and holding wood? I'm trying to prevent the wood from rotating or sliding on the nut without having to torque the nut down so tight that it crushes the wood fibers.

I thought I remember seeing some sort of washer that had a tongue on it, for fitting into slots. something like that would work well


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## Longknife (Oct 25, 2010)

You could use this kind of washer (don't know the english term for it) and epoxy the whole assembly in a round hole.


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## bofa (Jul 17, 2010)

Tee nuts are good for this application. Alternatively you could epoxy the nuts in place in a round hole...just be sure to keep the epoxy out of the middle.


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## rrbrown (Feb 15, 2009)

What type of wood and what amount of force will it have to hold. different woods have different strengths. the wood has to be able to hold the force of the turning wood without stripping the Hex hole you create. So type of wood, force applied and how tight a fit you make will all determine if this is possible or not.


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## klr650 (Apr 4, 2010)

rrbrown said:


> What type of wood and what amount of force will it have to hold. different woods have different strengths. the wood has to be able to hold the force of the turning wood without stripping the Hex hole you create. So type of wood, force applied and how tight a fit you make will all determine if this is possible or not.


All excellent points. I think Longknife has it right, that type of washer would work well for what I need - low force application.

Thinking about it, I guess I could use a square nut, although I doubt I'd find one in that size - maybe McFeely's has some? A square hole would be simpler to make and would hold better.


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## klr650 (Apr 4, 2010)

bofa said:


> Tee nuts are good for this application. Alternatively you could epoxy the nuts in place in a round hole...just be sure to keep the epoxy out of the middle.


Yes of course, exactly what I was thinking of.

Thanks man.:thumbsup:


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## dodgeboy77 (Mar 18, 2009)

In the past I've drilled holes that are slightly less than the maximum diameter of the nut (corner to corner - not the wrench size) and then used the screw/bolt to pull the nut into that hole. A little epoxy would really lock things down. You may have to experiment with how big the hole is.

Bill


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