Securing Eyebolts

[kruginmi]

Question:  What is a good way to secure eyebolts so they don't pull out later?  (other than CY glue)

 

Setup:  I have  an enclosed POB hull that requires MANY eyebolts to be installed. 

 

History:  On other builds this had been an easy practice of drilling in a hole equal to the diameter of the eyebolt stem (hopefully at an angle separate from the rigging pull) and apply CY glue to the stem before pushing through the hole.  Since i do not have access to the lower part, this was all I could do.

 

Drawbacks:  You usually end up with a little puddle of CY glue around the bolt that even with the best wiping will not take a finish like the rest of the surrounding deck.  BIGGEST ISSUE:  I have had a couple pull out when rigging.  I try not to put too much tension on the lines, but there is some.

 

Idea:  I am pondering creating a much larger hole than the eyebolt diameter (but still pretty small).  Offship I will create a matching plug.  The plug would be drilled out for the eyebolt and the eyebolt pushed through WITH NO GLUE.  Now the plug would be flipped over, the eyebolt bent to prohibit it going back through the hull and CY glue applied at this end.  Once complete the plug would be glued into the hull.  This would provide a much larger gluing area and shouldn't pull out (the plug or eyebolt).

 

Is there a simpler idea out there that I am overlooking?  I will try a prototype for pics if my words have confused.

 

Thanks for any help,

Mark

[Jim Lad]

Mark,

 

I glue mine in with a two part epoxy glue - never had one pull out yet.

 

John

[tlevine]

Try making your eyebolt by twisting a piece of wire around the appropriate diameter drill bit to give the correct ID.  This leaves you with a "pig tail" rather than a single piece of wire to insert into the deck.  Drill the hole in the deck slightly smaller than required and then screw the "pig tail" in to the hole after applying a little two-part epoxy.  This gives a lot more surface area for the epoxy to take hold. 

[Kevin]

i try to work in advance ( he said - not quite telling the truth) i try to use extend eyebots and bend the extra behind (if not seen) an then glue, 

[kruginmi]

Thanks for all the tips.

 

Thinking on it, probably the biggest thing I could do is enlarge the hole a tad to leave a gap for more glue to remain.  I am probably removing a majority of it.

 

Also, to be more precise, this is primarily aimed for the kit deck.  So you have (at max) an 1/8" thickness of wood (half false deck, half planking) and for real grabbing power, probably only the 1/16" thick plywood false deck.

 

Mark

[DelF]

Hi Mark

 

I've just seen this topic and thought I'd add my two penn'orth.

 

I tried a tip I read in one of Harold Underhill's books where he recommends putting a thread on the tail of the eyebolt then screwing it into the deck or wherever. I found a cheap jeweller's tap & die set on ebay for £14.99 and tried it on a brass eyebolt with a 0.7mm tail.

The thread went on no problem (I found the best technique was to screw the eyebolt half a turn into the die each time then unscrew to release any swarf; half a dozen turns was plenty). The resulting thread was so fine I had to run my finger over it to check it was actually there, but once I'd drilled a hole one size smaller (#71; 0.66mm) I found it screwed in easily, cutting its own thread in the wood, and the result was as solid as a rock. I'll definitely be using that technique from now on. I guess you could use glue as well if you wanted to be doubly sure.

 

Derek, UK

 

[kruginmi]

Thanks Derek,

 

I like that technique a lot.  I will have to look around for a jewelers tap and die.  It makes a lot of sense.

 

Mark

[Mahuna]

Amazon has several to choose from.  This is the one I have:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Mini-Tap-And-Die-Set/dp/B005NJUJ86/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1379854298&sr=8-6&keywords=jewelers+tap+and+die

[DelF]

Your welcome Mark

 

One point to note. In case you were wondering why there's two holes for each size, the top row is for cutting the thread and the bottom row is for testing the thread you've cut. If it hasn't been cut cleanly it won't screw into the bottom hole. Frankly I don't think the fluency of the thread matters that much when you're screwing metal into wood.

 

All the best

 

Derek

[pompey2]

Interesting replies regarding adhesives used. I use two part epoxy for anything important like this. I have a basic distrust of CA.

 

 

 

Nick

 

[twintrow]

Mark

I use what I think is a simple method.  As shown in the sketch, I drill the hole for the eyebolt, then bend up the end of the eyebolt as shown, insert into the hole (usually I can feel the bent portion clear, if not shorten the bend til I do) test by pulling on the eyebolt, it loks it self in place and h=ave never had one fail or come out.

 

Good luck

Tom

[kruginmi]

A lot of good ideas.  I usually go straight for the most difficult and these pretty straight forward ideas are great for working through the (very thin) deck material.  Thank you one and all.

[Ulises Victoria]

I never use the eyebolts that came in the kit, for two reasons: one they are always way too big, and two they are too smooth in the stem. I always do my eyebolts with the jig in the photo. I think it's self explanatory. I have two different wire diameters on each end of the drill handle to make at least two different sizes of eyebolts. This gives the eyebolt some mechanical grip in the stem.

I use a glue called Resistol Extreme. I think it goes by other names in other countries. Maybe the photo will help to identify it. The beauty of it is that residues come off like a piece of rubber if you don't wait too long, and is the strongest glue I have tried for this kind of jobs. I've never had a problem with loosening eyebolts, or anything for that matter.

 

Hope this helps

Edit 4 years later: This glue is crap. After more than 4 years everything I glued using this glue is falling apart!!!

Edited April 6, 2018 by Ulises Victoria
Correction

[JackieTrades]

Good to know. Thanks for being dedicated to follow up to alert after time passes.

[P_Budzik]

The twisted wire method has always worked well for me.

 

Edited May 9, 2020 by P_Budzik
wrong link