[Shop-talk] Cotter Usage

[Bob Spidell]

He really, /really/ hates lockwashers. I've been a threadlocker devotee 
since reading his book, but have to say I've had a couple instances 
where only a sturdy split washer did the job (usually with a bolt in shear).

On 11/17/2020 7:39 PM, Steven Trovato wrote:
> For questions like this I look to Carroll Smith's book "Nuts, Bolts, 
> Fasteners and Plumbing Handbook" commonly referred to as "Screw to 
> Win."  He says that your picture 2 is the preferred way, but picture 1 
> is an alternate method.  He says:
>
> "Insert the pin and give the closed end a tap with a drift to seat 
> it.  Bend the ends over, one over the top of the bolt and the other 
> axially against one flat of the nut.  If you can wiggle the cotter pin 
> with your fingers, you did it wrong."
>
> At 12:36 PM 11/17/2020, Bob Spidell wrote:
>> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
>>
>> Got some 'quiet time' before I have to go look after my mom, and I 
>> thought I'd pose an arcane question to the List:
>>
>> What do y'all consider the proper way to use a cotter key/pin? I've 
>> watched the pros on TV--Edd China, Ant Anstead, Goblin Garage, 
>> Fantomworks, etc. and the 'Chop it/Channel It/Drop a Crate Engine In 
>> It/Bag It/Put Huge Dubs and a Gaudy Paint Job On It and Call It a 
>> Day' hotrod builders, and they all do it a bit different. Usually, 
>> it's 'Type 1'--see terrible hand-drawn 'art' attached (using a stub 
>> axle for example)--but I gave it a lot of thought and wondered 'Is 
>> that the best way?' Thinking it through, yes, any way you put a 
>> cotter in and secure it will do the job; i.e. keep the nut from 
>> coming completely undone. However, when safety-wiring--a skill I 
>> sorta learned maintaining my own aircraft--you're supposed to always 
>> wire so as to pull in the tightening direction, to resist any turning 
>> at all of the nut/bolt. So, when applicable--e.g. on castellated 
>> nuts--I torque until the cotter will just fit in the hole (drawing# 
>> 2), situated 'sideways'--where you can't see the eye of the cotter 
>> from the side--snug against the side of the nut's slot so as to 
>> resist the nut turning at all. Then, I bend the upper half of the 
>> cotter back over the nut/spindle, and snip the lower half at the edge 
>> of the nut, figuring anything longer than that isn't doing anything 
>> (plus it just looks neater IMO, and may be easier to remove if 
>> necessary).
>>
>> FWIW, my late father, who was an auto shop teacher and had a few 
>> psychology classes under his belt said I was 'stuck at the anal 
>> retentive stage' of child development; I (think) he was kidding.
>>
>> Bob
>
>

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