Any answers?
What's this called?
It's a kind of nut with a thread on the inside and outside. It's designed to be inserted into a pre-drilled hole in a piece of wood, so that the thread on the outside grips the wood, and you screw a screw into it. This one, as you can perhaps see, is damaged, chipped, and it doesn't stay in the hole in the wood. I need to replace it, and I've taken it to B&Q where two helpful young men assured me that they don't stock it, and couldn't come up with a name for it either. What is it called? I've been trying to find one on an ironmongery website, but again, without the name for it, I'm having trouble searching for it.
If anyone can help, I'd be very grateful.
As you were.
posted by Andrew Collins @ 2:21 PM
23 Comments
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Andrew at
23 Comments:
Why don't you try Morton the Padlock in your old stomping ground of Redhill:
Mortons The Padlock Ltd
141-143, Brighton Rd, Redhill, Surrey RH1 6PS
Tel: 01737 766516
They are an old fashioned DIY shop where they sell individual nuts, bolts etc from cardboard boxes and are extremely knowledgeable. If they don't know what it is, no one does!
http://www.jamnagar-brass-parts.com/brass_inserts/brass_inserts.htm
Have a butchers at this. Maybe?
That looks to my eyes to be a self-tapping threaded insert Andrew.
According to my partner's dad:
"It is called a 'thread insert' and a company called Helicoil make them for use in steel! I just searched on Google using thread insert and got loads of hits.
Suggest that Andrew glues a wooden peg into the now larger hole and then redrills the hole with a smaller drill size. Probably easier than finding a supplier of one of these"
Looks like a self-tapping zinc-plated insert to me, the sort of thing that these chaps supply http://www.tappex.co.uk/tappex_products.htm
I'd suggest posting on the diynot or ultimatehandyman forums, they are bound to know.
Failing that there are screwfix forums.
Could be a set screw? I think you normally use an allen key to screw those in though.
Tell us what it's called when you find out please Andrew, otherwise that's going to drive me mad.
Also, how do you get it in the hole in the wood?
Jon
http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.davart.co.uk/images/contentpage-images/other-images/tristar.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.davart.co.uk/inserts-tristar.htm&h=189&w=250&sz=5&hl=en&start=101&um=1&tbnid=GrmDQFjaKz7rHM:&tbnh=84&tbnw=111&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dself%2Btapping%2Bscrew%2Binternal%2Bthread%26start%3D100%26ndsp%3D20%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26sa%3DN
it's some sort of self-tapping screw, click above
Threaded wood insert is what I would call it.
Try here:
http://www.tappex.co.uk/tappex_products.htm
However, if you get one that is slightly larger so that it grips in the hole, how are you going to fit it?
So many suggestions! (I travelled from A to B, and while I was out, your comments came in.) Let me digest these, and check out the various links. You have all done a good deed. It seems to be a threaded insert, which are not words I'd have used, so we're into a whole new world of shared knowledge.
If you scrunch up your eyes, the bottom one looks like a fish eye.
E. Louise said...
If you scrunch up your eyes, the bottom one looks like a fish eye.
I see your fish eye and raise you flying saucers flying in formation red arrows stylee (the top one that is... not the bottom one... that would just be silly)
AC, more from the North Northants book of make do & mend and bodgery (careful there): If you want to fit this one back in so that it grips, try wrapping a good number of layers of plumbers' PTFE tape (from B&Q etc) around the threads and then refit using the table or chair leg or whatever fits into the centre thread as the 'screwdriver'.
Or alternatively, you could try gluing the insert back in using some nice tacky glue like evo stick, or hot melt glue if you have a glue gun.
How sad OP is you all might be thinking; well in my defence I like mending things, I'm frugal, I was brought up poor, I hate waste and I can't tolerate this throwaway attitude that is encouraged these days.
I'm not defensive about any of it though, that's the main thing.
It looks scarily like something the dentist is going to drill into my teeth when I get implants fitted later this year (this follows a cycle accident I had when I lost 2 front teeth a couple of year ago).
Shall I do a DIY job with bits from B&Q? May be cheaper...
It's a self-tapping threaded insert, maybe from http://www.yardleyproducts.com/
Isn't it a McGuffin? Or a Walysand Grommet? Or just a plain Screwup?
Just trying to help.
Shouldn't you lot be writing? Back to work, the lot of you.
JB
Its definately a thingamy, or a whatdyacallit. Certainly not a hoojah.
I'm dreadful at DIY. I still eye the only shelf I have ever put up two years ago with suspicion. I am sure it's playing a waiting game and is preparing for just the right moment to fall on my head.
A big thanks to all of you. This really does represent the Power of The Blog Community.
The self-tapping threaded insert, which is indeed what the little fella is called, was part of a table we'd had delivered from Marks & Spencer. It wasn't exactly self-assembly but I did have to put the legs on. However, one of the self-tapping threaded inserts was damaged and I couldn't attach the final leg, as every time I screwed into it, it worked loose. Not knowing what it was called, we were unable to convey what was amiss, and though M&S very promptly sent us an extra pack of screws and washers, none of them helped. Now we have told them it's a self-tapping threaded insert we need, and they are on the case. A replacement is on its way. Soon, the table will stand proud. And it's all down to you.
If there are any favours I can do in return ...?
I love it when a plan (or should be a table ) comes together. Well done for mending it rather than getting a whole new table.
They said it would take six weeks to deliver a new table, bltp - hence my DIY zeal.
Oddly enough, I've had one of those sat on my computer desk for a month now. It just appeared like a magical shopkeeper. I thought it was a Grub Screw. Nothing has fallen apart yet, so I'm leaving it sat on a tiny laminated calendar until something does.
You called have called this post "The Naming Of The Screw".
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