Joystick nuts and bolts...

[Procyon]

I've never been good with constructing stuff, and it's starting to show on my joystick.  After a lot of play, the joystick becomes very wobbly, and sure enough when I open it up, the nuts on the joystick bolts have slipped down some, allowing the joystick to move around a lot under the panel.  So I was wondering what tricks people use to keep the nuts tightly around the bolts so the joystick doesn't move around.  I tighten them up as hard as I can, but after a lot of rough play, they loosen up every time.  Would it help if I used a washer?  I never understood what they were for really.  Is there some sort of sticky substance I can use?  I was thinking of using blue tak, but I wanted to ask here first.  Thanks very much.

[eightbit]

A washer would be a good idea. Its a requirement if you have a wood panel. You can also add a lock washer or a lock nut to keep it from loosening. By blue tack I assume you mean a product like locktite which should also work.

I would recomend adding a regular washer and a lock washer. If that doesn't solve it try the locktite.

[Minwah]

Yep, a washer, then spring washer, then nylock nut should hold it

[Stingray]

Make sure you use new lock nuts. After tightening them down and taking them back off they tend to loosen somewhat. If you use loctite be aware that you may have a hard time getting them off again if you ever need to remove the sticks for any reason.

-S

[Procyon]

Hello everyone.  Thank you very much for the tips you all gave me.  I went to Home Depot and tried to buy those nylon nuts.  I bought the 10-24 size that fits my bolt, and I found them impossible to screw on.  I thought maybe I got too small of a size, and bought 10-36 nuts instead... Those were next to impossible, I did manage to get them up the bolt somewhat, but it took a lot of force and all the work would result in only a few turns.  Are these meant to be particular difficult to screw on?  I can't use a wrench in a conventional way because the base of the joystick prevents me from turning the wrench in a full circle.

So I will try the washer/lock washer/nut combination.  Can anyone explain why lock washers work to prevent the nut from slipping down?  Should it be in this order:
wood
joystick base
washer
lock washer
nut

Thanks so much for helping me figure this all out.

[Stingray]

If you can't get the lock nuts to work, go ahead and use loctite.

Yes you do have the hardware in the correct order in your list if you're going to use lock washers.

-S

[GroovyTuesdaY]

If your going to go the LOCTITE route, i suggest using number 222 removeable loctite.  It comes undone a little more easily in case you need to remove it later.  The blue stuff is removeable too, but its a lot more stubborn.

I use loctite at least a hundred times a day at my job, so i know what works well and what dont.  I hate the smell of loctite lol. It stinks.

groovY~

[Minwah]

Procyon:

Bob Roberts sells his carriage bolts with kep nuts...I didn't know what these were until I received them - they are those nuts with a built-in star washer which is free to move independant of the nut itself.  They should work a treat

Nylon nuts are difficult to screw on (by hand anyway).  Usually I use a socket+ratchet but you could try an open ended spanner if you can get one on...

[dmsuchy]

I agree with the nylon lock nuts, you DO have to use a wrench to tighten them since they are "biting" through the nylon so to make a tight connection. A lock washer works just as well, the "spring" of the lock washer creates force that pushes against the nut so that it is also difficult to become loose. On my panel I'm using T-nuts and standard carriage bolts, I'm going to try the "removable" locktite first and if that dosen't work, I'll use longer bolts with lock washers.