Where to find carriage bolts without that square piece.

[stellarola]

Yo ya'll, I'm working on this control panel I made with sheet metal. It's for my Neo29 Candy cab, btw. Anways I'm looking for carriage bolts to bolt it into the lower peice of the control panel. The problem is that the carriage bolts that I see everywhere have this square peice on them. I just want the round head and the thin bolt. The closest thing I can find is a bolt with a philips head on it. So if someone could point me in the right direction to find carriage bolts without the square piece, that would be mighty, mighty helpful. THANKS!!!

[Abomination]

The reason they have that square piece is so that when they are tightened down into the wood it wont turn as you tighten it.  If it had no square part then it would spin without resistance as you tried to tighten it.  IF there is a carriage bolt without that part it would be the first time Ive seen it.  As an alternative you can probably find a bolt that size with a slot for a screwdriver, it looks identical to a carriage bolt but has no square piece on the bottom.

[stellarola]

Yea, thats all I have found too  . I mean, Im doing this to a thin piece of sheet metal not wood. I dunno.

[stellarola]

Maybe someone out there with a candy cab or something similar can tell me what kind of bolts hold down thier astro city cp, DAVE...or... MR.MEGALO!!

[Abomination]

Why cant you use a dremel or a nibbler to make the carriage bolt hole square.  Then you would have a way to tighten the bolt?  And if your using sheet metal there are many better ways to attach things, rivets ect..  or are you trying to copy a CP that already is created that way?  Carriage bolts are mainly used for connecting large pieces of lumber for decks/rafters ect...

[Xiaou2]

 If you drill the holes a little larger, it would fit the square ok.   Then use a spring-washer to keep tention so that the bolt will hold tight.

 Im not sure if thats the right name for the washer.. but its a washer that is not a complete circle (has a cut in it).. and each end is angled opposite each other.

 

[Fuzzguitar]

All those ideas sound ok but people he's not dreaming such carriage bolts do (or did) exist. My old 80's cab has like 10 of them in the CP.

They do spin a bit when installing them but you can still get them tight enough.

Mine are silver and look great on the CP.

Keep looking for a source maybe ask at some hardware shops etc

I say this because I'm about to start my next cab and very much want to use them again too!

BTW I'm in Australia, so i don't know about in the states or elsewhere.

[Minwah]

All those ideas sound ok but people he's not dreaming such carriage bolts do (or did) exist. My old 80's cab has like 10 of them in the CP.

I think my cocktail has these too.  The flat side of the head has some ridges on it to provide grip when tightening up the nuts.

I have never seen these for sale though.

[MajorHavoc]

I think you're looking for is a round head / pan head or brazier head stove bolt.  It will have a slotted head and no square piece under the head.  I've never seen a carriage bolt without that square piece.

[grueinthebox]

Maybe someone out there with a candy cab or something similar can tell me what kind of bolts hold down thier astro city cp, DAVE...or... MR.MEGALO!!

The original CP inserts are metal, and the threaded bits are welded to the bottom with nothing protruding through to the top.

[ErikRuud]

Some alternative to carriage bolts.

Shoulder Screws
http://www.smallparts.com/products/descriptions/shdx.cfm

Screw Posts
http://www.screwpost.com/  I found mine at Ace Hardware.

Pan Head Spanner screws (Ace Hardware calls them flat head security screws)
http://www.hudsonfasteners.com/sec/sec_sp_phms.htm

[divemaster127]

I sell these from happ & the square part is approx half the normal size, i have 2 & 3" lengths
thanks
divemaster