Anyone use aluminum bolts?

[sanddrag]

Originally Posted by ratdude747

Off topic: I'd personally use 10-24 bolts over 10-32. coarser threads in my experience are stronger (the weight difference is negligible).

I prefer 10-32 primarily because the tap is stronger, also most COTS parts with #10 are 32TPI, and also you can finesse the tightening more. I've never stripped out a 10-32 thread in aluminum. 10-24 is much more common in hardware stores though.

Anyhow, you have to really decide what's best for the application. 10-32 button head is my bolt of choice, but occasionally we'll go to flat head in areas that need it, socket head if button head isn't available for the length. In any bolt, I prefer the black-oxide alloy steel as it is stronger than stainless by nearly double. Some sizes from McMaster are only available in stainless though, and stainless is often cheaper.

Occasionally, we'll even go to other sizes even all the way to 3/8-16, for mounting the superstructure for example, or 6-32 nylon socket heads for mounting Victor speed controls, or 1/4-20 nylon socket heads for mounting the power distribution panel.

[Tom Bishop]

We use 3/16' aluminum rivets for most fastening applications. We also have a selection of 1/4"-20 bolts in both steel and aluminum, depending on the application. When you need to save weight aluminum is much lighter, obviously, and an aluminum rivet is lighter still. On the other hand if you need strenght, go with steel.

We have had the occasional superman come along a twist off the head or cross-thread the bolt. That's just a learning opportunity They generally don't do it again.

[Kenichi]

this year my team (1056) used primarily rivets to hold our chassis together and we weighted an astonishing 99.1 pounds at full construction. and unlike what one of our mentors thought the rivets held our frame together through all of our collisions. so i would highly encourage the use of rivets/aluminium bolts.

[Madison]

To shave off some weight in Seattle so that we could increase (double, it turns out) shooting performance, we swapped the bolts provided with the AM C-Base Chassis with equivalent hardware in 2024-T6 aluminum.

The swap was expensive -- we used about $40 worth of hardware -- but it has performed well.

I wouldn't use them everywhere, but with the structural additions we made to the standard frame in the design of our drive pods, I suspect that we have far more bolts holding the frame together than we really need anyway, so the swap was safe.