By Craig Kurath, Annie #38
While fabricating a platform for Annie's new refrigeration compressor, I replaced some ½" stainless steel nuts and bolts with new ones, since the old ones were a coarse thread pitch 12 rather than 13. That is just asking for trouble when there are two thread pitches in a boat! I inserted the two new bolts in place and with my fingers spun the nuts on so I would not lose them when I returned in the morning. Fasteners tend to walk away when I turn my back. When I returned to my task, the nuts would not come off, even with a box wrench and 3/8" ratchet. My shipwright on retainer told me the stainless steel had galled. Who has ever heard of metal fasteners galling? Who has ever heard of galling? Sure enough, my fastener vendor confirmed that stainless steel fasteners gall. I went home and returned with my 1/2" Craftsman© ratchet. I knew the larger ratchet would remove the nut from the bolt. Well, it didn't, but two hands on the ratchet and a box wrench braced on a stringer allowed me to twist the bolt off! The next option would have been an angle grinder with a cutoff disk or a reciprocating saw. I think a little anti-seize will be in order from now on.
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