Aircraft Fixings or Not?

Simon if they are AN nuts, I could probably send you some, we only use them once on aircraft then discard them, (that is an aviation safety issue), but they will still be in like newish condition visually and will still retain their locking ability, just not as great as new items, hence why we change them.

Wow – thank everyone for the replies – very useful.

I’ll tackle the questions in order:

Chumpy: Yes, the screws are brass, slightly domed and with a philips (cross) head. The AGS 2002 nuts look to be the things although there doesn’t appear to be anything written on my ones. I’ll measure them later on and see if they fit any of the sizes in your attached image.

Whitley_Project: Sorry, no I don’t have a thread gauge to measure them but as you can see they’re reasonably fine.

Bruce: I’ll look up the AN screws and compare.

Scramble Bill: We were really annoyed when they appeared on the Antiques Roadshow as we were just about to start buying scruffy units to refurb and suddenly everyone thought that the scruffy ones were worth as much as the ones on telly. Oh, and a whole lot more people started buying the units. Prices pretty much doubled as a result. Grrrrr!

Skyskooter: Cheers for the link – I’ll take a better look when I’ve got a minute.

Paul178: Yean I agree – sadly ours currently looks rather more shabby and a lot less chic. There’s a lot of work to be done but it’ll be worth it!

BFN!

That is a kitchen to die for and I would not say no to the “Deco” Easy Chair either!

I have seen similar fixings in the local model shop. Might be worth perusing this link.
http://www.modelfixings.co.uk/index2.htm

I know the bolt type you mean Bruce/Nick. I definitely have seen this type of bolt for a racking system but it mustn’t have been Dexion then. I still have a container full of them. They are steel, not brass. I would think that the kitchen units would have had steel bolts as there should not have been enough moisture about to cause a problem with them. If there was then they had a bigger problem.

I remember taking a kitchen unit out around twenty years ago that was fabricated from aluminium. It was beautifully made and it struck me that it looked as if it had been made in an aircraft factory. The manufacturer was (Paul?) Millersdale if I remember correctly as it had a beautiful enamelled badge, which I kept and still have, somewhere.

I’ll post a pic of it if I can find it.

Anon.

Definitely not Dexion – which have highly distinctive wide slot cross heads as Bruce points out – Also are these not brass? They certainly look it in the photos & would make sense, as steel bolts and aluminium together in a steamy kitchen, could have caused problems! I recall when I worked for an Auction House many years ago being called out to look at one of these kitchens – it was the first I had seen and I was amazed how modern it looked and how many units it comprised at a time when most houses wound have had nothing more than a stove and a plywood “Kitchenette” unit! Sadly there was little market for them at that time and taking it out would have cost more than we estimated it would make – I ended up persuading the householder to keep it and I know that several years later, it had been re-finished and was still in-situ – Suspect they were glad of my advice in the long run! Didn’t know of the aviation connection until recently though.

Best of luck with the refurb-restoration of these units, saw some similar on Antiques Road show a while ago, couple had some stored in their garage? took them with them when they moved house!….will look stunning when finished….. im JEALOUS actually! must be scarce and surely can only rise in value in the future?

Not Dexion bolts – they had very long and wide slots on them, with a seriously coarse thread.

They have the appearance of AN screws and nuts to me – which aren’t as high a quality as British screws and nuts.

Bruce

The bolts look like the ones which used to be supplied with Dexion racking systems.

If they are aircraft then they would only be for panels/trims, I would say. The thread seems too coarse and poorly cut for aviation use – in other words; not a high-spec bolt.

Anon.

Do you know the thread gauge?

Yep nylocs

See

http://www.lasaero.com/site/products/category?id=F02J369IJ

If there not originals they may be 10/32 or 8/32

The nuts certainly look like standard aircraft ‘stylie’ lock nuts, AGS 2002 thin type. With red fibre locking insert rather than the more modern white nylon. Not sure about the screws though, look to be cross-head slot?

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