Covering up nuts

[Caolan]

Hello,

I have nuts and bolts coming from the top of my cabin down into the galley and I would like to cover them up so as not to look so ugly.

Any suggestions out there?

[Kenomac]

I thought the thread was about swimming apparel.

[svrevelations]

One way would be to remove the standard nuts and fit dome nuts. You can also get colored stainless steel dome nuts as per image from;
M4 GWR Colourfast Stainless Steel Dome Nuts and other suppliers.

[GordMay]

Nut Caps:

➥ Plastic Nut, Bolt & Screw Cover Caps | EssentraComponentsCanada

➥ Nut Caps, Hexagonal Bolt Cap, Hex Cap - Component Force - USA

➥ https://www.fastenal.com/products/fa...%20Nuts%22%7C~

[montigre]

I have stainless steel dome nuts with the bolts fixed through teak backing plates. It looks pretty salty, yet elegant at the same time.

[Mischief_Inc]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

I thought the thread was about swimming apparel.

I was going to say that it was a boxers vs. briefs thing, but...
Okay, "TMI/OCD time":

Tap a piece of aluminum plate of the appropriate thickness to use instead of nuts. Then cut it in whatever decorative pattern you like, & bullnose it’s edges.
Or, do the above, but; paint it, or bond a piece of teak or other wood overtop of it. That, or bolt a piece of decorative wood on top of it, covering the machine screw heads with wooden bungs.
You can also anodize the aluminum plate to the color or pattern of your liking. Much like the colored nuts.Which, BTW, are often referred to as acorn nuts.

Get a piece of teak or hardwood ply, cut to a decorative shape, machine holes in it for all of the nuts, then bond/bolt to the overhead. Followed by screwing a 2nd piece of matching wood overtop of it, with or without wooden bungs over the screw heads.

Do the above with some variety of FRP plate which matches your overhead.

Add ceilings or a liner to your boat’s interior, to cover the nuts.

And technically speaking, if the deck is cored, you can remove the core in the area of the bolts. Bond in a piece of aluminum, to the upper & lower deck skins.And then drill & tap the deck, plus the plate for all of the bolts, only deep enough to properly secure the bolts to the plate, without their penetrating the deck’s inner skin.Sealing the holes when bolting the hardware back on, & using an isolating compound between the metals.In this case something like Loctite, so that you know that they won’t back out/loosen on their own, along with it isolating them to prevent galvanic corrosion.
In theory, stainless works for this too. Though it’s tougher to bond to than aluminum is.

I say “technically speaking” about the above, as over time saltwater will get into the aluminum via the fasteners, & cause problems. Ones typical of aluminum & stainless interfaces.Though this will likely take years (or decades).That, & tapped aluminum isn’t ideal when it comes to repeated, severe, shock loads.Well, unless very heavy scantlings are used.

You can also blind tap aluminum plate to use in lieu of nuts, inside of the cabin. And if the bolts are in the correct size range, do the same with G-10, & even some high pressure wood/FRP laminates.That or carbon fiber plate/carbon fiber G-10.

Though if you go this route, ensure that you get G-10 or a laminate with sufficient mechanical properties to act as “nuts”, since it’s strength can vary wildly, based on the amount & type of glass/reinforcement used in it’s layup. Ditto on how much pressure is used during it’s layup, & the resin used to make it.But with good QC you can even DIY your own on a workbench, including using wood for the laminate’s outer layers, so that no fasteners/bolts are visible.

See G-10 at www.matweb.com as they list the structural properties for a bunch of types, along with suppliers of same.Though there’s no shortage of companies making the stuff which is reasonably priced, & you can just ask them for a sheet with it’s tech spec’s prior to buying from them.
Some G-10 is even stronger than aluminum, & other grades/types tends to be better at holding specific sizes of fasteners. Good enough so that one can eschew nuts unless the bolts are really highly loaded, or have thread sizes outside of the suggested range for bonding to that specific type of plate.

[IdoraKeeper]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

I thought the thread was about swimming apparel.

Just say no to the Speedo.

[um saudade]

Aesthetics aside, I would never use a backing plate instead of a nut when you want watertight integrity in this application.

You can re-torque or check torque with a nut on the inside without turning the bolt. This way you don’t disturb the bedding or whatever you originally used for sealing. Turn the bolt a quarter turn and you pulled the dried out calking lose and now have a potential leak.

[motion30]

As others have said acorn nuts

[senormechanico]

I thought it was a thread about squirrels.

[witzgall]

[GrowleyMonster]

I thought this was yet another speedo thread.

[hellosailor]

In the Colonies we call them acorn nuts, and when craftsmanship was still a marketable commodity, any real craftsman knew that you either used a bolt that was the proper length, or you cut down each bolt to the proper length, so that you could install an acorn nut to properly finish off the business end of it.

[JPA Cate]

Caolan, if you take off the regular nuts, trim the bolts, then use polished s/s fender washer and acorn nuts, it will look tidy, and you will have access when you need to re-bed whatever it is that is secured. The first time you see a tiny rust stain is when to check them for needing to be re-bedded.

A

[Blue Stocking]

Originally Posted by witzgall

Bass to Soprano conversion kit.