Butterfly/Wing Nuts

[silversurfer1947]

Does anyone know of a source of functioning micro wing nuts, M1 and smaller? M3. I've had some Schumo butterfly nuts, but they are not what I want. I get my micro bolts from precision miniatures ut they only seem to do ordinary nuts.

[tomhugill]

Think Shaun did a big post on it a while back, search function may reveal what you're after!

[silversurfer1947]

Unfortunately, neither of the companies mentioned by Shaun sells wing nuts. I had already looked at both of them before posting. Mention was made in the thread to some made by Wecohe, but nothing comes up on a Google search. Aber sort of make a wing nut, which is a push fit, but nowhere can I find a size. They also do a photo etch wing nut which is a ridiculous operation to produce (I speak from experience).

[tomhugill]

Unfortunately, neither of the companies mentioned by Shaun sells wing nuts. I had already looked at both of them before posting. Mention was made in the thread to some made by Wecohe, but nothing comes up on a Google search. Aber sort of make a wing nut, which is a push fit, but nowhere can I find a size. They also do a photo etch wing nut which is a ridiculous operation to produce (I speak from experience).

I agree, trying to do the one on the Aber 3m antenna was traumatic, I think my success rate is about 1 in 3 attempts

[jarndice]

Richard Hi, Happy New Year,
Working small wing nuts are a problem, There are a number of ways to address it.
"ABER"16-105 is the PE set that has the ready made Wing Nuts but as Tom says they are a compromise,
I run a "Tap" through them and as the PE is soft it is an easy job but the price of them is unjustifiable in my opinion.
Both "Mitosal" and "Shumo" make non functioning ones of the same size as the "Aber" both of the latter come moulded to a faux threaded bolt, "Mitosal" also sell a very slightly larger sized blank wing nut this needs pin vising through then tapping a thread through it,

http://www.mitosal.com
Go to the section marked as TANKS then "HEX NUTS" to find the wing nuts, Don't ask.

I had to do this for the Tiger 1 Feifal Air Cleaner Clamps,
it worked out as for every successful threaded wing nut I botched two,
I don't know what you need these for but if all you want is a wing nut that functions by screwing into and out of a tapped hole then the "Schumo" and the Faux "Mitosal" can with very little work be made operational,
You simply run a "Die" of the proper size up the Faux thread of the bolts shaft and this will change the pretend threaded shaft into a working threaded wing nut, although instead of the wing nut moving up and down the shaft the wing nut will instead turn the whole thing into or out of a tapped hole,
I did this for instance with the Jack Clamps on the Tiger 1,
It is very effective and it really does deceive the viewer when you screw the wing nut into place into believing that the wing nut is moving when of course the whole thing is,
BUT it looks right and it does the job and a bag of 100 unplated "Mitosal" wing nuts is easily the cheapest way of getting hold of them bearing in mind that the German Army had little use for shiny plated ones on their Tanks
Shaun.

[silversurfer1947]

Thanks Shaun. I think I may have to re-think. Your approach seems a viable alternative. I am looking to create a working clamp to fit the machine gun onto my Nashorn. I was hoping to have the nut and bolt loose, but if I fix a hex nut in place, then what you suggest will work.

[jarndice]

I spoke with Dominic at Prime Miniatures some years ago about obtaining small scale Wing/Butterfly nuts, He said it was engineering wise quite doable but the price he would have to charge made it uneconomic,
I tried to source them from a dealer on the American West Coast but that merely reinforced Dominic's opinion because they were asking an astronomical sum for them.
Until either "Aber" or "Schumo" or "Mitosal" make proper working items the solution is going to be in the hobbyists hands I fear.
What annoys me is that the Tiger 1 had somewhere in the region of 30 wing/butterfly nuts on the hull and turret and yet nowhere is there a source of them that does not need work by the user to make them functional.
Shaun.

[tomhugill]

Here we go Richard. Might seem expensive but same price as the none working schumo ones. You just need the threaded rod.

https://www.rctank.de/WECOHE-Fine-Line- ... ss-kit-M12

[jarndice]

Bless you Tom I had forgotten all about these, as you say they are a bit pricy,
They were some of the first ready made small scale working Wing/Butterfly nuts on the market and I snapped up all the stock in Doms store at the time,
I would suggest the centre picture is closer to the size used most on the Hull than the left pictured items,
As to putting a thread on Brass rod it just needs a regular application of thin oil and patience as you drive down then come back then drive a little further down,
There are some decent small "Tap & Die" Sets on "Amazon" and "E-Bay",
Shaun.

[lmcq11]

I tried the Shapeways 3D printed wing nuts on my last build, they break on contact... It was a very frustrating experience. Not what I needed.