fastening to aluminum square tubing

[s.e.charles]

Q1. - would I weaken the tubing less with self tapping screws or nutsert (style) machine screw anchors?

Q2. - is it better to use fewer, larger, screws, or more but smaller, for the same reason (keep strength).

thanks

 

[CampStewart]

You will get more useful answers if you specify the specs of the tubing, what you are fastening to it, and the length of overlap of the materials.

 

[WOODY2]

Actually he was trying to get enough info to give you a correct answer so why dis him?

 

[dreadlocks]

If you put a hole in metal and fill it back up with metal its generally fine.. but I suppose not as good as no holes at all if strength and integrity are the upmost importance.

 

[s.e.charles]

Actually he was trying to get enough info to give you a correct answer so why dis him?

you're right. it's been a three day weekend of listening to "upsells & bullfeathers" from everyone I've met and i'm a bit frazzled. with apology.

sid

 

[Alloy]

Q1. - would I weaken the tubing less with self tapping screws or nutsert (style) machine screw anchors?
No a hole is a hole is a hole it doesn't matter what type of fastern is used in the hole.

Q2. - is it better to use fewer, larger, screws, or more but smaller, for the same reason (keep strength).
More but smaller is better for strength. In saying that the number fasteners has more to do with the material being fastned rather than item being fastned to.

 

[s.e.charles]

thank you

 

[kmacafee]

I have used 1 by 3 inch aluminum 1/8” thick square tubing for a number of projects including a rear camper rack. Typically, I fasten everything with bolts through the tubing and have never had a failure. The tubing can compress a bit but it’s plenty strong.

 

[slowtwitch]

A hole is not a hole is not a hole and fasteners do matter.. a lot. But is it beyond the scope of this particular project?

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[The Artisan]

Not sure what you are trying to do but i use rivets for 2 diff types of materials.
Kevin

 

[javajoe79]

Generally self tapping screws are banned in my shop. I hate them for a number of reasons. Definitely go with the rivnuts.

 

[trailscape]

I tried a number of methods while building a trailer lid using square tubing from home depot and lowes.

The wall thickness also makes a big difference. I used 1/8" where I needed strength.
Self tapping screws had a tendency to fail over time or even initially. I stopped using them.
Rivnuts/nutserts work really well, but the size of the hole needed seemed messy.

In the end, I'm using a combination of rivets and 3M 5200 adhesive.

 

[MyNameIsMud]

In the end, I'm using a combination of rivets and 3M 5200 adhesive.

I would go with this method. Maybe even skip the rivets, if we are talking about a thin skin.

 

[s.e.charles]

... I'm using a combination of rivets and 3M 5200 adhesive.

any chance you'd share the brand of riveter & rivets you ended up using? I assume the 5200 is the long permanent cure version (???) how/ if - did you seal the rivet heads?

thanks

 

[jgaz]

After reading the posts above I’m not sure what type tubing you are using or what material you are fastening to it but I’ll show an example of an older project I put together.

Here I’m using 1/4” structural rivets to fasten an 1/8” thick bracket to 1x1, 1/8”wall, 6061, aluminum square tube.
This tube and brackets are going to support an interior cargo basket between the Sport Bars on my Jeep.


This was the first project where I used this rivet gun. My old (30+ year) hand operated hydraulic gun gave up the ghost and wasn’t cost effective to repair.

I think this is the unit I purchased:
Tool Aid 19250 1/4" Super Duty Riveter https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002SRG1Q/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_KU.QCbRQ97AQ3

I think I bought mine at O’Rileys because I was in the middle of the project when old faithful died.
I’ve used it approx 100 times since I bought it and it has performed well.
The above unit will set rivets from 1/8” to 1/4” with minimal effort.

If money were no object, (yeah right), I would buy the air over hydraulic, Cherry brand, rivet gun that we had at work for only $1,000 or so.

The rivets I used were an aluminum, Cherry brand, 1/4” structural rivet. Sorry, I can’t tell you the exact part number because I just used some rivets of the correct length that I had in my tool box when I retired.
The exact number isn’t important to you as it’s dependent upon the specs of your application.