After trying to find some long brass bolts locally, and not wanting to mail order, I decided to try making my own. They worked out well so I thought I'd post a tip on here for anyone else who might be interested.
I used 1/4 brass threaded rod and 1/4" brass hex nuts from the hardware store. When you buy nuts make sure you get brass ones, not brass plated. I cut the threaded rod to the length I needed, threaded a nut on the end just so the last thread on the rod sticks proud of the nut. I then held the rod loosely in a bench vise with the nut supported on the top of the vice jaws. Now using a punch and hammer, peen the end of the brass threaded rod until it deforms enough to hold the nut. File the top smooth. I actually peened 4 spots fairly aggressively around the edge of the rod to be sure that I deformed it and the inside edge of the nut. Since I'm countersinking the heads I really didn't care what they looked like - as long as they hold, which they do. Here's kind of a poor picture I took with my camera phone. If anyone would like better photos, just let me know.
Cheers,
Kerry
Home made brass seat bolts
Hi Moonman,
I countersunk them, so they look like this:
I used African blackwood plugs over the bolts.
Sorry if I misunderstood your inquiry - what type of pic were you looking for? Or, were you thinking that I was going to leave these above the gunnels, like carriage bolts? If that's the case, I believe one could peen them sufficiently that you could grind them into a dome and polish them, but I didn't try that, so I don't know for sure. If you did, this though, there would be no shoulder below the head to prevent them turning. Just let me know if it was a different picture you were after.
Cheers,
Kerry
I countersunk them, so they look like this:
I used African blackwood plugs over the bolts.
Sorry if I misunderstood your inquiry - what type of pic were you looking for? Or, were you thinking that I was going to leave these above the gunnels, like carriage bolts? If that's the case, I believe one could peen them sufficiently that you could grind them into a dome and polish them, but I didn't try that, so I don't know for sure. If you did, this though, there would be no shoulder below the head to prevent them turning. Just let me know if it was a different picture you were after.
Cheers,
Kerry