Household Repairs In addition to joining pieces of metal by soldering and, to a very limited extent, by gluing, you can often do the job with the following metal fasteners:

Bolts. The most commonly used types are machine bolts, which have square or hexagonal heads that are gripped with a wrench, and stove bolts, which have rounded, slotted heads for a screwdriver. To use bolts, drill holes just slightly larger than the threaded shank. Slip on lock washers before screwing on the nuts.

Self-tapping screws are threaded right up to the head. They are used primarily to join thin sheets of metal which are exposed only on one side (for example, the back of an automatic washing machine is attached to the side flanges with self-tapping screws). To use the screws, first drill holes slightly smaller than the widest diameter of the screw threads. Then just screw into place.

Rivets. Steel, copper, and aluminum rivets are available at hardware stores in various sizes. They are used to make neat, unobtrusive, permanent joints. To use, drill through the pieces of metal to be joined a hole the size of the rivet shank. Insert the rivet and place it head down on a hard metal surface. Clip off all but about %" of the exposed shank. Then hammer down the shank with light blows so that it overlaps the hole. Do not hammer so hard that the rivet is completely flattened. It should have a rounded contour.




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November 20, 2008