Make a Wing Bolt From a Plastic Bottle

by ShakeTheFuture

13K11342

Intro: Make a Wing Bolt From a Plastic Bottle

More than once I needed a wing bolt, but I did not have one.

In this Instructable, I show you a trick how you can make a wing bolt from a bolt and a plastic bottle.

STEP 1:

I cut off the bottle neck

STEP 2:

I put the bolt in the vice and heated up the bottleneck with a heat-gun.

If you don't have a heat-gun, you can use an oven or a candle.

STEP 3:

I used my hands and pliers to shape the wings.

STEP 4:

Then I cut off the excess plastic

STEP 5:

That's it! Our wing bolt is ready.

You might assume that the plastic will break, but actually it's very strong.

I could no break it with my hands.

Apart from making the wing nut, you can use this method to undo nuts and bolts in emergency situations.

37 Comments

Microbe 6 years ago

Great idea. But I doubt that in an "emergency situation" I would have a heat gun or a rotary tool handy ;o)

DakotaLally 6 years ago

A lighter should suffice and the rotary tool would only be needed for aesthetics, unless you are in a really tight situation, in which case this might not work anyways.
Good points, but if in a true emergency, work with the tools you have available to get the job done.

Lovetra 6 years ago

SHOULD or is there one or the other type of plastic bottle that is better plastic to use? I mean it seems to me that milk bottles are of a more pliable plastic but maybe not as long lasting, ie more susceptible to sunlight degeneration? Love the concept, needed a wing nut a couple of days ago and drove 3 miles to get one.

ShakeTheFuture 6 years ago

I don't think milk bottle plastic will work very well as it's very soft.
In this Instructable I used a bottle from a sparkling water..... it's just like a like a coca-cola bottle.
It works very well because it's very hard.
I tried to use a cap from a juice carton, but it was too soft.

Lovetra 6 years ago

I sort of thought as much, but sometimes my thinking is all wrong. I am finding half gallon milk bottles with the bottom part cut off at a slant great pet food scoops, easily replaced and I keep the caps on cause sometimes I can use also with cap removed as a funnel. Oh! made a wing nut out of a Pepsi bottle and I love it. Did it just so I would remember the exercise when I need it next time.

DakotaLally 6 years ago

"Did it just so I would remember the exercise when I need it next time."
That is a great idea! I often read things like this but forget about it when the time comes, a practice run to cement it to memory would certainly help.

DakotaLally 6 years ago

Excellent instructable. This will definitely come in handy as I always try to reuse before I recycle and plastic bottles are a prime candidate.

JimG50 6 years ago

Neat idea. Thnx.

alhaxxor 6 years ago

Excellent idea, this helped me in a pinch when I lost one for some prefab fruniture!

Lovetra 6 years ago

My exact need about a week ago that presented a trip to the hardware store when that was not convenient for one item.

ShakeTheFuture 6 years ago

Thanks for leaving the comment.
I do it all the time. Making journeys to the store and spending 1h of my time only to buy small item that I did not have in stock.
That teaches me to stock up on things I might use, but you you never know what you'll need :)

bill2009 6 years ago

This is great - thanks.

carl5blum 6 years ago

Hello:

Nice idea!

You could put a fender washer under the head and hold it there with a nut. Then when you formed the wings they wouldn't need to be trimmed below the bolt head.

Thanks, Carl.

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