JollyRajR Posted March 25, 2019 Share Posted March 25, 2019 Hi all, I wanted to share some bolt stuffs.. I have an MLC fiberglass helmet, and the design is such that I'm not able to use the correct 3M plastic bolts for the lid.. I did, however, get approved for basic with elevator bolts (1/4-20) from Lowe's. However, it's one of the things holding me back from achieving lancer status. Here's how I gave my bolts a dished appearance-- I chuck the elevator bolt in my cordless drill.. I hold it in my left hand, point it straight up and use my thumb to hit the trigger and spin it up.. Meanwhile, in my right hand I have my dremel tool (I use the flexible wand extension on it, works great for applications like this..) with a reinforced cut-off wheel.. While it's spinning, I apply the cut-off wheel to the face of the bolt and start relieving material.. A few minutes later, I'm left with a dished bolt.. My best guess is that my 1" bolt heads are oversized, so I also took down the overall size.. This is achieved in a similar way, by grinding down the edge of the bolt.. Periodically, I hit the face of the bolt to remove any sort of lip that builds up.. In the end, I think what I've got are some pretty decent facsimiles of the plastic bolts that don't fit my bucket.. I clean them up by spinning them up and apply several grades of sandpaper.. The primer really covers any tooling marks either way.. The paint I used for the medium grey is just an automotive primer in a can.. A high-build 2-in-1.. My bolt on the right has had a year of trooping, so it's picked up some Endor dirt.. My other dished bolt is drying, otherwise I'd have thrown in a pic of it completed.. Hope this helps some folks .. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stroker Posted March 25, 2019 Share Posted March 25, 2019 Thanks for this Raj! The actual bolts are getting harder and harder to get your hands on. Solid info here folks! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spike Posted March 25, 2019 Share Posted March 25, 2019 great information. I make my own using a metal dome bolt I trim down using the same way as this cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diadem Posted March 25, 2019 Share Posted March 25, 2019 I just got the real deal bolts on eBay for $7 shipped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stroker Posted March 25, 2019 Share Posted March 25, 2019 3 hours ago, Diadem said: I just got the real deal bolts on eBay for $7 shipped. A casting or the real deal? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diadem Posted March 25, 2019 Share Posted March 25, 2019 1 hour ago, Stroker said: A casting or the real deal? Real. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JollyRajR Posted March 26, 2019 Author Share Posted March 26, 2019 These bolts are unfortunately too short for my bucket.. My 1" bolts are borderline being too short as is.. Hehe.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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