What fasteners to use

[jinjuku]

I am mounting some Dayton RS-180's. I have the cut out and flush all done. What t-nut fastener size and hex head bolt should I be using?

I am worried about the diameter of the hole that you drill to mount the t-nut in being too large and ruining the flange edge of the cutout/opening.


I want to place an order from microfasteners.com. I don't want to bother with a hardware store:

1. Too expensive
2. Never have enough quantity.

Thx in advance.

 

[Swerd]

Rather than use t-nuts, I prefer hurricane nuts. PE sells them. They mount easier into MDF. Try drilling some test holes in scrap wood and mount the nuts to see how it works in your hands before drilling into your cabinets. One of the problems I had was using a hand drill and making all 6 holes parallel to each other. When I mounted the woofer and attached the bolts, the last bolt didn't thread properly. A drill press solves that problem.

The Dayton RS-180s are small enough so hurricane or t-nuts are not required. For drivers that size, I have used #8 × ¾" pan head screws. Again PE sells them. These screws work in MDF unless you plan to remove them often. These don't require a drill press.

 

[jinjuku]

The Dayton RS-180s are small enough so hurricane or t-nuts are not required. For drivers that size, I have used #8 × ¾" pan head screws. Again PE sells them. These screws work in MDF unless you plan to remove them often. These don't require a drill press.

Do you pre-drill the mdf?

 

[Swerd]

Do you pre-drill the mdf?

Yes.

Right now I forget what size hole I drill, but its easy to drill a few test holes in scrap wood with different bit sizes and find what works best. I look for a bit that is about the same diameter as the screw shaft, minus the threads.