Had an old operator at a job site show me something with a washer that I still use 5 years later

I was on a job in Phoenix back in 2019, setting steel for a warehouse. This guy, must have been 70, walks up while I'm fighting with a bolt that kept loosening on the crane's jib. He didn't say much, just handed me a split lock washer and a flat washer stacked together. Told me to put the flat one against the bolt head, then the split one. Said 'split washers dig in. Flat washers spread the load. Use both or neither.' I do it on every critical connection now. Has anyone else picked up a small trick like that from an old timer that just stuck?

2 comments

2 Comments

wells.reese13d ago

Split washers dig in" is exactly why I skip them. They dig into the bolt head and can cause stress fractures over time. A good flat washer with a torque spec beats stacking washers any day.

blairstone12d agoMost Upvoted

Are we really that worried about stress fractures in a standard bolted joint? I've pulled apart old machinery that had split washers on everything and never saw a single cracked bolt head. Usually the threads strip out before anything else fails. Plus those flat washers with torque specs still need something to prevent rotation under vibration, which is the whole point of the split washer.