STG Bipod Nut Wrench? (moved to G/BiY)

[JimM]

Anyone know where to get a wrench for the round bipod nuts with four slots? Those suckers are on there tight and I don't want to hose them up. Has anyone made a wrench? Thanks for any info or suggestions...there's gotta be a better way!

Jim

[ December 02, 2001: Message edited by: EMDII ]

[Arby]

The Steyr combo tool will work, if the nuts aren't TOO tight. You might want to heat them up a bit. There was a post on the old board about cutting a closed-end wrench with a dremel to fit the nut. Good Luck!

[JimM]

Gary and Arby,

Thanks for the great suggestions! I previously made a spanner of sorts by cutting a slice off a nickel and then filing a slot to clear the bolt. I then locked onto the nickel with needle-nosed vice grips and when I applied force the nickel gave way like it was butter! Might have worked if i'd used a harder material and heated the nut. The nickel was the right thickness, but way too soft! Guess its time to fire up the ol' Dremel. If all else fails where can I find one of those Steyr combo tools??

[This message has been edited by JimM (edited January 28, 2001).]

[Arby]

Jim,

Gary was right when he suggested heating up the nut/screw. Do it until it smokes. Also, he noted which wrench to cut up to remove the nuts.

DSA has the combo tools as part of an Austrian cleaning kit, that comes in a plastic "tobacco tin" type of container. I believe the kit sells for about $15.

If you don't want to wait for your order to come in, try Gary's suggestion of the wrench, or maybe make something out of the right thickness of sheet steel. A dremel should be able to shape whatever you might find that is of the correct thickness and strength.

Half the fun of working with parts guns is coming up with jury-rigged arrangements to suffice as tools for the poor man's armorer.

Good Luck!

[JimM]

Arby,

You're right...It's fun to come up with half-baked, jury-rigged contraptions that barely work (when they work)! Carries over to everything, not just guns.

Jim

Half the fun of working with parts guns is coming up with jury-rigged arrangements to suffice as tools for the poor man's armorer.

[Fred]

To solve this problem I took a 1/4" square to hex adapter and castellated the hex end with a dremel to make the four pins. You need to relieve the shoulder of the adapter to account for the radius of the sheet metal band securing the bipod. It ends up looking much like a chess piece castle. The steel in the adapter is hard so there is no problem in having the pins sheared off. I took a large blade insert bit and hollow ground it to fit the screw head. I place the screwdriver bit into a lathe chuck and put the castellated adapter onto a 1/4" extender which is chucked into the tailstock. insert the assembled or unassembled screw & nut between the two tools and dog down the tailstock. A quick rotational jerk on the barrel and chuck and the nut becomes free or locked on as needed. I have done this on a number of assemblies and it is a quick & easy operation. Using the same tools by hand is a much bigger chore and is much more likely to scar the components.

Hope this helps.

[JimM]

Fred,

Thanks for the great ideas. I made a quick tool this morning by using the handle of a flat stainless steel soup spoon. Sort of a spanner that contacts two opposite slots in the nut. I filed an indentation of about 1/16 inch to clear the end of the bolt. Seems to work pretty well, but the true test will be using it on a really tight nut again. Hopefully the wrench I made plus the application of heat will take care of the next "round nut from hell".