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I am working on a piece where it would be really interesting if I could regulate the distance between two pieces (in order to achieve a better securing of the piece).

By scouring the internet I found a great solution but I am just not sure how to implement it and it is giving me a headache trying to figure it out.

Basically, you have a threaded rod that spans two pieces and by tightening the nut you would bring the piece above closer or farther away. Something like this:

enter image description here or enter image description here

Is there a name for this so I can look more into it? Is it a simple threaded rod which is fixed on one side?

Thanks for any help

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  • As far as I know this doesn't have a formal name (although I'm sure someone will have come up with one). As this is sort of how self-levelling feet work, perhaps "threaded levelling connector" might be a good description. BTW depending on how much play there is in the holes the rods are loose in (they're probably tightly screwed into or epoxied in the other component) this sort of thing could be very tedious for a single person to adjust!
    – Graphus
    Commented Jan 28, 2021 at 15:15
  • Yeah I was hoping someone would have shown a crazy acronym or something like THSAB (Through Hole Screw Adjustable Bolt... of course). But yeah the idea with the epoxy is a good one. Since I want to fix to the door frame but not be fixed with screws and ruin the frame I thought this might be a good alternative... I guess I will have to take the more-work route this time
    – fditz
    Commented Jan 28, 2021 at 15:42
  • If you're trying to suspend a rod across the top of a door frame (which sounds about right), be aware that this is not a good idea. Seasonal movement of the frame will probably at some point release the pressure on the ends and drop the whole thing.
    – WhatRoughBeast
    Commented Jan 28, 2021 at 15:54
  • Further to the door frame problem... it's not guaranteed that you've got shims behind the door jamb where you're applying pressure. If there aren't shims there, you'll just break the joint where the upright legs meet the horizontal head.
    – Aloysius Defenestrate
    Commented Jan 29, 2021 at 4:22
  • Those are excellent points for me to keep in mind! Thanks so much everyone
    – fditz
    Commented Jan 29, 2021 at 7:53

2 Answers 2

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It appears that one of the possible terms is turnbuckle jack screw. The link connects to a site that sells both metric and SAE versions (link is metric). The kit linked includes the required left hand threaded nut and the right hand threaded nut and the screw itself, of course:

turnbuckle jack screw

The nuts described by David D in his answer do not appear to be available in left hand thread versions. The Google provides plenty of links for T-nuts (RH), nut inserts for wood (RH) but no LH versions of either. As the kit provides one left-hand nut, one could consider to have a fastening plate brazed or welded to the nut, or to cut a recess into the surface, or devise another method of securing the nut provided.

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  • This is amazing. I never knew it existed. Thanks for that
    – fditz
    Commented Jan 29, 2021 at 7:54
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I don't know that is has a name. It's an arrangement of hardware designed to provide adjustment for a variety of use cases.

In the bottom picture the top part looks like a three hole T-Nut with a threaded rod and then a nut and spring washer.

enter image description here

There are T-Nuts that have the nails built in
enter image description here

Here's a very rough drawing
enter image description here

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  • Awesome! I was thinking of something along these lines but indeed fred_dot_u pointed in his answer I also couldn't find a T-Nut with the right thread... Everything would always be pushing together... I think...
    – fditz
    Commented Jan 29, 2021 at 7:55
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    @fditz In my drawing, and in your lower picture, it looks like the bottom hole does not have a T-Nut. The rod threads into the top T-Nut and the nut could be turned without moving the threaded rod to push the two wood parts apart.
    – David D
    Commented Jan 29, 2021 at 19:46
  • @DavidD, it's hard to tell if there's a washer in the bottom plate or a drill plate nut, but you're correct. For pushing apart, one can get away with all right-hand threads.
    – fred_dot_u
    Commented Feb 1, 2021 at 1:19

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