More information about bow nuts

What exactly is a bow nut?

A bow nut is a nut with a metric thread. Brass bow nuts come with a trapezoidal eye while stainless steel nuts have a triangular eye. The eye makes it very easy to tighten and loosen the nut, which is what sets them apart from ‘regular’ nuts. While a regular nut is meant to be tightened once (and never be loosened again), the function of a bow nut is to be tightened and loosened frequently. The butterfly nut is suitable for the same purpose.

Bow nuts tend to be used in combination with dog bolts, eye bolts or threaded studs. The brass version of the bow nuts in our range comply with the DIN 80704 standard.
 

What are bow nuts used for?

The benefit of bow nuts over other types of nuts are:

• a bow nut is often preferred for aesthetic reasons;
• ropes are less likely to get caught behind bow nuts.

 
These are some of the main reasons why bow nuts tend to be used for hatches. Hatch toggles are installed on hatches to allow for the hatch to close properly (see photo). Hatch toggles must be fitted with a special type of nut that presses the hatch rubber so firmly into the coaming that the hatch becomes weather or waterproof. Bow nuts are suitable for this purpose, but so are butterfly nuts and tail nuts.

Besides its use for hatches, there are numerous other maritime and industrial applications of the bow nut.

Hatch toggle with brass bow nut

Hatch toggle with extended stainless steel bow nut

Extended bow nut: for easier tightening

Some situations are better served by an extended bow nut, such as when space for tightening is limited.

When does this apply? When securing a hatch, you usually apply a hatch toggle against the wall. The bow nut ends up ‘on the wrong side’ of the clamp plate (see photo). This situation offers insufficient room to tighten the bow nut. This is where extended bow nuts offer a practical solution. The wide section of the bow nut ends up past the flange of the hatch, which creates room for it to be tightened.
 

Brass or stainless steel bow nut: choose the nut you need

Bow nuts are available in brass and stainless steel. Aesthetics play a role in the choice of material, but there are other factors to consider as well, such as avoiding galvanic corrosion or limiting the risk of crevice corrosion.

Visit the material properties page to determine what material is right for you.

Brass bow nut

Stainless steel bow nut

Extended brass bow nut

Extended stainless steel bow nut

 
In terms of sizes, we offer bow nuts in M12, M16, M20 and M10. The extended version is available – in both brass and stainless steel – in sizes M12 and M16.
 

Request a risk-free quote right away

Would you like to order stainless steel or brass bow nuts at Rob Snel? Add the nuts of your choice to your enquiry. Request a risk-free quote and quickly receive more information about the price. After your confirmation, we will make sure you receive the bow nuts in no time! Learn more about the ordering process here.