#HTE

How Nord-Lock Washers Work

I’ve got several industrial sewing machines mounted on leveling feet to deal with my uneven floors. But I’ve found the vibrations of the machines are enough to loosen the nylon-insert lock nuts attaching the feet to the table legs. While poking around for a better solution, I came across this Nord-Lock Washer design:

It’s a clever exploitation of wedges, and is of course completely reversible. The idea isn’t new; the company has been making these for some 30 years.

Nord-Lock’s newer X-Series of washers feature serrations on both sides, allowing them to bite into the underside of the bolt head:

While the washers are removable for the sake of performing maintenance on whatever you’re bolting together, the end user has to make the call on whether they’re reusable or not:

They’re also not quite idiot-proof in that one must ensure the washers are laid down in the correct orientation. But overall I think it’s a pretty sound design.