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Barrel Nut

Barrel Nut

Barrel Nut

Barrel Nuts are cylindrical panel-insert nuts that sit in a cross-bored hole in one piece of timber and mate with a JCB connector bolt coming in from the other piece. The barrel rotates freely in the cross-bored hole, letting the threads align with the incoming bolt without holding the nut. Standard hardware for every flat-pack carcase, demountable bed frame, and knock-down furniture joint where one face needs to stay clean.

Also known as: Barrel nut, cylindrical nut, panel-insert nut, JCB barrel nut, furniture barrel, KD barrel, cross-bored nut.

Sized to match M6 and M8 JCB bolts (metric coarse, ISO 261). The barrel diameter is larger than the nominal bolt size - typically 10mm body for M6 thread, 12mm body for M8 thread - because the cross-bored hole has to accept the full barrel diameter while the bolt enters through a smaller panel hole at right angles.

GRADES AND MATERIALS

Zinc Plated Steel - the standard finish. The barrel sits hidden inside the cross-bored timber, so corrosion resistance only needs to handle indoor humidity. Zinc plate gives 5-12 micron protection - perfectly adequate for indoor cabinetry, plenty of cycles of disassembly and reassembly.

Stainless Steel A2-70 G304 - upgrade for kitchen wet zones, bathroom furniture, or any joint where damp could reach the barrel. Strong, corrosion-resistant, and pairs cleanly with a stainless JCB bolt without galvanic concerns.

DRIVE AND INSTALLATION

Barrel nuts don't have their own drive - they're tightened by torque on the mating JCB bolt. Some barrels have a flat-blade slot on the top face to help align the threads with the incoming bolt during assembly. To install:

Cross-bore the timber to match the barrel diameter (10mm for M6 barrel, 12mm for M8 barrel).
Drop the barrel into the cross-bored hole.
Rotate the barrel with a flat-blade screwdriver (if slotted) so its internal threads align with the panel hole on the mating piece.
Pass the JCB bolt through the panel into the barrel and tighten with the hex key.

The barrel does not need to be held - the JCB bolt's torque carries the load.

A NOTE ON GALLING

Same galling concern as JCB bolts when stainless is in play. Tighten the JCB bolt into a stainless barrel slowly; anti-seize helps; don't use an impact driver on stainless threads.

COMMON APPLICATIONS

Barrel nuts are the hidden half of the JCB joint, used in:

Flat-pack carcase mating piece - every JCB bolt needs a matching barrel nut in the second panel. We stock M6 and M8 barrels in pack sizes that match our JCB bolt packs so you don't end up with mismatched quantities.
Repair and replacement - a stripped or lost barrel is a common failure point in second-hand furniture. The cross-bored hole is already there, so a replacement barrel + JCB bolt is a 5-minute fix.
Custom joinery - cabinetmakers building demountable pieces from scratch use barrel nuts + JCB bolts wherever the joint needs to come apart for transport or service access.
Display furniture and trade-show stands - high-cycle assembly applications where the joint will be assembled and disassembled many times. Barrel + JCB combinations stand up to far more cycles than wood-screw alternatives.

THREAD LENGTH AND MEASUREMENTS

The renderer auto-emits the per-SKU dimensions table from the product master on the live page. Length, thread length, drive size, head dimensions and pack quantity are all populated row-by-row when the SEO file goes live - no need to duplicate that data here. Use the table on the live page to confirm the exact SKU you need.

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