Today I finally got around to finishing up the secondary tubes. I found stainless steel nuts at my local Lowe's and they fit perfectly. Taking my time and performing other random chores as I went it took me just about an hour to do.
Here are the nuts with information:
![IMG_1091.jpg IMG_1091.jpg](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/247/247002-8e463b8e0ac419622ef6a733c7e122f8.jpg)
Since they were only .020 larger in diameter than the inner diameter of the secondary burn tube I decided not to file the corners of the nuts. I did not have to heat the tubes to get them in either. Using a small hammer I carefully tapped each nut in by standing the tube on my bench vice and tapping each nut home.
![588805829.jpg 588805829.jpg](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/247/247003-1079979f246da8a7dc4bc36e6b02e72f.jpg)
Here is one of the nuts installed:
![588805955.jpg 588805955.jpg](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/247/247004-101f3370c7e1b66e1feb9faaa6520b0c.jpg)
This was the only hitch I encountered. Less than a minute with a round file had this flashing all cleaned up:
![588811185.jpg 588811185.jpg](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/247/247005-cdc9924f193eadb8b10ad84050c93583.jpg)
When I reinstalled the tubes I put the cotter pins in from the top without bending the ends so that they would be easier to remove. The cotter pins were pretty bent up so I used my vice and a small hammer to form them back straight again.
![588811947.jpg 588811947.jpg](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/247/247006-e4cb3547165fb6874c0a97d79550d288.jpg)
Here are the nuts with information:
![IMG_1091.jpg IMG_1091.jpg](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/247/247002-8e463b8e0ac419622ef6a733c7e122f8.jpg)
Since they were only .020 larger in diameter than the inner diameter of the secondary burn tube I decided not to file the corners of the nuts. I did not have to heat the tubes to get them in either. Using a small hammer I carefully tapped each nut in by standing the tube on my bench vice and tapping each nut home.
![588805829.jpg 588805829.jpg](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/247/247003-1079979f246da8a7dc4bc36e6b02e72f.jpg)
Here is one of the nuts installed:
![588805955.jpg 588805955.jpg](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/247/247004-101f3370c7e1b66e1feb9faaa6520b0c.jpg)
This was the only hitch I encountered. Less than a minute with a round file had this flashing all cleaned up:
![588811185.jpg 588811185.jpg](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/247/247005-cdc9924f193eadb8b10ad84050c93583.jpg)
When I reinstalled the tubes I put the cotter pins in from the top without bending the ends so that they would be easier to remove. The cotter pins were pretty bent up so I used my vice and a small hammer to form them back straight again.
![588811947.jpg 588811947.jpg](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/247/247006-e4cb3547165fb6874c0a97d79550d288.jpg)
Last edited by a moderator: