The true old skool technique is actually a single silk thread through the fastener first. A single old tie from a thrift store will last a lifetime. Silk thread was used in all kinds of things in automotive and aviation before gaskets were really a thing. It is tough, thin, and just plastic enough to deform in very tight compressed spaces, but it must be real silk and not synthetic.
I’d heard of using silk thread as a gasket maker (I had to split cases on a motorcycle engine and some old geezer mentioned that they used to use silk, but to just use RTV now), but not as a thread locker. I suppose the same principal applies, I just never gave it thought!
Silk is still used in some old aviation applications when it was originally specified and is sometimes preferred in racing. The service life is just shorter than gasket maker. Longer service-life solutions were needed with more modern casting techniques over the last couple of decades. Older stuff out of Detroit had poor old sand casting techniques that caused larger stack tolerances and lead to shorter service life. Modern stuff is nearly investment cast. It uses very strong binders and interlocking connections that prevent shifting and floating issues caused by large quantities of heavy molten metal. Old cheaper sand castings are not strong enough to form such connections. In aviation, everything is serviced with preventative maintenance, so the service life is tightly regulated and far shorter than silk will degrade. Likewise with racecars that will be rebuilt periodically.
It is a cool hack to know you could grab a spider web in the wild and have thread locker or seal a surface in a pinch.
The true old skool technique is actually a single silk thread through the fastener first. A single old tie from a thrift store will last a lifetime. Silk thread was used in all kinds of things in automotive and aviation before gaskets were really a thing. It is tough, thin, and just plastic enough to deform in very tight compressed spaces, but it must be real silk and not synthetic.
Interesting!
I’d heard of using silk thread as a gasket maker (I had to split cases on a motorcycle engine and some old geezer mentioned that they used to use silk, but to just use RTV now), but not as a thread locker. I suppose the same principal applies, I just never gave it thought!
Silk is still used in some old aviation applications when it was originally specified and is sometimes preferred in racing. The service life is just shorter than gasket maker. Longer service-life solutions were needed with more modern casting techniques over the last couple of decades. Older stuff out of Detroit had poor old sand casting techniques that caused larger stack tolerances and lead to shorter service life. Modern stuff is nearly investment cast. It uses very strong binders and interlocking connections that prevent shifting and floating issues caused by large quantities of heavy molten metal. Old cheaper sand castings are not strong enough to form such connections. In aviation, everything is serviced with preventative maintenance, so the service life is tightly regulated and far shorter than silk will degrade. Likewise with racecars that will be rebuilt periodically.
It is a cool hack to know you could grab a spider web in the wild and have thread locker or seal a surface in a pinch.