METAL THERMAL EXPANSION CHART

Still does not stop the aluminum buss bar from growing larger with heat. The vibration issue down here "encouraged" me to do away with set screws. A machinist friend made up a bunch of phosphor bronze 3/4" bars by machining them in an automated milling machine. 2, 4' square stocks. I SOLDERED 5/8" long silicon bronze dog point #10X32 studs (dog point means the tip of the stud is smaller with no threads to start nuts easier) and silicon bronze external tooth lockwashers and nuts were selected. This was a lot of work. I also made serious battery buss bars, using the same format. 3/4" thick, 3/8"X24 FINE thread silicon bronze studs, soldered, 4" wide. But these had heavy hex nuts 5/8" across the flats and bronze combination inside and outside tooth S/B lockwashers. Mounted on linen Bakelite pads. Cutting the pads made a terrible stink. Commercial fishermen went nuts over these items. The big bars were nickel plated 3-times thicker than normal nickel in Oakland. Silicon bronze withstands salt air fine, plating the buss bars protected the copper. They would cost a veritable fortune these days. Nickel plating or no, some of the buss bars passed 400 starting amperes at 24 volts with no hassles. These bars NEVER had problems with loosening. AC or DC.