The edges of cage nuts are designed to bend in and then release, securing the nut with its own tension. They can be installed two different ways depending on the use case. The three most common types of cage nuts are: 10-32, 12-24 and M6. Each of these work with accordingly sized screws. First, you will insert one edge of the clip into the square hole and then you will need to latch onto the other end with your tool. Cage nuts are built to latch into the square holes of a server, creating the ability for threaded screws to be inserted. They can be installed and removed by hand, but doing so can damage your hand. There are tools to make the process much easier. Unthreaded holes were the next popular hole type. They are simply round holes that require a clip nut adapter for any shelves and rails that require threaded screws. These didn’t last long after the adoption of square holes.

Penn Elcom Deluxe Cage Nut Insertion and Extraction Tool for

Square holes sparked innovation in tool-less kits. The shape of these holes made it easy to develop rapidly deploy-able rails because of their ability to latch. Because of the new shape, cage nuts were created to allow support for threaded bolts.

Reach inside of the rack from the outside