clutch repair question?

the other day i had to dive into my clutch to fix it the nut and screw backed out and danm near destroyed the clutch so i took it apart cleaned all the shavings out and the oil and grease from the clutch housing then i cleaned the pads and renistalled them all and put all the parts back on leaving the flower nut hand tight took it for a test hit not clutch at all i had to take a flat head screw driver and a hammer and beat on the flower nut to tighten it up and finally after 30 minutes and a dozen test hits it got tight enough to engage my question is should i have to have do that to get the clutch to engage? it didnt seem right to me but its fully functional now