Buying Industrial Equipment For Less

Fasteners play an important role in many manufacturing plants. Without quality fasteners, it would be impossible to join components together to create a cohesive product. 

Fasteners come in a wide range of sizes and styles. It's important that you are able to accurately interpret metric fastener sizing if you want to improve the quality of the products that you assemble over time. 

1. Diameter Classification

The diameter of a fastener will be important when it comes to joining components together. The diameter of the fastener must match the diameter of the holes prepared in each component to ensure a proper fit. You will see a series of letters and numbers printed on most metric fasteners. The series will begin with an "M" (which indicates that the fastener is metric) followed by a number. The number immediately after the "M" is the diameter of the fastener. The higher the number, the larger the diameter.

2. Pitch Identification

Pitch is an important characteristic of any fastener. When talking about pitch, you are referring to the spacing of the threads along the shaft of the fastener. You must pay close attention to the pitch of all fasteners that you use during manufacturing.

Pitch can be broken down into two general categories: coarse and fine. Fewer threads-per-inch means that the fastener is coarse. The higher the threads-per-inch goes, the finer the fastener is. Coarse pitch fasteners are able to hold more material between each thread. This reduces the likelihood of stripping and makes coarse pitch fasteners a good option for heavy-duty applications. Fine pitch fasteners work best for projects where fine-tuning is necessary.

3. Length Measurement

Fasteners come in a wide range of lengths. You must select the appropriate length to avoid complications during manufacturing. If you look closely at any metric fastener, you can find the length measurement. There will be a dash after the number that identifies the diameter of the fastener. The number that follows the dash is the length of the fastener in millimeters. You will need to be sure that you are measuring your components using millimeters if you plan to rely on metric fasteners during manufacturing. 

Maintaining consistency in the unit used for all measurements can help you avoid simple mistakes that could result in the receipt of fasteners that are too long or short to meet your needs. The more you know about metric fasteners, the better prepared you will be to utilize these fasteners effectively. 

Contact a local industrial supply store to learn more about metric fasteners.