Miscellaneous fasteners and bits!

[Mayhem]

Spent some down time between Christmas and NYE in the workshop having a general tidy up and re-organisation. The inventory and spares are better stored but the rest of the workshops looks somewhat worse than before. Another weekend of tidying up at least I think. Also need to be able to decide what to do with things that do not have an obvious home, other than move them form one bench to another!

One of the problems that I have mounting up is a box of random screws, bolts, nut, washers and other fasteners and bits that I keep saying I will sort out one day. Only now the box is at least 4 or 5 different boxes and I need to do something.

Now the 3M, 4M, 6M and 8M stuff is fairly easy to identify and sort out, as is the 10-32 and the 3/8” stuff that I use on a regular basis. Most of the self-drilling and Tek screws will also be fairly easy to identify and sort. The rest of them might be a bit more difficult. Having both metric and US imperial will add some degree of difficulty I guess!

Reading some of the rigging questions that ship has posted has made me realise that when it comes to bolt grades and sizes etc, my knowledge is somewhat lacking. Especially when terms differ between the US and Australia.

So – where do I start?

Well I guess the first step will be to sort them into broad categories first, i.e., separate the bolts from the screws and the flat washers from the spring washers and so on.

Next would be to further sort them depending upon their size and thread and drive type. Then perhaps head type (for bolts and screws) and point (for screws) and also nut and washer types as well.

Sounds simple doesn’t it!

Well I have spent some considerable time searching the web for some material that will help me out and thought that I would share this with you:

The James Glen web site proved to be very useful as it allows access to the training manual for their sales staff and covers the different drive, head, thread and point types, various nuts and washers as well as technical information such as finishings and coatings, tensile strength, markings and galling.

Whilst most of the info is related to Australian and New Zealand, the tech info should be relevant to other countries.

Maryland Metrics web site has a very useful assortment of technical documents and data and not just limited to fasteners, but includes wires and other info.

So, given this info, a set of thread gauges and my vernier callipers, what else do I need to make my task easier and more efficient?

I imagine that picking the metric from the US might will be the most challenging task and I wonder if anyone knows of a conversion chart for imperial gauges? I know that a #6 machine screw is 3.5mm and a #10 is 4.75mm but what about a #8?

Any thoughts or suggestions??

[ship]

Buy both the McMaster Carr screw checker plates and the indexes. Them #6 screws might seem metric or #6 in being very similar often but there will be a specific size they will wiggle within and another they will if not binding within at least be a tighter fit to. Often screws are a slightly loose fit.

Look to the surface coating. Metric screws often have a sort of varnish like coating to them.

Always study both the nut and bolt head. Them tich marks not only mean often something imperial but also something with a specific grade of bolt.

Beyond this, when in doubt, throw it out. Better not to chance and deal with what is not classed, than to deal with it later.

[Mayhem]

I am sure that I can get the screw gauges and identification plates here but just need to get off my arse and go and find them.

My intent in finding a metric conversion for the US bolts and screws was not to try and match a 6-24 bolt with a M3.5 nut but rather to know the diameter when I am sorting them out. Thus I know if I find a 4.83mm bolt, it is most likely a #10.

McMaster-Carr has the tech drawings for the machine screws on the web site, so I was able to find out the decimal diameter and then convert it to mm. Discovered that the difference between gauges is 0.013", which is 0.33mm? So I now have a conversion chart that covers gauges 1 to 12.

Found out also that they have several "about" pages, which were also very helpful and so now I know the specs on screws gauges as well. No uniformity there however.

Anything rusty, corroded or damaged will get tossed.