A variety of fasteners are used in the machinery industry to join CNC components, structures, and other attachment points. How to identify a wide variety of fasteners and which one to choose in specific applications? In this article we will compare different fasteners and discuss the difference between bolts, screws, rivets and nuts.
To distinguish between different fasteners and find the right choice, you need to know about their basic structure, appearance, materials, functions and many more.
Bolt: A bolt is a type of threaded fastener with a thread on its outer surface, it must be connected with a female threaded part such as a nut.
Screw: A broad category of mechanical fasteners with a bolt-like male thread on the shaft
Rivet: Rivet is a kind of mechanical fastener for permanent fixation, rivets have no teeth.
Nut: Nut is a class of fastener with threaded hole, the thread is on the inner surface, the nut is always used with a counterbolt.
Stud: A stud is a fastener without a head, usually like a screw, actually a metal rod or shaft with threads on both sides to accept nuts, studs are usually designed to be permanently attached to a part.
Nail: A nail is a common fastener typically used in construction and woodworking applications, consisting of a long, narrow piece of solid metal with a pointed tip and flattened head.
A bolt is a type of part similar to a screw. From applications, screws are usually made of metal, often used to hold things together or to lift heavy objects and tighten things. Bolts are typically used to hold materials or objects together or to position objects. Then what is the difference between screws and bolts?
1. Bolts are used to join non-threaded objects, typically using a nut, while screws are used to join threaded objects and mate with a preformed internal thread or self-thread, they must be tightened or released by turning the head.
2. A screw is screwed into an object and a bolt connects more than one object.
3. Usually bolts are sold with matching nuts that are not packaged with screws.
4. While screws must be turned to assemble a joint, bolts can be secured in place using a tool or carriage bolt.
5. The shafts of the bolts are not tapered, usually with flat ends, whereas many screws are tapered with sharp ends.
Rivets can fasten multiple sheets of metal together, so rivets are commonly used in some applications where nails or other fasteners may not be sufficient, such as gutter construction. It is also a good choice for window blinds, hanging hangers, doors and more uses. Let's understand the difference between bolts and rivets.
1. The bolt works like a screw and has male threads; The rivet consists of a straight cylindrical shaft with no teeth at one end.
2. A bolt that is easy to put together and take apart, a rivet is a metal rod that holds two pieces of metal together, the only way to remove it is to cut or drill.
3. Bolt joint is a temporary connection in which a threaded bolt is inserted into a hole and tightened with a nut on the opposite side, a riveted joint is a permanent connection, two plates are connected by inserting a rivet into a drilled hole.
4. Installing a rivet should thicken or bend the tail by breaking the tail material flatter, and while bolts usually only need a nut, they expand to about 1.5 times the original shank diameter.
1. A bolt is a long metallic piece with a threaded shaft; the nut is a small hexagonal object made of metal.
2. Bolts are solid cylinders with external thread, nuts are hollow circular cylinders with internal threads.
3. Nuts have an anti-loosening locking mechanism, bolts do not.
4. Nuts do not have a head, bolts have a head at one end.