How do I determine fastener size?

[lonesome7.3]

I know this is a simple and almost too stupid of a question to ask but I have never had the need to know how. Whenever I need a fastener of any kind I just match them up with one I have as a guide. Now I want to get all the nuts, bolts, washers, and so on I have organized. I went out and got some storage bins and they are labeled by size. I now have the arduous task of going in and organizing all the randomly stored fasteners I have. Because I have only gone by head size and type, thread style, length, and radius I have no idea what the measurements mean on the bins. Can I get a little assistance in making my work area more organized?

[timberjack]

These will help you do the job you need to do, even sorting what the thread pitch is. Should be available at lots of hardware outlets, but might be a different brand. It's daunting to start, but once you get rolling it'll start to take shape. As they say, the longest journey always has a first step. By the time you've sorted for awhile, you'll be able to do it without checking. lol

BoltSize-It :: Home

I think what measurements will be on your bins is probably, bolt diameter x length x threads per inch, or some variation.

[LMJD]

It's basically simple. In the parts house, mechanic's, hardware, etc, trades it's all the same. Nuts and bolts are designated by the bolt's outside thread diameter and the nut's inside diameter. For example, one that's 3/8" dia is known as a 3/8 nut or bolt although they require a 9/16 wrench. There's two (American) thread sizes, coarse and fine. By coarse and fine, I mean the number of threads per inch along the length of the bolt or nut. Coarse is known as Standard thread, fine is known as SAE thread. All bolts for normal use will be grade 5 hardness and they will have 3 slash marks on the head designating so. Any you buy at Napa, etc, will be grade 5 in their regular bins. Grade 8, much harder for special applications will have 6 marks IIRC. How you arrange them is up to you. I have mine arranged by size, but different lengths of the same size are in the same bin. Then I have the same nut size, lock washers, and flat washers in a bin below the bolts. That's the basics, although there's some variations. There's what's called SAE flat washers and they have an oversized hole (never could figure out the reason for them). Then there's what's called heavy nuts. Mack trucks used them on their frames, crossmembers, etc. They're extra big, for example if the frame bolt head took a 1/2" wrench, the nut required a 9/16" or 5/8" wrench. They were all 1/16" or 1/8" bigger than the bolt head, can't remember which.

Buy yourself a little slide rule caliper, they're cheap, and you can measure nut's and bolt diameters easily. The one below measures both inside and outside dia up to about 4" and is real handy.


When it comes to Metric, you're on your own.

[lonesome7.3]

I was looking at a similar gauge but those are much nicer. Thanks for the link.

I have a good caliper now, I just had to learn how the fastners are measured. Thanks for the education that made a lot of sense.

[FTG-05]

I've got a couple extra bolt and nut guides from Fastenal, PM me an address and I'll send them to you.

Al

[LMJD]

Maybe I should also add that it's wise to throw any smooth headed bolts that are left over from assembling kids toys, wheel barrows, or the like directly in the trash along with the nuts. They're made of very inferior metal and if used accidently or on purpose on anything normal they strip, shear, break or whatever compared to the strength and quality of a comparable sized grade 5 bolt with 3 slash marks.

[Bigshow]

We have five big bolt bins in our shop.

The biggest one is for NC and starts with a 1/4" row across the top and has all lengths in separate bins and the last 4 bins in that row are flat washers, lock washers, regular nuts, and lock nuts.
The row below is for 5/16, etc etc

The next bin is a smaller one for NF and does the same pattern

The third bin is for metric stuff

the fourth bin is for everything 'oddball'

The fifth is for Grade 8 bolts

An open end wrench will help size bolts (a 1/2" wrench just fits over the threads on a 1/2" bolt) and we have an old ruler riveted to the bin to help with length.

[lonesome7.3]

Thanks, I will shoot that over to you in a minute.

That is good advice. Over the years I have saved every left over fastner. But what you said makes sense.

I like that idea. I have the tape from a destroyed tape measure that I was going to nail down to tmy work bench when I make one. But I like that isea better.

[maniac]

Usually whatever the wrench size is the body or thread size is 3/16ths less.

As far as metric, your on your own.

[lonesome7.3]

Thanks, that sounds simple enough.