If you need common fasteners for common repair jobs, including nails, screws, and bolts, our staff at Fasteners, Inc. in Denver can help you decide what will work best for your project. We have them all.
According to a How Stuff Works article, the particular purposes of nails, screws, and bolts vary depending on your fastening needs.
NAILS
Nails are most commonly used to fasten two pieces of wood together. They come in different sizes, shapes, and metals. If a nail is shorter than 1 inch it is called a brad. If a nail is longer than 6 inches it is called a spike. Nails are made of steel, aluminum, brass, nickel, bronze, copper, and stainless steel. They have coatings that prevent rust and increase their holding power, including, galvanized, blued, or cemented.
Here are some common types of nails.
Common Nails
These are usually used for medium to heavy construction work because they have a thick head and can be driven into hard material. They are made from wire and come in sizes 2d through 60d.
Drywall Nails
With an indented head and ringed, drywall nails are used for drywall installation. Annular-ring nails have sharp ridges along the nail shaft, which give it holding power.
Corrugated Fasteners
Often called wiggly nails, these are used for light-duty joints where strength is not needed. They are set at right angles to the joint.
Roofing Nails
Having a much bigger head than common nails, roofing nails are usually galvanized. They are designed to prevent damage to asphalt shingles.
Masonry Nails
Used with concrete and concrete block, they come in round, square, and fluted shapes. Masonry nails are not used for high strength situations. If you are looking for a fastener for brick, stone, or reinforced concrete it would be best to use screws or lag bolts.
Tacks
They are used to hold carpet or fabric to wood and come in round or cut forms. Upholstery tacks have decorative heads.
Box Nails
These nails are smaller in diameter and lighter than common nails. They are used for light construction and household use.
Finishing Nails
The finishing nail has a small head and is lighter than common nails. It is used when you don’t want the head of the nail to show, like in paneling and trim.
SCREWS
Another one of the most common fasteners for common repair jobs are screws. Stronger and with more holding power than nails, screws can easily be removed. They come with different heads and slots (either plain or Phillips-head). Flathead screws are countersunk so the head of the screw is flush or below the surface. Oval head screws are partly countersunk, with half the screw head above the surface. With round head screws, the entire head is above the surface. Fillister head screws are raised above the surface on a flat base so the screwdriver doesn’t damage the surface as it is tightened. They are measured in both length (in inches) and diameter at the shank (gauge number from 0 to 24).
Sheet Metal Screws
If you need to fasten pieces of metal together you need sheet metal screws because they form threads in the metal when they are installed. Coarse-threaded pointed pan head screws are used for fastening light sheet metal (gauges from 4 to 14 and lengths from 1/4 inch to 2 inches). Heavier sheet metal needs blunt pan head screws (gauges from 4 to 14 and lengths from 1/4 inch to 2 inches).
Lag Screws
For larger jobs like masonry or wood framing and for more holding power, lead expansion anchors and heavy-duty lag screws are used. They are inserted into holes drilled in the masonry and driven with a wrench firmly into the anchors.
Roundhead Screws
These are partial-tapping screws with finer threads and can be used in soft or hard metals. They come in sizes 3⁄16 inch to 11/4 inches. Self-tapping round head screws are best for heavy-duty work with thick sheet metal and come in sizes from 1/4 inch to 2 inches and in lengths from 1/8 to 3/4 inch.
Wood Screws
If there could be corrosion, wood screws are the best. They are made from steel, brass, nickel, bronze, and copper. Wood screws are used for most home repair projects.
Machine Screws
These are blunt-ended screws made from steel or brass and fasten metal parts together. They have coatings of brass, copper, nickel, zinc, cadmium, and galvanized. They come in flat head, oval head, round head, and fillister head. They come in gauges 2 to 12 and diameters from 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch and in lengths from 1/4 inch to 3 inches.
BOLTS
There are many different types of bolts, including stove bolts, carriage bolts, and machine bolts, toggle bolts, masonry bolts and anchors, and expansion bolts, which are used to distribute weight when fastening something to a hollow wall. Nuts and washers are used with bolts. Bolt size is measured by shank diameter and by threads per inch.
Hollow Wall Bolts
Toggle bolts and expansion bolts help fasten lightweight objects to hollow walls. Toggle bolt wings opened inside the wall with a spring. Expansion bolts are inserted into an expansion jacket, which expands as the bolt is tightened. They are available in diameters from 1/8 to 1/2 inch and in lengths up to 8 inches for walls as thick as 13/4 inches. They are often used to hang picture frames.
Stove Bolts
These bolts can be used for almost any fastening project. They come in a wide range of sizes, with flat, oval, or round heads. They are driven with a screwdriver or tightened into place with a nut and wrench. Most stove bolts are completely threaded, but the larger ones may have a smooth shank near the bolt head. Stove bolts are coarse-threaded and come in diameters from 5⁄32 to 1/2 inch and lengths from 3/8 inch to 6 inches.
Masonry Bolts and Anchors
These bolts work like the lag bolt or screw by expanding a plastic sleeve inside a predrilled hole as the bolt is tightened.
Machine Bolts
Machine bolts have either a hexagonal head or a square head. They are fastened with square nuts or hex nuts and are wrench-driven. Machine bolts are made in very large sizes with the bolt diameter increasing with length. Machine bolts come in two gauges. They are either fine-threaded and coarse-threaded and come in diameters from 1/4 inch to 2 inches and lengths from 1/4 inch to 30 inches.
Carriage Bolts
For making furniture, carriage bolts are used. With round head and a square collar, they are tightened into place with a nut and wrench. The collar fits into a pre-bored hole or twists into the wood. The bolt is prevented from turning when the nut is tightened. They are coarse-threaded and come in diameters from 3⁄16 to 3/4 inch and lengths from 1/2 inch to 10 inches.
If you are looking for common fasteners for common repair jobs including nails, screws, and bolts, you can turn to Fasteners, Inc. in Denver. We have almost every kind of fastener you can imagine, in fact, we have over 30,000 items.
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