Bolts

Whether you're assembling furniture, dismantling old equipment or fastening any two types of material together, you’ll find that you’ll need at least a basic understanding of how bolts work and, more importantly, how to make sure you choose the right one.

Like screws, bolts feature a thread, however, only on part of their shaft. The unthreaded section is called the Shank, which prevents radial movement. This is in combination with a nut which, if fitted, prevents axial movement. Together these two elements prevent the bolt from loosening for a fastener that is incredibly versatile and strong.

When searching for your bolts, consider the following. These factors will largely determine which bolts are best for you and your project.

• Weight: Consider carefully how much weight your bolts will be holding. To ensure that the fixing remains strong over the long term, you’ll need the correct bolt size and material.
  Lifespan: Different finishes will offer different levels of protection. It’s important to take into account any potential risks to the integrity of your fixing, like rain or snow, and order your bolts appropriately. For example, with an anti-corrosive finish.
• User Safety: Bolts can be a great choice for hanging wall plates. However, this is only when great care has been taken in choosing them. You’ll want to avoid the worst-case scenario of your TV, cabinet or any other heavy object falling and causing harm so take your time when shopping around and do your research. If you are ever unsure what fixings to choose, make sure to consult a professional as your first port of call.
• Size: The size of the bolt is an important factor to consider when narrowing down your choices. After all, if it does not fit securely, it will not be able to secure anything.
• Material Thickness: You must ensure that you choose an appropriately sized bolt based on the thickness of your material. If you’re fastening thin sheet metal, then larger diameter bolts will not make it more secure as the material will typically fail around the bolts, therefore it’s preferable to have multiple smaller fasteners.
• Bolt Quantity: The distance between your bolts (and by extension how many you need) will differ from application to application. It’s important to double-check how your bolts will need to be spaced to make sure you don’t end up spending more than you have to.
• Head Type: Like screws, bolts will have different head types. Suitable for use with different types of tools. It’s a simple mistake, but one that can quickly derail a project so make sure you have the right fastening implements for your bolts.

Each bolt will have its own description to help you identify which bolt you’ll need for the job. This will be displayed as something like M3- 1.25 X 30.

• M3: M stands for metric, while 3 is the nominal (mean exterior diameter) dimension in mm.
• 1.25: This refers to the thread pitch or the spacing between threads.
• 30: This references the length in mm.