Tag: fastener manufacturing

Where do Fasteners get used? – Matt

Matt Barber about us, classic car restoration, fastener industry, fasteners, heritage rail restoration, productsLeave a Comment on Where do Fasteners get used? – Matt

As stated in my previous article I’m new to the fastener world. I couldn’t even imagine all the different uses fasteners have. I used to think, very naively, that nuts and bolts weren’t used that frequently. Now, I understand nuts and bolts are everywhere. Thinking back about my previous job, I’ve realized how many nuts and bolts we used to use without even thinking about it, and that was working in retail. So, if you’re interested in the weird and wonderful areas our fasteners get used you’ve come to the right place.

Construction

Right let’s get the obvious out of the way. Fasteners are used in construction. Here at Thomas Smith Fasteners in Hindley Green our outside wall is lined with steel attached by Fasteners. It’s taken me three weeks to notice it but once you start seeing Fasteners you see them everywhere. It’s the Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon, once you see or hear something for the first time you see it everywhere. Now when I’m out and about I feel like all I see is fasteners. Walking down the street and see a road sign, how’s it secured? With a fastener, above it there’s a team working on scaffolding, how’s it held together? Fasteners. I’ve started to realize how much work our products do and it’s amazing.

Classic Cars

Okay, we’ve spoken about construction now lets have some fun. Be it a Bentley or Beamer, a Rolls Royce or a Rover, they’re absolutely filled to the brim with Fasteners. All the fancy upholstery is held together with fasteners, the engine is held together by fasteners, fly wheel bolts without them you’re in trouble and yet again they’re made with fasteners. Using fasteners from Thomas Smith Fasteners, our director Tim restored a Classic Ferrari 365-GTC4 and plenty of other Classic Car enthusiasts continue do the same. To illustrate this point I have linked a YouTube video below by Powernation whereby they built a car with a drill, pop rivets and black spray paint. Fasteners helping Lewis Hamilton to 7 formula one titles and helping me to pass my MOT.

Powernation – Drill, Pop Rivets and Paint
Ferrari Restoration

Heritage Rail

So as a child my favourite toys were part of my train set, probably until being around 4 years old. I was obsessed with Thomas the Tank Engine as a little kid and Thomas used to fly round those tracks but how did he do it?

You guessed it, Fasteners. Fasteners are a key component in Heritage Rail keeping our steam engines going in the modern day. Each summer a massive tourist attraction for the family can be found on Britain’s railways. And here at Thomas Smith Fasteners we provide the specials that keep those trains going. Whether their used to reattach a buffer or a smokebox, fasteners hold them together. Thomas gets his restoration from Thomas Smith Fasteners, I suppose that’s how he looks younger in 2023 than he did in the 80’s.

Thomas’s New Look

Aerospace

Do you feel the need, the need for speed? Well your going to need plenty of fasteners if you want to beat Goose in a race. Yes, fasteners yet again help get your aircrafts into the sky. Next time you get a flight have a look down the wing of the plane it’s fasteners galore. They basically hold the entire aircraft together, from doors to wings, without your fasteners your flight to Alicante won’t be going very far. Without the fasteners holding everything together it’d all just be parts, like a guitar without strings. You’ve got your bolts, nuts, screws and rivets that are responsible for your safety and also to make sure you can enjoy your holidays. What’s the alternative take a boat?

Highway to the Fastener Zone

Maritime

You think you don’t need fasteners on a boat, think again. Boats are held together by Fasteners as well. From the port to the starboard, your fasteners keep you afloat as you sail the seven seas. You tend to find a lot of stainless steel fasteners are use in the Maritime industry due to their corrosion resistance. As seen previously on our blog we recently helped to renovate the anti-aircraft mount on the HMS Belfast, using 1/2 BSW x 3/4 Slot Raised. Now permanently docked on the Thames as part of the Imperial War Museum, our fasteners have given the HMS Belfast a new lease of life, and stopped it’s anti-aircraft mount from falling off. This also only scratches the surface of the fasteners that can be found on all 9 floors of the HMS Belfast.

HMS Belfast Restoration

Conclusion

So what have we learned today? Well, fasteners are absolutely everywhere and I’ve not even scratched the surface here. We’ve covered almost every mode of transport aside from Shanks’s pony and found they all use fasteners in some way, shape or form. And the best bit of all, here at Thomas Smith Fasteners we have the capability to make specials meaning if you’re struggling to find an imperial bolt we’ve more chance of finding it than most high-street options. So if you’re looking to give your classic car a new lease of life or going away on a long-haul flight, you can thank your fasteners and shop at Thomas Smith Fasteners.

Thanks for reading,

Matt

How it’s done – How I went from Blank to Part-Thread on Bolt Making Knowledge by Matt

Matt Barber about us, fasteners

To begin this post, I would first like to state that I’m new to the Fastener world, but being located at Thomas Smith Fasteners I am learning a lot in a very short space of time. One of the main benefits of being situated at Thomas Smith Fasteners is our manufacturer Smith Bullough being located on site. This has allowed me to understand very quickly what we sell here at Thomas Smith and how it’s manufactured. So to avoid basic copyright infringement, we’re showing ‘How it’s Made’, but calling it ‘How it’s Done’.

Hexagon Head Bolt Zinc Plated

How much work goes into making a bolt?

Now, I’ll openly admit that less than two weeks ago, I didn’t have a clue where to start with making fasteners, in fact I said as much in my interview. My point being I just never really thought about it. It was a question I didn’t to know the answer to, like ‘why does a pizza come in a square box?’ (If anyone has the answer send me a DM).

I was going in blind. So I decided to do what anyone in a new job does, ask the bosses a million questions and hope they don’t get sick of answering them.

These questions, led to a tour of the factory, at which point I could see how our fasteners begin to take shape. I entered the factory at Smith Bullough, with the finished product in hand to watch ‘How it’s done’ (Discovery+ aren’t catching on, I hope).

Stage One – A Really Big Saw

We need to cut down our steel rod to size for manufacturing, given that we make both metric and imperial sizes, these can range massively. The team ensure that we have the right length to and then cut down to the right size with the Addison CB250A. When I say it’s a big saw, that kind of undersells it, it cuts through steel like a knife through butter, seriously impressive. I stood back about fifteen yards just in case.

Addison CB250A (The Big Saw)

Stage Two – Fire and Brimstone

Through the fire and flames (kind of). This is where we enter the forge, our pins are heated using an induction heater. They can range anywhere between 1,500 and 2000 degrees, and then are pulled out smoking like Pat Butcher on an EastEnders Christmas Special. The pin is then forged into a hexagon blank by being bit by the forge hammer. It’s at this point everything begins to look as you’d expect as the bolt is trimmed and set aside to cool down. I stood back around 20 yards for this one, and that felt like the Costa del Sol.

The Smoking Bolt (Pat Butcher)

Stage Three – Big Wheels Keep On Turning

Onto my favourite part. We have our blank and we now need to add the thread. But first we need to chamfer our budding bolt to be. Adding a smooth edge to end of our bolt by applying a lubricant and then filing away the rough edges using a spinning wheel. Following the chamfer process, we enter the area of hypnosis, cut threads. I’ll be honest, I could watch this process all day and not get bored, if Netflix were to come down and film thread cutting for a 20 episode series, they could double my monthly subscription and I’d happily pay just to watch ‘Wednesday’, ‘Stranger Things’ and ‘Cut Threads’. Again using a lubricant and put through a spinning wheel the thread is cut into the bolt. Hypnotic.

Stage Four – The Final Bells and Whistles

Finally now our threads been cut we’re onto the final countdown our piece of steel’s been burnt, battered and cut and is now going to get cleaned up before we send it out into the big leagues. The first stage of this comes from thread rolling smoothening up those edges before we hit the CNC machine to get its final bit of pampering. We get a machine shank, and then a bit more chamfering to make it neat and tidy before one final bit of form threading then bang, you’ve got a bolt.

Now it’s done

So our bolt’s now made and ready to be used, well aside from quality control but we’ll chat about them another time. And as much as it’s probably took about 5 minutes to read this in that time our team have probably made 15 more bolts to go with the one you’ve just read about. Whether is be metric or imperial our teams have got it covered. For any enquiries contact Thomas Smith Fasteners.

And if Netflix want my ‘Thread Cut Hypnosis’ TV idea they can drop me an email, thanks for reading.

Another satisfied customer – rapid delivery of M39 x 150 8.8 Bolts

Stephen products

m39 x 150 ht bolts glasgow scotland

Thomas Smith Fasteners Scotland recently helped out a customer who had an urgent requirement for these large diameter M39 x 150 Gr 8.8 Din 931 HT Bolts.

The bolts were manufactured and delivered to our customer within 3 days.

Whether standard or special, large or small, we can supply the right fasteners quickly at a competitive price.

Contact us with any requirements and we’ll be happy to help. Telephone our Glasgow branch on 01698 826464 or Wigan on 01942 520260.

M20 x 60 14.9 Bolts for pressure-critical equipment

Stephen fasteners, products

14.9 bolts valves pressure equipment tested with full certification

A major utilities company recently contacted us with an urgent requirement for M20 x 60 14.9 bolts for use on pressure critical equipment.

The bolts were manufactured in our onsite workshop to the customer’s specification, with the required chemical & mechanical quality tests being carried out in our fully-equipped Quality department.

The bolts were manufactured, tested and delivered in less than a week, along with full certification.

As well as our extensive stock range of finished bolts and fasteners, we can manufacture non-standard metric and imperial bolts to the customer’s specifications quickly from ex-stock blanks, and can also forge and machine specials in most materials and grades. We can help with any aspect of your fastener requirements. Contact our Technical Sales team with any enquiries.

Fast Turnaround – Special UNC Zinc Nickel Bolts to Abu Dhabi

Stephen testimonials

zinc nickel special unc bolts

Thomas Smith Fasteners were delighted to help out a new client in Abu Dhabi, UAE, who had an urgent requirement for special UNC bolts in Zinc/Nickel Plated.

These bolts, which were required for a power station, were manufactured in our machine shop before being sent to our local platers for the Zinc Nickel finish.

From receiving the order we were able to turn-around in just 4 working days.

Another satisfied customer!

Special Fastener Manufacture – Special Head Shapes & Pins

Stephen fasteners, products

We manufacture a wide variety of special fasteners in our onsite workshop, as these two recent examples demonstrate!

Our fasteners often have special head shapes or threadforms, for example these forged square square head blanks:

square head bolts forged

But some of our specials have no head and no threads, such as these clevis pins:

drilled clevis pins

We can produce special fasteners in most materials (steel, stainless steel and exotics) and grades, and offer threadforms including Metric, BSF, BSW, BA, UNC & UNF.

To enquire or for further information, please contact us and we’ll be happy to assist you in finding the right fastener to fit your requirements.

Problem Solving – M12 x M10 x 55 Reducing Studs

Stephen about us, fasteners, products, testimonials

reducing stud, shoulder stud, step stud

A customer recently came to us for help – they had a part with an M12 internal thread that needed connecting to a part that had been mistakenly manufactured with an M10 internal thread.

Part of an M12 bar was machined down to M10 using a CNC in our onsite workshop to create these M12 x M10 x 55 long reducing studs.

Alongside our extensive range of standard fasteners and fixings, we hold stocks of semi-finished blanks and also offer forging and machining to the customer’s exact specifications.

We can provide a 24-hour turnaround service for urgent requirements.

Contact us on 01942 520260 (Wigan) or 01698 826464 (Glasgow) and our experienced technical sales staff will be happy to help.

Special Bolt Manufacturing – M12 bolt with 55mm head

Stephen about us, fasteners, products, testimonials

m12-bolt-55mm-head-special-manufacture

Here’s another example of our special bolt manufacturing capabilities!

A garden centre in Manchester was having problems with skateboarders skating down the sides of their concrete flower beds, causing damage to the flowers. A solution was needed that utilised the existing tapped holes.

The solution, after consultation with  our technical sales team, was an M12 fully threaded bolt (or setscrew, as they are commonly known) with a head that measured 55mm across flats, which was manufactured to the customer’s requirements in our onsite machine shop.

Our state of the art onsite manufacturing facilities enable us to produce special fasteners in Metric, UNC & UNF as well as the older British threadforms BA, BSF & BSW, in a wide range of materials and grades.

Contact our technical sales team – we can find a solution to meet your requirements!

In-house Special Fastener Manufacture – Large Diameter Pins

Stephen about us, fasteners, products

120mm x 220mm Drilled Pin

Here’s another example of our in-house special fastener manufacturing capabilities, which shows that not all our fasteners are threaded.

These 106mm x 220mm drilled pins were produced using a CNC machine in our onsite machine shop.

special pin manufactured on cnc machine

The above picture shows the pin inside our CNC machine during the manufacturing process.  A hole is then drilled into the pin to accommodate an R Clip.  These fasteners were produced for a customer in the Excavation industry.

Alongside our huge range of standard, off the shelf fasteners and fixings, we have extensive fastener manufacturing capabilities and many years of experience in providing high quality fastener solutions.  Contact Gary, Stuart or Suzanne on 01942 520260 and we will be happy to discuss any requirements you may have.