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

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.

1.7/16-8UN HT Allthread for Gas Turbines

Our Glasgow branch recently received an order for 1.7/16-8UN x 24″ High Tensile 8.8 Threaded Bar, which will be used for manufacturing bolting for Gas Turbines.

As well as stocking Allthread, we can manufacture special orders to your size and material specifications.

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

Large Diameter Fasteners for Subsea Installation

A grateful customer of our Glasgow branch kindly provided us with these recent photographs,  showing a subsea project incorporating our bolts being prepared and then submerged for installation into the seabed.

We supply a huge range of standard fasteners and can manufacture specials to your exact specification in most materials – steel, stainless steel, super duplex, non-ferrous and exotics.

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

 

M100 x 6.00 Hex Full Nuts for Agricultural Machinery

m100 x 6 hex full nuts

We recently received an order from a manufacturer of agricultural machinery, who had an urgent requirement for these large M100 x 6mm Pitch Hex Full Nuts to be used on slurry pumps.

These special, large diameter nuts were delivered next day to our customer in Northern Ireland.

Whether standard or special, we have years of expertise and can the supply fasteners to fit your requirements.

Call our Glasgow office on 01698 826464 or Wigan on 01942 520260 and we’ll be happy to assist.

A4-100 Special Fasteners for Manchester Chamber of Commerce

chamber of commerce bolts from thomas smith fasteners

Thomas Smith Fasteners were recently approached by Chris Fletcher, the Marketing and Policy Director of the Manchester Chamber of Commerce about providing samples of manufactured special fasteners, for one of his displays promoting UK manufacturers to foreign visitors.

We were delighted to help Chris and supplied him with some A4-100 bolts and nuts which were manufacted in our works at Wigan.

Chris came to collect the samples and enjoyed a factory tour. He commented “Your company is exactly the type of business we are looking out for and I hope we can feature more stories in the future”.

Large Diameter Socket Cap Screws L7M for Offshore

We have sold big bolts in our time, but this was a first for us!

Recently we supplied some 3 3/4″ Diameter Socket Cap Screws in material L7M to one of our offshore clients.

socket cap screws large diameter

From order to supply it took just 4 weeks, fully traceable with 3.1 and mill certs.

Large or small, standard or special fasteners, we can cater for your requirements quickly and at the right price.

Contact us with any requirements you may have or telephone on 01942 520260.

Imperial fasteners for PS Waverley

paddle-steamer-waverley-fasteners

Paddle Steamer Waverley, built in 1946 for the LNE Railway, now operated and maintained by Waverley Excursions Ltd, is at the moment sailing on the Clyde. During the summer months, day pleasure cruises are run from its Glasgow and Clyde bases to piers and ports, and lochs and islands of the west coast of Scotland. Day cruises are also available from the Liverpool, Bristol Channel, South Coast and Thames areas of the UK.

paddle-steamer-engine-room

Thomas Smith Fasteners in Glasgow are proud to supply PS Waverley with a range of fasteners, including some special bolts which are used in the critical paddle wheel application.

paddle-wheel-bolts

For further information, visit www.waverleyexcursions.co.uk.

M20 x 60 14.9 Bolts for pressure-critical equipment

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.

Oil & Gas Project – M20 x 6 Metre Tie Bars Galvanised

M20 x 6 metre tie bars galv oil & gas fasteners

Recently we had a request to help a customer out on some M20 x 6 Metre Tie Bars Galvanised for an oil and gas project in the North Sea. The rods were needed very quickly to hold buoys together on a platform.

It is challenging to locate EN19T bar in 6 metre lengths. We purchased oversize bar in the heat treated condition and had it turned down and reeled to ensure straightness. We managed to get the bars into our machine shop and threading to M20 x 2.5 pitch.

Once the threads were finished, we spray galvanised the threads in a controlled enviroment and delivered to the customer within 7 days.

Another satisfied customer!