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.

Fast Turnaround – Special UNC Zinc Nickel Bolts to Abu Dhabi

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!

Problem Solving – M12 x M10 x 55 Reducing Studs

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.

In-house Special Fastener Manufacture – Large Diameter Pins

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.

 

Mach 12 Machine Tool Exhibition

The Mach 12 exhibition at the NEC is held every two years to showcase the machine tool industry and associated products.

The global, quality, and precision aspects of this industry were demonstrated by the number of Formula 1 cars on display.

Machining is an important secondary function that is of significant importance to us, especially when manufacturing specials.

Useful contacts were made with tooling and quality equipment suppliers.