Introduction
Looking up dimensions for fasteners is something that engineers, designers and analysts have to do on a routine basis. Given the variety of fastener options available, as well as the various industry codes and standards used it can sometimes be difficult to identify the specific dimensions required for your particular needs. Fortunately, there are a number of resources online which can be utilized to get the required information. In this article we will provide a reference to one such resource which to our knowledge is one of the most complete and useful database for anything fastener related.
Global Fastener Website
This Global Fastener website is an excellent resource. It is essentially a database of fastener suppliers as well as the CAD / geometric details for various fastener types. Here is how they describe themselves:
“For a long time, international fastener trade has been limited to a single market mode: production relies on orders, orders cling to exhibitions. Although the Internet has been widely used among fastener suppliers and purchasers, it’s still limited to a small part, which means that most purchasers and end users keep the original habit of buying fasteners by going to a nearby market or terminal place. In view of this situation, the latest service mode “Global Fastener Supermarket Chains“ comes into being. Global Fastener is committed to efficiently collecting first-hand high-quality purchase orders for our VIP members, while matching suitable suppliers in a timely manner.
GlobalFastener.com creates a channel of distribution for you! It costs less than what a company spends on one exhibition. You’re able to get a one-whole-year (365 days) products show and firsthand business opportunities.
Instead of doing our own business, GlobalFastener Supermarket Chains but laying distribution sources for our VIP companies. The products of our VIP members will be displayed on the platform to achieve a better promotion effect and form a model combining offline channel network and online trade platform.
In addition, for those manufacturers who have products in stock, it is possible to sell their products through the Global Fastener Supermarket Chain.”
Hexagon Head Bolts Metric Dimensions
As an example, below is a schematic of a Hexagon Head Bolt with fine pitch threads taken from the global fastener platform. It labels several fastener dimensions.
On the same page you will see a chart with the dimensions for M8 – M27 bolts:
You could also click on one of the sizes on the toolbar on the left in Figure 1 and get a fully dimensions bolt schematic:
There are some other useful features as well. You can calculate the weight of the bolt, determine the tolerance stack up, and in some cases, even download CAD models of the fastener.
You can also calculate the weight and cost of the fastener depending on your choice of material (by entering the material density).
Vast Capabilities
The above was just for a particular fastener class. The capabilities of what you can do with this website is quite staggering. Take a look at the screenshot below. Pretty much everything in this screenshot is clickable. You can pick whatever filters you desire and the relevant information will be displayed to you.
It is no surprise that the website offers paid memberships with various tiers. I have not explored what feature are available with each tier though I feel that the free features suffice for my engineering design and analysis related needs.