Compare Different Fasteners: Difference Between Bolt, Screw, Rivet and Nut | CNCLATHING

2020.12.7

In the mechanical industry, various fasteners are used to assembly CNC components, structures, and other joints. How to identify a vast range of fasteners and which one to choose in specific applications? In this article, we’ll compare different fasteners and discuss the difference between bolt, screw, rivet, and nut.

A Brief Introduction to Common Types of Fasteners

To distinguish different fasteners and find the right choice, you should know about their basic construction, appearance, material, function, and more features. 

Bolt: a bolt is a type of threaded fastener with thread on the external surface, needs to be connected with a female threaded part like nuts.

Screw: a broad category of mechanical fastener with a male thread on the shaft, which is similar to the bolt.

Rivet: a rivet is a kind of mechanical fastener for permanent fastening, rivets have no threads.

Nut: a nut is a class of fastener with a threaded hole, the thread is on its interior surface, the nut is always used in conjunction with a mating bolt.

Stud: A stud is a fastener usually without a head like a screw, it’s actually a metal rod or shaft with threads on both sides intended to accept nuts, studs are often designed to be permanently attached to one part.

Nail: A nail is a common fastener consisting of a long and narrow piece of solid metal with a pointed tip and flattened head, often used in construction and woodworking applications.

Screw vs Bolt - Difference Between Bolt and Screw

The bolt is a type of parts similar to a screw. From the applications, screws are usually made from metal, commonly used to hold things together or lift heavy objects and to tighten things. Bolts are typically used to hold materials or objects together, or to position objects. Then what’s the difference between screws and bolts?

1. Bolts are used to assemble unthreaded objects, typically with the use of a nut, while screws are used to assemble threaded objects and mate with a preformed internal thread or forming its own thread, required to be tightened or released by torquing the head, even though not all parts in which screws are used already have threads. 

2. A screw is screwed into an object and a bolt connects multiple objects together. 

3. Generally, bolts are sold with matching nuts, which not packaged with screws.

4. Screws must be turned to assemble a joint, while bolts can be secured in place using a tool or a carriage bolt. 

5. The shafts of bolts are not tapered, often with flat ends, while many screws are tapered, with a sharp tip. 

Rivet vs Bolt - Difference Between Rivet and Bolt

Rivets can attach multiple metal sheets together, so rivets are widely used in some applications that nails or other fasteners can’t be competent, such as gutter construction. It’s also a good choice for window blinds, hanger straps, doors, and more uses. Here in our guides, you can understand different types of rivets and their uses. Now, check out the difference between bolts and rivets.

1. A bolt acts like a screw and has male threads, a rivet consists of a smooth cylindrical shaft with a head on one end, with no threads.

2. A bolt easy to put together and take apart, a rivet likes a metal stick holding two pieces of metal together, the only way to take it out is to cut or drill it out. 

3. A bolt joint is a temporary joint in which a threaded bolt is inserted in a hole and tightened by a nut in the opposite side, a rivet joint is a permanent joint, two plates are connected by inserting a rivet in a drilled hole. 

4. Installing a rivet needs to make the tail thickened or bucked through smashing the tail material flatter, and expand to about 1.5 times the original shaft diameter, while bolts usually only need a nut. 

Bolt vs Nut - Difference Between Bolt and Nut

1. A bolt is a long metallic piece with a threaded shaft, a nut is a small hexagonal object made out of metal. 

2. The bolts are solid cylinders with threads on external, while nuts are hollow circular cylinders with threads on internal.

3. Nuts have a lock mechanism to prevent loosening, bolts don’t have. 

4. Nuts do not have heads, bolts have heads on one end. 

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