SAE vs ASTM
There are two specifying bodies when it comes to fasteners. ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) covers primarily bolts and fasteners for construction applications. SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) covers fasteners for automotive, machinery, and OEM applications.

There is no central body that governs both.  They are independent of each other and what they primarily do is define what fasteners (and other items) are made of and how they are made.  They specify everything from the chemical make up of a product to how it’s plated to how it should be welded on and many, many other processes.  It is important that the engineers who design things know exactly what they can expect in terms of strength and durability when they specify a fastener be used in a specific project.  It is equally important to make sure that the material is not damaged or altered by plating or welding it or by improper installation at the job site.

These specifications affect you daily whether you realize it or not.  They determine what fasteners to use when building buildings, cars, oil rigs, roads….just about everything.  Keep this in mind when packaging  parts or pulling your orders.  The parts you pull are not just for Company X or Company Y….they may end up playing a key role in holding up a building where your friends or family may someday work or they may be installed on a highway guard rail that will save someones life when road conditions are wet or icy.  You have no way of knowing what they will be used for so assume every part for every order is absolutely critical.

We see far less SAE specifications here than we do ASTM.  This because we are more associated with the construction side of fasteners than the automotive side.  The few SAE specs that we do use regularly are some of the most common parts that you will pull in your day to day work. SAE J429 covers the specifications for Grades 2, 5, and 8 hex bolts (SAE J995 covers the same grades for hex nuts.)  It specifies, among other things, the head marking, the tensile strength, and yield strength.

Below is a short list of common ASTM specifications along with what they cover in common lay terms.  These are some of the more common but this is only a small portion of the complete list: