The know-how, in plain English. Guides that skip the jargon, reference charts you can actually read, and quick calculators — the same things our own counter staff lean on every day.
You don’t need to know the lingo to get the right part. If you’re new to fasteners, start with the guides — they walk you through measuring, threads, and finishes one step at a time. If you already know what you’re after, jump straight to the charts and calculators. And if you’d rather just ask a person, that’s what the counter is for.
Start here if a fastener is more or less a mystery. No experience assumed.
The questions we field every day — sizing, grades, finishes, anchors, flanges — answered in plain English, the way we’d tell you in person.
Read the answers →Diameter and thread the same for everything — then the right way to measure length for bolts, flat-heads, studs, and U-bolts. Printable ruler included.
Start measuring →Coarse vs. fine, Grade 5 vs. Grade 8, zinc vs. plain — what each one means and when it actually matters for your job.
Read the guide →The names get used loosely. Here’s the difference in one minute — so you ask for the right thing and we hand you the right thing.
Read the guide →How to tell the two systems apart, the lookalike sizes that cross-thread (M8 vs. 5/16″), and how to read the head markings.
Read the guide →You know roughly what you need — here’s how to pick the right variant for the job.
Thread-forming, thread-cutting, or self-drilling (TEK) — what “self-tapping” really means and how to pick so it doesn’t spin or split.
Read the guide →Which anchor for concrete, brick, block, or drywall — wedge, sleeve, drop-in, concrete screw, toggle — matched to base material and load.
Read the guide →Flat, fender, split lock, star, structural, Belleville — what each one does, when to use it, and the SAE vs. USS size difference.
Read the guide →Hex, nylon-insert lock, jam, castle, flange, coupling, cap — what each is for, plus the nylock heat limit and when to double-nut.
Read the guide →Look-up tables for when you know what you need. Printable, no sign-in.
Threads per inch for every common inch size, coarse and fine, plus the right tap drill for a clean, strong thread.
Open the chart →Pitch and tap-drill sizes (mm) for M3–M24, coarse and fine — the metric companion to the inch thread chart.
Open the chart →The hole to drill for a bolt to pass through — close, normal, and loose fit by size. The companion to the tap-drill chart.
Open the chart →Read the head markings at a glance — Grade 2, 5, 8, A325 and more — with proof, yield, and tensile strength side by side.
Open the chart →Match the recess to find your bit — slotted, Phillips, Pozidriv, square, Torx, hex — plus the common tamper-resistant security drives.
Open the chart →“What kind of bolt is this?” — match the head profile: hex, carriage, socket, button, flat, oval, and more.
Open the chart →What size wrench fits which bolt — across the head, by diameter, for both hex and heavy-hex.
Open the chart →The conversions you reach for constantly — fractions to decimals to millimeters, in one tidy table with a live converter.
Open the chart →Drill the right pilot for a lag screw — by diameter and by wood type — so it bites without splitting.
Open the chart →How many studs and nuts per flanged joint — by size and pressure class (ASME B16.5), with stud diameter and length.
Open the chart →Which nut grade to use with which bolt — Grade 2/5/8, A325, A490, stainless — so the nut is at least as strong as the bolt.
Open the chart →Read across Brinell, Rockwell C, and Rockwell B — plus the approximate tensile strength — for non-austenitic steel.
Open the chart →Plain-English guides to the specs on your prints — SAE J429, ASTM A307, A325, A490, A193 B7, A194 2H, and F1554.
Browse the specs →Quick answers for the shop and the field. Type in your numbers, get a result.
Estimate the weight of a bolt or a box of them by size, length and material — handy for figuring freight before you order.
Open the calculator →A starting-point torque value by bolt size, grade and lube — with a plain note on why these are estimates, not gospel.
Open the calculator →Bring a sample or a photo to either counter, or give us a call. Fifty years in, there’s a good chance we’ve answered exactly your question before — and we’d rather you walk out with the right part than the close-enough one.
