There are a number of fastener materials available, all with their pros and cons. From stainless steel to brass, choosing the right fastener material is crucial to the success of your project.
Each respective material has different levels of corrosion resistance, tensile strength, and brittleness, and you need to weigh up these factors before deciding which is best for your specific needs.
With that in mind, here’s a quick overview of some of the most popular fastener materials.
Brass Fasteners
Brass harnesses the inherent strengths of copper and zinc, making a very effective fastener material. It’s resistant to corrosion and delivers the added benefit of being conductive to electricity.
The problem with brass is that it’s one of the softer fastener materials, meaning its load-bearing capabilities are limited. That said, their distinctive looks make brass fasteners popular for more decorative or stylistic items such as furniture.
Aluminium Fasteners
Aluminium has the benefit of being an extremely light fastener material, and, like brass, it’s corrosion-resistant. However, it suffers from the same drawback of not being particularly strong, since it’s also a light and soft metal.
However, it’s useful for light-load fastening in environments where other, more robust materials would struggle with corrosion, such as within the maritime industry.
Silicon Bronze Fasteners
Another fastener material that is predominately used in the marine industry is silicon bronze. This alloy combines copper, tin, and silicon to make this material ultra-corrosion-resistant. These marine-grade bolts and screws are preferred for wooden boat constructions.
The principal drawback of silicon bronze as a fastener material is that it’s not cheap, often coming in at significantly more than other comparable fastener materials.
Alloy Steel Fasteners
Alloy steel is carbon steel with the elements such as silicon, manganese, and chromium added to it to increase strength and enhance ductility (the capacity of a material to deform permanently when exposed to heat, e.g., stretching, bending, or spreading).
However, the drawback associated with alloy steel is its increased susceptibility to hydrogen embrittlement.
Stainless Steel Fasteners
Perhaps the common fastener material, stainless steel, is an alloy created by combining low-carbon steel and chromium. Once again, stainless steel boasts anti-corrosive properties and shouldn’t corrode during installation. That being said, you should always take care to avoid mixing fastener materials when conjoining materials since that will likely lead to galvanic corrosion.
Standard stainless steel fasteners are also more prone to galling as they are considerably weaker than hardened steel fasteners. They also tend to be the least magnetic of the available steel alloys.
Source All Fastener Materials Under One Roof with Leyton Fasteners
Whether you’re restoring a classic car or undertaking an industrial-scale project, we have all of the popular fastener materials in stock at Leyton Fasteners. Not only do we have a broad spectrum of materials, but we also have a range of grades, tensile strengths, and specialist fasteners with specific applications.
In other words, no matter what you need, as long as it’s a fastener, we can supply it to you. Our friendly service team can also help you decide which fasteners might best suit your specific requirements if you are unsure.
So, whether you’re after marine fasteners or obsolete fasteners, contact us on 0151 355 8045 or visit our online shop to place your order today.
