Fully Threaded

The fasteners we're focusing on this week are Tap Bolts, which may or may not be a term that’s only used at Earnest Machine. Going over Tap Bolts with Kevin, he said he’d actually never heard the term before he came here! To him, a Tap is something that forms or cuts a thread, not the fully-threaded bolt we know and love.

No matter what you call it, this specific bolt has its own pros can cons:

PROS:

• As mentioned, it’s fully threaded, so there’s no concern in cutting it to a shorter length like there would be with a bolt that has a shoulder.

• Because of the above point, Tap Bolts eliminate the need to stock a lot of different parts (i.e. a bunch of different size bolts with various lengths of threading and shoulders). So there’s flexibility in stocking them

CONS:

• Because they’re fully threaded, they’re slightly weaker than the bolts with a shoulder. An engineer wouldn’t pick Tap Bolts to outfit an entire product because of this – they like bolts with a shoulder to add strength. However, if a replacement is needed, then a Tap Bolt would be considered

These pros and cons make the Tap Bolt a popular choice for MROs (Maintenance, Repair, and Operating Supplies). Tap Bolts can fit many different applications and MROs like the flexibility they provide.

Have you heard of a different name for Tap Bolts or any additional uses? Let us know in the comments below!