Bolts or Set Screws - What is the difference?

Most customers, unless they work in the engineering industry, are not even aware that there is a difference between these two items. Many have never even heard of a set screw.

But just to make sure you get the item that you really need for the job, here is the explanation.

HEXAGON BOLT	HEXAGON SET SCREW

As you can clearly see, a bolt has a portion of the shank that is not threaded, whereas the set screw is threaded all the way to the head. This makes the bolt slightly stronger than the set screw, as whenever a thread is cut onto a shank a small amount of metal is removed by the process.

Bolts are usually used to secure items in place, tightening and holding by use of a threaded nut (and often a washer). The plain part of the shank varies in length.

Set screws are usually fully inserted into the receiving object, and are commonly used to connect two objects together. They are usually used with wood, metal and plastics.

We stock a wide range of bolts and set screws in various metric and imperial sizes and in a range of finishes.