Fastener selection is simple, right? Choose the right size nail or screw and you’re done. But while many users understand the differences between a nail and a screw or even a collated screw versus a hog ring, far fewer appreciate the thought that goes into industrial fastener selection. No one will praise you for choosing the right fastener, but you can be sure choosing the wrong or lesser-quality fastener will get you more attention than you want. And not in a good way.
By choosing the wrong type of industrial fastener for the application, you run the risk of serious safety and operational disasters such as:
- Shorter product life and performance
- Increased labor and repair costs
- Voided warranties
- Poor connection capabilities
- Safety issues from leaks or load failure
To help in your fastener selection, we’ve created this handy guide to help you choose the right fastener for your application. LINC Systems has fasteners for just about every industry: Pallets & Crating, Furniture & Bedding, Sheds & Fencing, Housing Components & Wall Panels, Millwork, Boats & RVs, Picture Framing, Food & Beverage and Direct Construction and Industrial Markets.
Don’t hesitate to contact our team of experts to assist you in selecting the right fasteners and tools for your application.
Guide to Collated Fasteners and Accessories
There are fastening tools and accessories for just about every industrial need.
Collated fasteners refer to a group of fasteners (such as nails, staples, or screws) that are pre-arranged and joined together in strips or coils. This allows for efficient and convenient use with compatible tools, such as nail guns or staplers. They are typically bundled by plastic, paper or wire in a way that allows for rapid reloading and continuous operation, enhancing productivity in various construction, woodworking, and manufacturing applications.
If you’re curious how to select the right fastener for your needs, we have you covered. Learn more about the most common industrial fasteners, tools and accessories on the market today:
Collated Nails
Collated nails are packaged connected in strips or coils for use with a nail gun. Commonly used to facilitate work in construction and carpentry, collated nails come in different sizes and coatings depending on application requirements. Collated nail options can include coil, finish, brads and pins, hi-load coil nails, strip nails, pallet nails, scrails and ballistics.
Coil Nails
Coil nails are steel wire nails bound together with thin paper or plastic and wound into a coil shape for high volume tasks and used with a nail gun. Coil nails can come in galvanized or non-galvanized options and are ideal for constructions tasks such as framing, subflooring, sheathing, decking, fencing, siding, roofing, pallet and crate manufacture and repair, and more.
Hi-Load Coil Nails
These nails are designed to handle industrial applications and require a tool with a high capacity magazine. Hi-load coil nails are ideal for industrial applications, such as pallet manufacturing, crate building, and robotic manufacturing. They are typically packaged in a sturdy plastic axle with a protective paper cover to protect the nails during shipment and storage.
Brad Nails
Brad nails are small, thin nails made from 18-gauge wire with very small heads for aesthetic purposes. They’re typically used for finish work in carpentry and are ideal for applications such as trim, molding, and cabinets. Collated brads are for use with nail guns allow for faster construction.
Finish Nails
Finish nails are more heavy duty than brad nails and are typically made of 15- or 16-gauge wire. They’re ideal for carpentry work that needs more binding strength and driving power. Finishing nails come in a wider variety of lengths than most brad nails
Pallet Nails
Pallet nails are flat-headed screw-shank fasteners used in pallet construction and are available in collated coil pallet nail and bulk pallet nail options. Choosing the wrong pallet nail can lead to irreparable damage to a product load during storage and transport. Choosing a pallet fastener that offers stiffer joints as well as better withdrawal and pull-through values is critical.
>> Pallet Nailer Guide to Better Wooden Pallet Assembly
Strip Nails
Strip nails are typically used for framing and construction and come packaged in strips of paper or plastic for use with nail guns. Paper strips reduces jamming and increases efficiency and plastic strips are ideal for outdoor projects. These can range from pins to anchors, clipped head to roundhead nails, joist hanger nails to duplex nails and more.
Cap Fasteners
Cap fasteners help seal out moisture, which is helpful in the attachment of house wrap and roof underlayment. Caps provide better holding power than either nails or staples alone, which means fewer fasteners are needed to accomplish the job.
Furniture Clips
Furniture clips are typically used in the connection between the frame and the spring of mattresses and the assembly of upholstered furniture and car seats. These can include spring anchor clips, clinch clips, C-rings and more.
Corrugated Fasteners
Corrugated fasteners are made from cold rolled steel strips and have a chisel point that can be driven into wood to clamp two objects together. Corrugated fasteners offer strong holding power and durability in a variety of applications that include joining mitered wood, timber or composite joints.
Hog Rings
Hog Rings are C-shaped or D-shaped fasteners with sharp or blunt points that can be bent to fasten two objects together. Galvanized and stainless-steel pneumatic hog rings are available in a wide variety of sizes and various features such as C-Ring and D-Rings, and blunt tip and sharp tip. Optimal for many applications including automotive seating, bag closure, bedding, fencing, spring mattress and more.
Scrail Fasteners
SCRAIL® fasteners are nail screw fasteners manufactured by Fasco and can be driven twice as fast as collated screws. Due to its thread, the SCRAIL achieves approx. 80 % and more of the holding force of a screw and can be returned and unscrewed after insertion. They are available in a variety of collations, heads and coatings to help increase productivity and can be used for almost all screw applications. Scrails are driven like a normal nail with a conventional pneumatic nailer.
Collated Screws
Collated screws are screws that are attached to each other in some way as a strip or a coil and provides faster installation and better results in drywall, decking and flooring applications. Structural screws are high-strength, heat-treated construction screws that can be used in place of lag screws for stronger and more lasting connections.
Staples
Staples can be both light duty and heavy duty and are available in various thickness including fine wire, heavy wire and medium wire, various crown widths and gauges, as well as coil or stick options. These are ideal for pallets, crating, subflooring and other applications.
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Fastening Tools
Fastening tools apply fasteners like nails, screws and staples. Fastening Tools include automated tools, nailers, staplers and screw guns. It also includes accessories like clip tools, cordless nailers, corrugated tools, hog ring pliers, nailers, packaging and carton closing staplers, and rebar tying tools.
>> 6 Nailers and Staple Tools for Lumberyard and Construction Dealers
Why Attributes Matter in Fastener Selection: How to Choose a Fastener
How do I choose the right screw, nail or staple for my needs? If you find yourself asking this question, don’t worry. We’ve created a handy glossary of fastener facts to help you on your way. Below, you’ll find the most common attributes to consider when selecting fasteners:
Fastener Type
The most common types of fasteners include nails, screws, clips, pins, rivets, staples, bolts and anchors. They are available in a variety of sizes and styles to suit every industrial need.
Fastener Diameter
The thread diameter (T) of most fasteners is measured on the outside of the threads. The shank diameter (S) is the measurement of the area directly under the fastener head. The root diameter (R) is the measurement of the fastener inside the threads.
Fastener Galvanization
Galvanization protects fasteners from corrosion. It works by coating the steel with zinc. The amount of zinc applied is critical to its basic corrosion resistance and can be applied in three ways:
- Hot Dipped: Nails are dipped in a vat of molten zinc
- Mechanical: Nails are tumbled with zinc balls
- Electrogalvanized: Zinc is attracted to nail by electrostatic charge
Fastener Finishes
Other than galvanization, fasteners can come in a wide range of finishes done through plating and coating. These refer to the finish that is present on the surface of a fastener. Different finishes are required for different applications, materials and environmental conditions.
>> A Guide To Fastener Finishes For Industrial Applications
Fastener Length
Fastener length is typically measured from the under the head of the fastener (where the surface of the material sits) to the end of the fastener. One exception is for countersunk fasteners that sit flush with the surface of the material. In this case, the length is measured from the top of the head to the fastener point.
Nail Points
Knowing the different kinds of nail points will help you match the proper fastener for the type of wood used in an application.
- Diamond points are used mostly for soft woods because the sharper point drives easier, offers better withdrawal strength and splits woods easier.
- Chisel points are used mostly for hardwood because the blunter point drives harder, has less withdrawal strength and splits wood less.
- Ballistic points are used for wood to light gauge steel applications and is shaped like a bullet.
Nail Shank
The nail shank does the bulk of the holding. Variations of the shank include smooth shank, ring shank, screw shank and spiral shank.
Source:Bostitch
Nail Type
Nails are among the most common fasteners and are available in three different variations:
- Coil nails are made for high-volume applications, these coils contain large quantities of nails that minimize reloading time and help you work faster.
- Stick nails are common in construction because fewer nails can be loaded into your nail gun, making the tool lighter and easier to maneuver.
- Finish nails, T-nails and Pins are usually rectangular, rather than having a round cross section and have a smaller diameter than coil and stick nails. This makes them ideal for finish work.
Shank Deformation
Shank deformation is a term that differentiates threaded shank nails from smooth shank nails. Ring shank nails or screw shank nails simply implies a greater holding power than that of a smooth nail (plain shank) and is ideal in applications where expansion and contraction are an issue.
Plain shank is common in applications such as framing. Ring shank nails are used in softwood applications because softwood has fibers that bend but don’t break. Screw shank nails are used in hard wood applications and twists itself into the wood.
Staple Crown
Staples are commonly used fasteners in every application include office work, furniture building, pallet construction and carton closing. To accommodate such a wide variety of tasks, choose from different variations of staples. They include wide crown staples, medium crown staples and narrow crown staples.
Wide crown staples are heavy-duty staples used for roofing, furniture framing and carton to skid attachment. They are measured in gauges. The smaller the gauge, the heavier the staple.
Medium crown staples are commonly used in construction for shingles, fascia, soffits and fencing, but can also be used in furniture framing and pallet making.
Narrow crown staples are used in applications considered to be more “delicate” and include installation of trim, lattice, drawer making applications and installing soffit and fascia.
Fastener Thread Pitch
Thread pitch is used in metric fasteners and indicates the distance between threads in millimeters (mm). Typically, smaller screws will have finer threads and lower thread pitch. Larger screws will have coarser threads and a higher thread pitch. American fasteners use what is called a thread count, or threads per inch (TPI), which counts the number of threads along the length of a fastener.
Types of Materials
Fasteners can be made from a variety of materials and each material has predetermined strength, brittleness, hardness and corrosion resistance. Common materials include plain steel, stainless steel, aluminum, hardened steel or galvanized steel. But fasteners can be constructed from plastic, titanium and more. Always consider the result you are looking for when considering the material your fastener will be constructed from.
>> Discover the quality of LINC's full line of Pro-Drive Premium pallet nails
5 Points to Remember When Choosing Fasteners
1. Know the application.
Obviously, you need to know the application in which the fastener will be used, but you should also be mindful of how that fastener will impact the end-user or customer and the quality of your product. What purpose will the end product serve? Will fasteners be used to open and close repeatedly on a product or will the product experience vibration? Then, a fastener made from a long-lasting material may be the wise choice. Are you building pallets to meet high load capacity or transportation needs? Then, choose a high-quality nail that resists corrosion and ensures strong joints for longer pallet life.
2. Know the fastening tool.
To choose the right fastener, you must understand the tool you’ll be using to apply it. Nails, screws, staples and other fasteners have specific needs and require tools that are specific to the application. Mixing and matching fasteners and fastening tools is rarely successful as different tools have varying amounts of torque or speed and can cause damage to the workpiece of the fastener. Be sure to know the limitations of your fastener and workpiece, as well as the specifications associated with the tool itself. And don’t forget to include routine maintenance of your fastening tools to keep them in peak condition.
>> How Often Should You Lubricate Your Pneumatic Nailers And Staplers?
3. Know the material.
Choose a fastener that not only matches the material in your fastener assembly, but also consider using a stronger material than the parts they support. Choose materials based on the properties that are appropriate for the application, such as temperate minimums and maximums, chemical composition and hardness factors. Finish hardness is another attribute to consider. When selecting the best finish for your fasteners consider safety, corrosion resistance, joint functionality and impact resistance.
4. Know your specifications.
Be sure to understand the various specifications of both the job and the fastener and match them accordingly. For example, consider staple selection. You need staples for your carton-closing applications and you know you need galvanized steel to resist corrosion. That’s a great start. But what size crown do you need? What size gauge? There are countless varieties of industrial staples and choosing the wrong one can be challenging.
>> How To Choose The Right Pneumatic Trigger For Improved Tool Safety
5. Don’t pinch pennies.
The integrity of a finished product weighs heavily on the choice of fasteners. Don’t attempt to cut costs or save money by choosing an inferior fastener. The last thing you’ll want in any application is a weak joint or poor connection, so try to think long-term with regard to fastener selection. Choose high quality fasteners that stand the test of time.
>> Use our Fastener Finder to find what you need.
If you’re not sure about the fasteners your job requires, reach out to your knowledgeable LINC Systems representative. We can help you identify the right tools, fasteners and accessories you need to work smarter and safer. If you have any questions on fastener selection, please click here to contact us. Or give us a call at 800-513-9918.