For screws going into wood there should always be a pre-drilled hole. Without a hole the difficulty installing a screw gets much worse, the holding power decreases and the danger of splitting the wood increases. A good rule of thumb is that the pre-drill should be slightly smaller than the root diameter of the thread. It is best if it is a little larger in very hard wood and a little smaller in soft wood. Some adjustment may be required depending on the particular conditions. Some common recommended sizes are listed below.

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Evergrip ® Spike: 11/16” 
Permagrip ® Spike 7/16” 
15/16” Screw spike 11/16” 
5/8” Recessed Head timber Screws: 3/8” 
3/4” Recessed Head timber Screws: 1/2”

Unfortunately the answer is “it depends.” Installation torque is a complex issue that needs to take in to account the type of fastener, the installation method, thread lubrication and other installation factors. Determining the proper tightening torque is ultimately the responsibility of an appropriately qualified engineer familiar with the installation.

Our knowledgeable staff is always ready to give assistance on product selection, usage, installation, product properties, and performance. Call our sales office or engineer anytime. We guarantee that our fasteners meet the relevant standards and specifications, but we cannot be responsible for their suitability for a specific application. The expertise of an appropriately qualified engineer familiar with the application is ultimately required to determine the suitability for any particular use.

We do not normally manufacture ASTM A325 bolts. We frequently see requests for a variety of A325 bolts. However, the ASTM standard for A325 is specifically reserved for use with heavy hex structural bolts with standard thread length. For any other fasteners, ASTM refers readers to A449, which has the same properties.

We have found there is no consistent meaning in the industry of what customers expect when they ask for certs. We are happy to provide whatever certifications are requested by the customer. Our normal “cert” is a statement for each shipment signed by an authorized company official that the parts meet their requirements. This is acceptable to most customers. If you require more specific information we can produce your required detailed documents, country of origin certifications, steel chemical certs and even mechanical testing reports from our lab.

We normally make parts that range in diameter from 3/8” to 2.” Lengths can be anywhere from a few inches up to several feet.

In most cases, we do not have the materials, tooling, or inspection equipment to manufacture metric fasteners. As always, if you have something unusual that you are having trouble finding, give us a call, we may be able to help.

We carry stock on several finished items with the capability of quick turnaround. Many of our bolts are made from blanks that only need a small amount of processing to complete and can be ready to ship quickly. Other parts may need to be manufactured completely. Call our sales office with your delivery requirements and we will do our best to meet them.

Virtually all of our bolts and screws are made in our factory in La Junta, Colorado. We do not make nuts and washers ourselves. We either buy them from distributors or have them made especially to our exacting standards domestically or overseas. Most items can be obtained from certified domestic sources when required.

We do import some nuts, washers, castings and a few specialty bolts. We typically only import when we do not have the capability to make the part and we can’t find a competitive source in the US. We import from a limited pool of vendors that we have established an ongoing relationship with and that have demonstrated the ability to produce parts to our standards. All imported parts are carefully inspected and fully tested in our Colorado plant and are required to live up to the same high standards as the fasteners we produce.

Our part numbers contain codes for the type of fastener, diameter, length, grade, and finish. For drilled bolts, the location and size of the drill is also encoded. A detailed explanation and brief list is included here.

We forge raised head marking on to almost every fastener we make. Every part will have an LB which is our registered trademark to identify fasteners that we make. Beyond that, parts may have grade markings or may have the year or year and month the head was formed. Other identification can be added as needed. These marking help customers know what grade the fastener is and can help us determine when it was made for traceability.

Occasionally a fastener that we supply may break. Frequently the causes of failures are quite complicated and sometimes are never fully understood. Studies have show that at least 75% of the fasteners that fail in service do so as a result of application or (improper) installation issues. If you feel you have a defective fastener or group of fasteners, we will replace it. Whenever possible we would like the opportunity to investigate. There are a few things that would help us investigate a failure:

1. The broken part: The pieces of a broken fastener are instrumental in determining what went wrong. Feel free to contact us and we will pay for shipping for broken parts to use in an investigation. We prefer to see the part just as it was found. Do not clean it or fit the pieces back together again. Package it carefully to avoid damage to the fracture surfaces in shipping.

2. The lot number: Your PO number or any other information on when it was purchased. All of our packages are marked with a lot number. With that number we can easily obtain the history for those parts, including raw material identification, inspection records, and testing and heat treat records. If there is a date marked on the head that can also be very useful.

3. Any details on the circumstances of the failure: Things such as pictures, sketches or descriptions are also very useful. While failures and faulty fasteners are rare, we are here to help solve your problems, whatever the cause.

We will be glad to provide our drawings and specifications for any of our parts. We can help with any of the common fastener standards. While we have current copies of all the standards (ASTM, SAE etc.), we cannot provide copies of them. They are copyrighted documents and legitimate copies should be purchased from the standards organization. We would also recommend that anyone needing technical data on fasteners go to the Industrial Fastener Institute (IFI) www.industrial-fasteners.org. They have excellent reference material and compilations of common standards.

We carry “star” drivers for recessed head timber screws and removal tools for notched dome head drive spikes. We can usually help identify the proper tool for other parts, but do not normally carry other tools. We also carry sockets for some common screw spikes. Contact sales for details.