Monroe EFI is headquartered in Canton, MA, and possesses extensive expertise in fasteners and their ideal applications. Stainless steel machine screws are a popular fastener choice for assembling machines and other assemblies where nut-and-bolt combinations cannot or should not be used for functional or aesthetic reasons. Also known as stove bolts, machine screws have distinct differences from regular screws. These bolts are typically narrower and smaller than ordinary screws and are generally available in two variations: coarse (24 threads per inch) and fine (32 threads per inch).
Essex Junction, Vermont stainless steel machine screws offer several advantages:
- Secure machinery and equipment components without nuts or washers.
- Provide a secure attachment with greater strength due to the amount of contact area with the fastened piece.
- Highly corrosion resistant for longer life and greater reliability.
Stainless steel machine screws for Essex Junction, Vermont, usually have narrow diameters and threads from the top to the tip for insertion into pre-threaded holes. Like other types of screws, machine screws come in a wide range of head types, head shapes, and materials, including stainless steel, carbon steel, zinc-coated steel, and nylon.
Still, stainless steel is a popular choice because it is known for its extra corrosion resistance and ability to withstand high temperatures. Regular carbon steel rusts when exposed to moisture, but stainless steel does not. Rust resistance is created by mixing ordinary steel with other elements, particularly chromium. Stainless steel is defined as steel that contains more than 10 percent chromium. Instead of rusting, the chromium in stainless steel oxidizes and forms a nearly invisible protective layer on the steel when exposed to moisture. The most basic type of stainless steel is a mixture of iron and chromium with a ferrite crystal structure, which is why it’s called ferritic stainless steel. These corrosion-resistant fasteners are ideally suited for many harsh-environment commercial and military applications.
Most machine screws are made of 18/8 stainless steel, otherwise known as type 304. It has nickel added to it — like most types of stainless steel — to create an austenite crystal structure instead of ferrite. Austenitic stainless steel is considered to be ductile, strong, and easy to shape. That’s why type 304 is the most commonly used stainless steel. Since 18/8 stainless steel is annealed, it isn’t magnetic. Therefore, neither are stainless steel machine screws near Essex Junction, Vermont. A lower-carbon version of type 304 stainless steel (called 304L) is used in particularly corrosive environments.
To learn more about stainless steel machine screws and which ones might be right for your specific application, contact the stainless steel fastener specialists here at Monroe EFI.
