Fasteners play a crucial role in part design, manufacturing, and assembly. These little pieces of hardware are simple and inexpensive, but without them we would struggle to make many important things: furniture, architectural structures, computers, flooring, vehicles, and much more.

The role of a fastener is to mechanically join two or more components together. You can join components in many ways, but what is unique about fasteners is that they typically (though not always) create non-permanent joints.

Fasteners are ubiquitous, and you will encounter many of them on a day-to-day basis. Some of the most common types of industrial metal fastener are:

Screws
Nuts
Bolts
Rivets
Threaded inserts and rods
Washers
However, the category of fasteners also includes hardware used outside of industry, such as nails for DIY and woodworking; buttons, buckles, and zippers for apparel; pegs and cable ties for home use; and staples, pins, and paperclips for office tasks.

All of these fastener types works in slightly different mechanical ways, but all of them are used in the joining or assembly of objects. With a few exceptions, most industrial fasteners are made of metal, usually steel (stainless steel, carbon steel, alloy steel), aluminum, or titanium. Many of the parts we make at 3ERP — including machined, molded, and sheet metal parts — are ultimately assembled using fasteners.

This guide looks in detail at the different kinds of fastener and explains how they work and how to use them. It may be helpful for our prototyping customers who are developing multi-component products that require assembly with fasteners.