Everyone's Favorite Bolt Material?

[Toestr]

By bolt I mean machine screws, just figured by putting bolt I'd get fewer lewd responses.

Anyway what do you guys like? Stainless? Black oxide? Zinc plated? Something else?

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[djeclypse]

Overall? I prefer grade 5 or grade 8. For automotive use. For PB, whatever matches the look I'm going for. Zinc, chrome, nickel, black, I've used all.

[Siress]

Stainless steel, typically. Everything else runs the risk of becoming a project down the line.

[k_obeastly]

normally stainless but sometimes brass to make a nelson purdy

[Bulldogr6]

This is very application dependent. Definitely all have their pros and cons if you use the wrong one can really get you in the jamb. For decorative and the fact that don't rust or tarnish I like stainless but if it ever seizes or breaks off it's a whole lot harder to drill so removing the remnants can be up p i t a.

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[glaman5266]

95% of the time I go stainless. If stainless looks out of place I go with black ones.

[Grendel]

Depends on the application, the material of a fastener should be chosen by the characteristics needed for the fastener. IF we are talking paintball I guess for most applications Stainless Steel but understand Stainless Steel and Aluminum are actually not a great match for materials due to galvanic corrosion caused between the two. This and over torqueing of fasteners is one of the reasons threads get stripped on paintball markers so often it seems. This is particularly a problem with fine threads. This is less of a problem if the Aluminum is anodized after threading but still is a problem especially in paintball those two dissimilar metals will be in contact with an aqueous solution and sometimes for extended periods due to lack of marker hygiene. That being said most of my spare hardware I buy is stainless steel that I keep on hand for my paintball equipment. I have been know to use aluminum hardware on parts that do not require super high strength.

[iamthelazerviking]

Plain ol stainless steel

[Toestr]

Stainless seems to be the favorite thus far. How concerned should I be about galling?

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[gabe]

Yes but also no. Stainless is softer than normal higher carbon steel so it can definitely gall if over tightened. Another issue with stainless is it will get galvanic corrosion if used in raw aluminum so you'll need to have some sort of anti-seize in that case.

For paintball I use stainless screws almost exclusively. Not enough torque is used to make any difference and the guns come apart enough that you don't have to worry about corrosion. For auto or aircraft application a good high grade carbon steel bolt with cad plating is best.

[Siress]

Yes but also no. Stainless is softer than normal higher carbon steel so it can definitely gall if over tightened. Another issue with stainless is it will get galvanic corrosion if used in raw aluminum so you'll need to have some sort of anti-seize in that case.

For paintball I use stainless screws almost exclusively. Not enough torque is used to make any difference and the guns come apart enough that you don't have to worry about corrosion. For auto or aircraft application a good high grade carbon steel bolt with cad plating is best.

I've not seen galvanic corrosion between SS/Al in paintball parts since anodizing is so thick. Anodizing acts as a protective barrier, like the clad plating you referred to for carbon steel. If loaded enough to gall through the ano layer, then yes... seized for sure given adequate time. So, it good practice to use some anti-seize or blue thread locker to mitigate the issue.

[gabe]

Like I said "if used in raw aluminum". Obviously if you have a protective layer like anodizing there is no issues with SS hardware. I also mentioned that I exclusively use stainless in my paintball guns. Since corrosion from the paintball goo and water and stuff is the main concern stainless is the one to use in paintball applications.

[William the Third]

Cheese or chocolate.

[Tarsun2]

i thought you didnt need to worry much about SS/Al and corrosion unless there was electricity involved....
but i could be wrong (as is often the case)

Steel frame trailers with aluminum walls/enclosures. 9 out of 10 times, the wiring is grounded to the steel frame which causes problems down the line if the burrier between the SS/Al wears out. usually there's a pad between the two metals.


either way, SS is nice as it does not rust with the water soluble paint. but brass looks oh-so-pretty.

[Grendel]

Dissimilar metals are dissimilar metals so exchange of electrons happens upon contact, and an aqueous solution being involved just helps/speed the galvanic reaction. Paint slime is a good aqueous solution and many people lack good marker hygiene. This is one of the reasons I like a water/alcohol solution for cleaning, the alcohol helps cut the residue and aids in the evaporation process so when you reassemble a marker it is dry.

Anodizing helps provide insulation between the metals but that is only if threads are anodized after being cut and Type II anodization is not really tough and just a few insert/removals will wear through and expose the base metal (Aluminum) to the SS

[Tarsun2]

i stand corrected lol

[Grendel]

No problem, the legacy of spending my career in Nuclear Power and Electro-mechanical Failure Analysis you tend to pick up a lot of material science background.

[Cunha]

Titanium if they exist and you wanna spend the money.

[Siress]

if you thought SS to Al galvanic corrosion was bad...oooo wee... wait 'n see.