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    Alloy steel is the strength material of the socket screw world. When an application calls for maximum clamping force, wear resistance, and dependable performance under high torque, heat-treated alloy steel socket screws are the standard choice for machine builders, tool and die shops, maintenance teams, and OEM manufacturers.

    Cold Headers has stocked and supplied alloy steel socket products since 1962 — from everyday Socket Head Cap Screws to the complete range of socket set screw point styles, including diameters and lengths that are difficult to find anywhere else.

    When to Specify Alloy Steel

    Heat-treated alloy steel socket head cap screws are commonly manufactured to ASTM A574 strength levels — considerably stronger than ordinary Grade 8 hex hardware — which makes them the default choice for tooling, dies, machine frames, hydraulic equipment, and other high-load assemblies. Most alloy steel socket screws carry a black oxide finish with a light oil coating, which offers mild atmospheric protection but is not intended for wet, washdown, or corrosive service. For food processing, chemical exposure, or outdoor and washdown environments, see our 18-8 Stainless Steel and 316 Stainless Steel socket screws instead.

    Socket Head Cap Screws

    Our alloy steel cap screw line follows current ASME B18.3 dimensions, including 1960 Series head proportions on standard Socket Head Cap Screws. Four head styles cover most design situations:

    • Socket Head Cap Screws — the workhorse: cylindrical head, deep hex socket, maximum strength.
    • Button Head Socket Cap Screws — low, rounded head with a broad bearing surface for lighter-duty fastening with a finished appearance.
    • Flat Head Socket Cap Screws — 82° countersunk head that seats flush with the surrounding surface.
    • Low Head Socket Cap Screws — reduced head height for tight clearances where a standard head won't fit.

    Socket Set Screws — Choosing a Point Style

    Point geometry determines how a set screw grips, and each style creates a different contact condition against the shaft or mating part:

    • Cup Point — the general-purpose default. The recessed rim bites into the mating surface for strong holding power, and may leave a witness mark.
    • Knurled Cup Point — a cup point with serrated locking edges that help resist loosening under vibration.
    • Flat Point — for hardened shafts and applications requiring frequent adjustment with minimal surface marring.
    • Oval Point — rounded contact that reduces surface damage; often used for adjustment against grooves or spotted shafts.
    • Cone Point — a sharp point for permanent or semi-permanent settings, typically seated in a drilled or spotted shaft.
    • Half Dog Point — a short cylindrical pin that locates positively in a drilled hole or slot.
    • Full Dog Point — a longer pin for permanent locating and alignment duties.

    You'll find these fasteners at work across industrial machinery, tool and die operations, automation and robotics, packaging equipment, hydraulics, material

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    Alloy Steel Socket Screws with Nylon Insert (Nylon Patch & Nylon Pellet)

    Vibration loosens fasteners. In automation equipment, robotics, packaging machinery, and anything else that runs all day, ordinary screws back out — and the traditional fix, liquid threadlocker, means cure time, mess, and a fastener that fights you at removal. Nylon insert socket screws solve the problem mechanically: a nylon element embedded in the threads creates prevailing torque, a continuous resistance to rotation that holds the fastener in place without adhesives and without waiting.

    Pellet or Patch?

    Cold Headers supplies alloy steel socket screws with both types of nylon insert, and the difference matters when specifying:

    • Nylon Pellet — a solid nylon plug set radially into the threads, centered on the threaded length. The pellet compresses against the mating thread to deliver concentrated prevailing torque. Pellet inserts are generally available in thread sizes #10 (.190) and larger.
    • Nylon Patch — a bonded nylon coating fused to a section of the threads, distributing locking resistance across a broader area of thread engagement.

    Both styles are reusable: a properly manufactured nylon insert fastener retains useful locking torque through multiple installation cycles — the governing military specification, MIL-DTL-18240, allows five.

    Installed In-House

    Unlike many fastener suppliers that send nylon insert work to outside processors, approximately 99% of our nylon insert installation is performed in-house, in our own machine shop. That means shorter lead times, tighter quality control, and the ability to add a pellet or patch to nearly any alloy steel socket screw we stock — including sizes and configurations no one publishes in a catalog.

    Available Product Families

    • 1960 Series Alloy Steel Socket Head Cap Screws with Nylon Insert
    • Alloy Steel Button Head Socket Cap Screws with Nylon Insert
    • Alloy Steel Flat Head Socket Cap Screws with Nylon Insert
    • Cup Point Alloy Steel Socket Set Screws with Nylon Insert
    • Cone Point Alloy Steel Socket Set Screws with Nylon Insert
    • Flat Point Alloy Steel Socket Set Screws with Nylon Insert
    • Oval Point Alloy Steel Socket Set Screws with Nylon Insert
    • Half Dog Point Alloy Steel Socket Set Screws with Nylon Insert

    These fasteners hold their settings in automation equipment, robotics, industrial tooling, electronics assemblies, packaging machinery, and OEM production — anywhere vibration resistance and reliable thread retention decide whether a machine stays adjusted. For applications that also demand corrosion resistance, the same nylon insert process is available on our 18-8 Stainless Steel socket screws, along with other products you can contact us for outside of our catalog.

    Beyond the Online Catalog

    Our catalog includes many of our most commonly stocked nylon insert products, but it does not represent every available diameter, thread, length, or insert configuration. Because the insert work happens in our own shop, we routinely quote non-catalog sizes, special modifications, production quantities, and difficult-to-source combinations.

    If you don't see the exact Alloy Steel Socket Screw with Nylon Insert your application requires, there's an excellent chance we can supply or manufacture it.

    Call 773-775-7900 or email Sales@coldheaders.com for pricing, availability, or a quotation.

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    18-8 Stainless Steel Socket Head Cap Screws & Socket Set Screws

    The name is the recipe: 18-8 stainless contains roughly 18% chromium and 8% nickel — the general-purpose austenitic stainless family (for us mainly, 304) that has become the default answer whenever a socket screw needs to shrug off moisture, washdowns, and everyday corrosion without the cost of an exotic alloy. Cold Headers has stocked 18-8 socket products since 1962, and today it is one of the deepest sections of our inventory.

    That chromium-nickel chemistry buys three things at once: dependable corrosion resistance in ordinary wet and humid service, a clean appearance that holds up, and a generally nonmagnetic fastener (cold working during manufacture can introduce slight magnetism — worth knowing for sensitive electronics applications).

    Where 18-8 Fits — and Where It Doesn't

    18-8 is the right call for food processing and packaging equipment, medical and laboratory devices, automation systems, electronics assembly, and any industrial environment where rust is the enemy but chemistry is mild. Two honest boundaries: for saltwater, chlorides, or aggressive chemical exposure, step up to our 316 Stainless Steel socket screws — the added molybdenum is what resists those environments. And 18-8 is not heat treatable, so where maximum clamping force under high torque is the requirement, heat-treated Alloy Steel socket screws remain the strength choice.

    One field tip that saves headaches: stainless-on-stainless threads can gall — seize mid-installation from friction. Driving at moderate speed and using a thread lubricant or anti-seize on larger diameters and stainless-nut pairings prevents it. Our sales team is happy to talk through it for your application.

    Available Product Families

    • 18-8 Stainless Steel Socket Head Cap Screws
    • 18-8 Stainless Steel Button Head Socket Cap Screws
    • 18-8 Stainless Steel Flat Head Socket Cap Screws
    • 18-8 Stainless Steel Low Head Socket Cap Screws
    • 18-8 Stainless Steel Socket Screws with Nylon Insert
    • 18-8 Stainless Steel Cup Point Socket Set Screws
    • 18-8 Stainless Steel Cone Point Socket Set Screws
    • 18-8 Stainless Steel Flat Point Socket Set Screws
    • 18-8 Stainless Steel Knurled Point Socket Set Screws
    • 18-8 Stainless Steel Full Dog Point Socket Set Screws
    • 18-8 Stainless Steel Hex Head Cap Screws

    Typical Applications

    • Food Processing Equipment
    • Packaging Machinery
    • Medical Equipment
    • Automation Systems
    • Machine Building
    • Electronics Assembly
    • Industrial Maintenance
    • OEM Manufacturing

    Beyond the Online Catalog

    Our catalog publishes many of our most commonly stocked 18-8 products, but it represents only part of the stainless inventory on our shelves. We routinely quote non-catalog sizes, odd increment and extra-long lengths, production quantities, custom nylon insert configurations, and difficult-to-source stainless fasteners that no longer appear in anyone's published catalog.

    If you don't see the exact 18-8 Stainless Steel Socket Screw or Socket Set Screw your application requires, there's an excellent chance we can quote or supply it.

    Call 773-775-7900 or email Sales@coldheaders.com for pricing, availability, or a quotation.

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    18-8 Stainless Steel Socket Screws with Nylon Insert (Nylon Patch & Nylon Pellet)

    Some equipment takes away your usual options. Food processing lines, packaging machinery, and medical devices vibrate like any other machinery — but carbon steel fasteners are off the table because they rust, and liquid threadlockers are often unwelcome anywhere near product contact and washdown routines. What's left is a fastener that solves both problems mechanically: an 18-8 stainless steel socket screw with a factory-installed nylon insert.

    The nylon element — a pellet embedded in the threads or a patch bonded across them — creates prevailing torque: constant friction that resists rotation and keeps the screw where you set it, with no liquid chemistry involved. The 18-8 stainless body handles the moisture, cleaning cycles, and everyday corrosion. One part, both jobs.

    Why Washdown and Sanitary Equipment Specifies These

    A liquid threadlocker means applying a chemical compound, waiting for cure, and reapplying at every service interval. A nylon insert arrives ready to install, holds through repeated assembly and disassembly cycles without losing its grip, and leaves nothing to drip, cure, or contaminate. On machinery that gets torn down, cleaned, and rebuilt on a schedule, that difference compounds with every maintenance cycle. One honest boundary: nylon has practical temperature limits, so for sustained high-heat service, ask us before specifying — our sales team will talk it through for your application.

    Available Product Families

    • 1960 Series 18-8 Stainless Steel Socket Head Cap Screws with Nylon Insert
    • 18-8 Stainless Steel Button Head Socket Cap Screws with Nylon Insert
    • 18-8 Stainless Steel Flat Head Socket Cap Screws with Nylon Insert
    • 18-8 Stainless Steel Cup Point Socket Set Screws with Nylon Insert

    Typical Applications

    • Food Processing Equipment
    • Packaging Machinery
    • Medical Equipment
    • Automation Systems
    • Machine Building
    • Industrial Maintenance
    • OEM Manufacturing
    • Electronics Assembly

    Insert Work Done In Our Own Shop

    Roughly 99% of our nylon insert installation happens in-house, in our own machine shop — which means shorter lead times, consistent quality, and the ability to put an insert on sizes and configurations no catalog lists. Need the corrosion resistance of our broader 18-8 Stainless Steel socket screw line without the insert, or the strength of Alloy Steel screws with Nylon Insert for high-torque assemblies? Both are on our shelves as well.

    Beyond the Online Catalog

    The catalog shows our most commonly stocked stainless nylon insert products — not every diameter, length, thread, or insert configuration we can supply. We quote non-catalog sizes, special lengths, production quantities, custom insert placements, and difficult-to-source combinations every week.

    If you don't see the exact 18-8 Stainless Steel Socket Screw with Nylon Insert your application requires, there's an excellent chance we can quote or supply it.

    Call 773-775-7900 or email Sales@coldheaders.com for pricing, availability, or a quotation.

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    316 Stainless Steel Screws

    316 stainless is 18-8's chemistry with one deliberate addition: molybdenum, typically 2–3%. That single ingredient is what resists the corrosion modes that eat ordinary stainless — pitting and crevice attack from chlorides, saltwater, and aggressive chemicals. It's why marine hardware, chemical processing systems, pharmaceutical production, water treatment facilities, and coastal or outdoor installations specify 316 by name, and why Cold Headers has kept it on the shelf in socket screw form since 1962.

    How to Know You Need 316

    Pay for molybdenum where it earns its keep. Any of these conditions is a good reason to specify 316 over standard 18-8:

    • Saltwater, salt spray, or coastal air — marine equipment and dockside installations
    • Chlorides in the environment — de-icing salts, brines, chlorinated water, pool and water-treatment systems
    • Chemical exposure — process chemicals, acids, or aggressive cleaning and sanitizing regimens
    • A spec that calls out 316 — common in pharmaceutical, chemical, and food-processing equipment drawings
    • Evidence on existing hardware — pitting, rust freckling, or tea-staining on 18-8 fasteners already in service

    And the honest counterpart: if none of these apply, our 18-8 Stainless Steel socket screws deliver dependable everyday corrosion resistance at a lower cost — we stock both, so we have no reason to sell you more alloy than the application needs. (Like all austenitic stainless, 316 is not a high-strength material; where maximum clamping force is the requirement, heat-treated alloy steel remains the strength choice.)

    Our Online Catalog Includes

    • 316 Stainless Steel Socket Head Cap Screws
    • 316 Stainless Steel Button Head Socket Cap Screws
    • 316 Stainless Steel Flat Head Socket Cap Screws
    • 316 Stainless Steel Cup Point Socket Set Screws

    Frequently Quoted Beyond the Catalog

    The catalog shows our most commonly stocked 316 products — not the full range we supply. We frequently quote:

    • Flat Point Socket Set Screws
    • Cone Point Socket Set Screws
    • Oval Point Socket Set Screws
    • Knurled Point Socket Set Screws
    • Full Dog Socket Set Screws
    • Half Dog Socket Set Screws
    • Low Head Socket Cap Screws
    • Shoulder Screws
    • Special Lengths and Non-Catalog Sizes
    • Difficult-to-Source Fasteners
    • OEM Production Quantities

    If you don't see the exact 316 stainless steel fastener you need, there's a good chance we can still supply it.

    Call 773-775-7900 or email Sales@coldheaders.com for pricing, availability, or a quotation.

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    Alloy & Stainless Steel Socket Head Shoulder Screws (Stripper Bolts)

    This is the part with two names. Die shops call it a stripper bolt, after its original job — riding springs and guiding stripper plates in stamping dies. Machine designers call it a shoulder screw, after what makes it special: a precision-ground cylindrical shoulder that other parts pivot, slide, and ride on. Same part, both jobs, and Cold Headers has stocked it in depth since 1962.

    One Part, Three Diameters

    Every shoulder screw is three diameters in one piece: the socket head, the shoulder, and a threaded end that is deliberately smaller than the shoulder. That undersized thread is the whole idea — it lets the shoulder pass through the moving part and seat hard against the face of the tapped member, so the assembly turns or slides on the smooth, ground shoulder and never on the threads. The result is a fastener that doubles as an axle, pivot pin, guide post, or precision spacer.

    The shoulder itself is ground to a tight tolerance just under its nominal diameter, so bushings, bearings, and linkage arms slip on with running clearance — which is why shoulder screws show up wherever something has to move accurately: stripper plates, cam followers, linkages, pulleys, and guided fixtures.

    Choosing the Material

    Heat-treated Alloy Steel is the tooling standard — dies, molds, and high-load fixtures. 18-8 Stainless brings corrosion resistance to washdown-side automation and packaging machinery, with 316 Stainless for chloride and chemical exposure. Metric shoulder screws serve metric-designed equipment, and the Nylon Insert variant adds prevailing torque for pivots that vibrate — a shoulder screw that won't back out of a moving assembly.

    Available Product Families

    • Alloy Steel Socket Head Shoulder Screws (Stripper Bolts)
    • 18-8 Stainless Steel Socket Head Shoulder Screws (Stripper Bolts)
    • 316 Stainless Steel Socket Head Shoulder Screws (Stripper Bolts)
    • Metric Socket Head Shoulder Screws (Stripper Bolts)
    • Socket Head Shoulder Screws (Stripper Bolts) with Nylon Insert

    Typical Applications

    • Industrial Tooling
    • Dies and Molds
    • Stripper Plates
    • Automation Equipment
    • Robotics
    • Machine Building
    • Packaging Machinery
    • Assembly Fixtures
    • Material Handling Systems
    • OEM Manufacturing

    Beyond the Online Catalog

    The catalog shows our most commonly stocked shoulder screws — a fraction of what we can supply. We regularly quote special shoulder diameters and lengths, non-catalog configurations, OEM production quantities, and difficult-to-source shoulder screws that many suppliers simply don't stock. And because the vast majority of our nylon insert installation happens in our own machine shop, special insert configurations on shoulder screws are something we produce, not just search for.

    If you don't see the exact Socket Head Shoulder Screw (Stripper Bolt) your application requires, there's a good chance we can still quote or supply it.

    Call 773-775-7900 or email Sales@coldheaders.com for pricing, availability, or a quotation.

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    Square Head Set Screws

    The square head set screw is older than the socket drive itself — and it never went away, because for certain work nothing has beaten it. An external square head takes a plain open-end wrench, delivers serious seating torque even in large diameters, and can be set, checked, and readjusted at a glance. Much of the industry moved on when internal-drive set screws arrived; Cold Headers kept a deep shelf of square heads instead, and has supplied them continuously since 1962.

    Why the Square Head Survives

    Three reasons keep this design on drawings. First, wrench torque: a square head gives an honest grip for real leverage — no hex key flexing, no socket to strip — which matters most in the big diameters that hold heavy collars and couplings. Second, set-and-see service: on equipment that lives with grit, grease, and grain dust, an internal socket packs with debris; an external head wrenches anyway, and you can see from across the shop whether it's snugged. Third, the legacy fleet: decades of machine tools, agricultural equipment, and power transmission gear were built around square head set screws, and keeping that equipment running means replacing like with like.

    The honest boundary: a square head protrudes, and on exposed rotating shafts a protruding head is a snag point — that's the application socket set screws were invented for, and we stock those in depth too. Where the head rides inside a guarded hub, a fixture, or a maintenance-access location, the square head earns its keep.

    Available Product Families

    • Cup Point Square Head Set Screws
    • Half Dog Point Square Head Set Screws
    • Full Dog Point Square Head Set Screws
    • Flat Point Square Head Set Screws
    • Cone Point Square Head Set Screws
    • Oval Point Square Head Set Screws

    Materials

    The standard line is steel, stocked across the point styles above. Beyond the catalog, we regularly stock and quote 18-8 Stainless Steel, 316 Stainless Steel, and Brass Square Head Set Screws for corrosion resistance, washdown service, and special material requirements.

    Typical Applications

    • Shafts and Hubs
    • Collars and Couplings
    • Machine Building
    • Industrial Equipment
    • Tooling and Fixtures
    • Power Transmission Equipment
    • Material Handling Systems
    • OEM Manufacturing
    • Maintenance and Repair
    • Replacement Fasteners

    Beyond the Online Catalog

    The catalog shows our most commonly stocked square heads — not every diameter, thread, length, point style, or material we can supply. Because so few suppliers still carry this family in depth, square heads are one of the places our difficult-to-source work shows up most: odd sizes, special lengths, discontinued specifications, and OEM production quantities are quoted here every week.

    If you don't see the exact Square Head Set Screw your application requires, there's a good chance we can still quote or supply it.

    Call 773-775-7900 or email Sales@coldheaders.com for pricing, availability, or a quotation.

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    Nylon Tip & Brass Tip Socket Set Screws

    Every machinist knows the divot: a standard cup point does its job by biting into the shaft, and on ground, polished, plated, or coated surfaces that bite is the problem — a chewed shaft that binds, wobbles on re-adjustment, or heads for the scrap bin. Nylon Tip and Brass Tip Socket Set Screws exist to hold without the bite. The hardened screw body delivers the clamping force; a soft tip takes the contact, so the part underneath keeps its finish.

    That combination is why soft-tip set screws run the adjustment side of industry — optical equipment, instrumentation, robotics, precision fixtures — anywhere a component gets positioned, repositioned, and positioned again. A hard point re-set five times leaves five divots; a soft tip repositions indefinitely without progressively destroying the surface it grips. Cold Headers has stocked both tip styles since 1962.

    Nylon or Brass?

    Nylon is the gentlest option — maximum protection for finished and delicate surfaces, with the tip conforming slightly to grip smooth shafts. It's the default for optics, instruments, and anything where the surface matters more than everything else. Its practical limits are clamping force and temperature.

    Brass is the firmer handshake: still far softer than the shaft it contacts, so it deforms sacrificially instead of gouging, but with more holding power and more heat tolerance than nylon. It's the pick when the assembly runs warmer, clamps harder, or lives in industrial service where nylon feels too polite. When in doubt for your application, our sales team sorts this out on the phone daily.

    Available Product Families

    • 18-8 Stainless Steel Nylon Tip Socket Set Screws
    • 18-8 Stainless Steel Brass Tip Socket Set Screws
    • Alloy Steel Nylon Tip Socket Set Screws
    • Alloy Steel Brass Tip Socket Set Screws

    Typical Applications

    • Automation Equipment
    • Robotics
    • Optical Equipment
    • Instrumentation
    • Electronic Assemblies
    • Medical Equipment
    • Machine Building
    • Adjustment Mechanisms
    • Precision Fixtures
    • OEM Manufacturing

    Beyond the Online Catalog

    The catalog shows our most commonly stocked tip styles in 18-8 stainless and alloy steel — not the full range. We also supply 316 Stainless Steel brass tip set screws on a regular basis, along with non-catalog diameters, lengths, thread combinations, special tip configurations, and difficult-to-source soft-tip fasteners, in OEM production quantities.

    If you don't see the exact Nylon Tip or Brass Tip Socket Set Screw your application requires, there's a good chance we can still quote or supply it.

    Call 773-775-7900 or email Sales@coldheaders.com for pricing, availability, or a quotation.

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    Brass Socket Screws

    Brass is the material buyers choose for what it is, not just what it holds. The electrician wants its conductivity, the instrument maker wants nonmagnetic, the plumber wants a screw that lives happily in water service, and the architect just wants it to look right — different industries, different reasons, same fastener. Cold Headers has stocked precision brass socket screws for all of them since 1962.

    Five Reasons Brass Gets Specified

    • Electrical conductivity — grounding points, bus connections, control panels, and electrical equipment where the fastener is part of the circuit.
    • Nonmagnetic service — instrumentation, laboratory devices, and sensitive assemblies where a steel screw would interfere.
    • Corrosion resistance in water service — plumbing and fluid-handling components, where brass has earned a century of trust.
    • Compatibility with brass components — threading into brass valve bodies, fittings, and bronze assemblies avoids the dissimilar-metal issues a steel screw invites.
    • Appearance — architectural and decorative hardware where the fastener shows, and should.

    Brass alloys vary in composition and corrosion behavior. If your application involves continuous moisture, chemicals, or elevated temperatures, contact our sales team to confirm the right alloy for your service conditions. For saltwater and marine environments, we recommend our 316 Stainless Steel fasteners instead.

    Our Online Catalog Includes

    • Brass Socket Head Cap Screws
    • Brass Button Head Socket Cap Screws
    • Brass Flat Head Socket Cap Screws
    • Brass Cup Point Socket Set Screws

    Typical Applications

    • Electrical Equipment
    • Instrumentation
    • Control Panels
    • Plumbing & Fluid Handling
    • Laboratory Equipment
    • OEM Manufacturing
    • Architectural Hardware
    • Industrial Maintenance

    Frequently Quoted Beyond the Catalog

    The catalog shows our most commonly stocked brass products — not the full range we supply. We frequently quote:

    • Flat Point Socket Set Screws
    • Knurled Point Socket Set Screws
    • Cone Point Socket Set Screws
    • Oval Point Socket Set Screws
    • Full Dog Socket Set Screws
    • Half Dog Socket Set Screws
    • Low Head Socket Cap Screws
    • Square Head Set Screws
    • Slotted Set Screws
    • Dowel Pins
    • Special Lengths and Non-Catalog Sizes
    • Difficult-to-Source Brass Fasteners
    • OEM Production Quantities

    If you don't see the exact brass fastener you need, there's a good chance we can quote or supply it.

    Call 773-775-7900 or email Sales@coldheaders.com for pricing, availability, or a quotation.

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    Metric Alloy Steel Socket Head Screws

    Pick up a metric alloy socket head cap screw and look at the head: stamped into the steel is a number, usually 12.9. That's not a part number or a size — it's the screw telling you exactly how strong it is. Under the ISO property class system, 12.9 means a nominal tensile strength of 1,200 MPa (roughly 175,000 psi), which puts these fasteners in the same strength league as the inch-series alloy screws made to ASTM A574. The marking travels with the screw for life, so a maintenance tech opening a gearbox twenty years from now knows precisely what grade of fastener came out of it.

    Not every head style carries the same class. Full-height Metric Socket Head Cap Screws are made to class 12.9. Metric Button Head and Metric Flat Head Socket Cap Screws are typically class 10.9 — their lower-profile heads can't develop the full preload of a cylindrical head, and the rating honestly reflects that. Metric Cup Point Socket Set Screws are rated differently again, by hardness class 45H, because a set screw's job is holding position rather than carrying tensile load.

    Metric Is Not a Conversion

    A metric socket screw is not an inch screw translated into millimeters. These fasteners are manufactured to their own international standards — ISO 4762 cap screws, ISO 7380-1 button heads, ISO 10642 flat heads, ISO 4029 set screws — with native metric threads, metric head dimensions, and metric hex socket sizes. An M6 is not a 1/4-20 with an accent, and the two should never share an assembly: mixed hardware means mixed wrenches, mismatched threads, and a repair headache waiting for whoever services the machine next. Equipment built metric stays metric, which is exactly why machine builders, automation houses, and importers of European and Asian machinery keep dedicated metric alloy stock on hand.

    One honest boundary: alloy steel in classes 12.9 and 10.9 is supplied plain or black oxide and is built for strength, not corrosion resistance. For washdown areas, outdoor service, or chemical exposure, look to our 18-8 stainless metric line instead.

    Available Product Families

    • Metric Alloy Steel Socket Head Cap Screws
    • Metric Alloy Steel Button Head Socket Cap Screws
    • Metric Alloy Steel Flat Head Socket Cap Screws
    • Metric Alloy Steel Cup Point Socket Set Screws

    Typical Applications

    • Industrial Machinery
    • Automation Equipment
    • Robotics
    • Machine Building
    • Tooling and Fixtures
    • Hydraulic Equipment
    • Material Handling Systems
    • OEM Manufacturing
    • Maintenance and Repair
    • Metric Equipment and Assemblies

    Beyond the Online Catalog

    The catalog above covers our most commonly stocked metric diameters, pitches, and lengths — but it isn't the whole shelf. Cold Headers has been quoting and supplying non-catalog metric socket screws since long before most inch-focused distributors would touch them, and difficult-to-source metric fasteners remain one of the things we do best. OEM production quantities, odd lengths, thread pitches nobody else stocks: worth a call before you settle for a long lead time.

    Call Cold Headers at 773-775-7900 or email Sales@coldheaders.com for pricing, availability, or a quote.

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    Metric 18-8 Stainless Steel Socket Head Screws

    Here's a scenario our counter knows well: a print from a European or Asian equipment builder calls out an A2-70 DIN 912 cap screw, M6 × 1.0 — and the buyer holding it can't find "A2" anywhere in an American catalog. The translation is simple: A2 is what most of the world calls 18-8 stainless. Same austenitic chromium-nickel steel, two passports. The "70" is a strength rating under the international ISO 3506 standard — a minimum tensile strength of 700 MPa (about 100,000 psi). If a stainless metric screw came off an imported machine, odds are its head is stamped A2-70, and this is the category that replaces it.

    That's why Metric 18-8 Stainless Steel Socket Head Screws earn their keep: imported machinery has to be serviced with fasteners that match on both counts — metric thread and stainless material. Food processing lines, packaging and bottling equipment, pumps, and automation systems built by overseas OEMs all arrive full of A2 metric hardware, and swapping in plated steel or inch-series stainless isn't a repair, it's a downgrade.

    One honest note on strength: at 700 MPa, A2-70 stainless is a capable structural fastener, but it is not a substitute for class 12.9 alloy steel at 1,200 MPa. Stainless buys you corrosion resistance and a clean finish, not maximum clamping force. When the application needs alloy-level strength in metric, see our metric alloy steel line; when it needs stainless, this is the shelf.

    Available Product Families

    • Metric 18-8 Stainless Steel Socket Head Cap Screws
    • Metric 18-8 Stainless Steel Button Head Socket Cap Screws
    • Metric 18-8 Stainless Steel Flat Head Socket Cap Screws
    • Metric 18-8 Stainless Steel Cup Point Socket Set Screws

    Typical Applications

    • Industrial Equipment
    • Food Processing Machinery
    • Packaging Equipment
    • Automation Systems
    • Machine Building
    • Pumps and Fluid Handling Equipment
    • General Manufacturing
    • Maintenance and Repair
    • Metric Machinery
    • OEM Production

    Beyond the Online Catalog

    The same translation table has one more row worth knowing: A4 is the international name for 316 stainless. When a print steps up from A2 to A4 — chloride exposure, washdown chemicals, marine service — many of our metric socket products are also available in 316, and

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    Hex Keys and Socket Pipe Plugs

    Everything else in the Cold Headers catalog gets driven. This category holds the two products that complete the system: the hex key that installs every socket screw we stock, and the socket pipe plug that seals the ports in the hydraulic and pneumatic equipment those screws hold together. Neither is glamorous. Both are the difference between a socket-screw assembly that services cleanly for decades and one that fights you.

    The Key Is Half the Fastener

    When a socket rounds out, the screw usually takes the blame — but the culprit is more often the key. A worn, undersized, or soft hex key contacts the socket at its corners instead of its flats, and every turn peens those corners over a little more until the drive is gone. A hardened alloy steel key of the correct size engages the full flat, transmits full torque, and leaves the socket as crisp as it found it. That's why maintenance departments that buy quality socket screws stock quality keys next to them: the cheap key is the most expensive tool in the drawer. Our inventory covers standard alloy steel hex keys, metric hex keys for metric socket screws, and short arm hex keys for working in tight clearances where a full-length arm won't swing.

    Sealing the System

    Socket pipe plugs close off unused ports in hydraulic, pneumatic, lubrication, and fluid handling systems — and they do it with the same recessed hex drive as a socket screw, so the installed plug sits flush or below the surface where a protruding square head would snag. They install and remove with the hex keys on this very page, which is not a coincidence: fluid power equipment is built around the socket drive system from its cap screws down to its plugs.

    Available Product Families

    • Alloy Steel Hex Keys
    • Metric Hex Keys
    • Short Arm Alloy Steel Hex Keys
    • Socket Pipe Plugs

    Typical Applications

    • Industrial Maintenance
    • Machine Building
    • OEM Assembly
    • Hydraulic Systems
    • Pneumatic Systems
    • Fluid Power Equipment
    • Automation Equipment
    • Manufacturing Facilities
    • Repair and Service Operations
    • MRO Inventory

    Beyond the Online Catalog

    The catalog shows our most popular key sizes and plug configurations, but the shelf runs deeper. Cold Headers quotes additional hex key sizes, production quantities, and difficult-to-source keys and plugs on request — whether you're replacing a single tool or outfitting an MRO crib. If the exact item isn't listed, ask.

    Call Cold Headers at 773-775-7900 or email Sales@coldheaders.com for pricing, availability, or a quote.

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    Industrial Dowel Pins & Tension Pins

    There's a division of labor inside every precision machine, and it's older than any of us: screws clamp, pins locate. A bolted connection holds parts together, but every bolt sits in a clearance hole — which means a bolted assembly can shift a few thousandths under load, or land in a slightly different spot every time it's taken apart and rebuilt. Press two dowel pins into reamed holes across that same joint and the position is no longer negotiable. The screws carry the clamping force; the pins carry the location. Tool and die makers live by this: strip a die set for sharpening, rebuild it, and the dowels return every component to exactly where it was — not close, exactly.

    Cold Headers has supplied precision Dowel Pins and Tension Pins to OEM manufacturers, distributors, machine builders, and tool and die shops since 1962, and the line covers each role in that system:

    Heat-Treated Steel Standard Dowel Pins are the workhorse — hardened, precision ground, press-fit into reamed holes for permanent, repeatable location in dies, molds, fixtures, and machine frames. 18-8 Stainless Steel Standard Dowel Pins do the same job where washdown, moisture, or corrosion would eat a plain steel pin. Pull Dowel Pins add a threaded hole in one end, because a plain dowel pressed into a blind hole is famously easy to install and famously miserable to remove — the thread lets a puller extract it cleanly for service. .001 Oversize Dowel Pins are the repair play: when a hole has worn or a pin has walked, ream the hole a thousandth over and restore the original press fit instead of scrapping the plate. And Tension Pins trade precision for economy and self-retention — slotted spring steel that compresses on installation and pushes back against the hole wall, gripping in a plain drilled hole with no reaming required.

    One honest distinction: a tension pin retains, it doesn't precision-locate. Its home is a drilled hole and its virtue is staying put cheaply — hinges, handles, shafts, retention jobs. When the print calls for true position, that's dowel territory and a reamed hole. Knowing which pin does which job is most of pin selection.

    Available Product Families

    • Tension Pins
    • Pull Dowel Pins
    • .001 Oversize Dowel Pins
    • 18-8 Stainless Steel Standard Dowel Pins
    • Heat-Treated Steel Standard Dowel Pins

    Typical Applications

    • Precision Alignment
    • Machine Building
    • Tooling and Fixtures
    • Dies and Molds
    • Automation Equipment
    • Assembly Equipment
    • Repair and Rework
    • Industrial Maintenance
    • OEM Manufacturing
    • Locating and Positioning Assemblies

    Looking for a Pin Size or Configuration That Is Not Shown?

    The catalog carries our most commonly stocked diameters and lengths, but pins are a category where the odd size is the whole story — a repair often needs the one diameter or oversize configuration nobody lists. Cold Headers regularly quotes non-catalog sizes, replacement and rework diameters, difficult-to-source pins, and OEM production quantities.

    If you do not see the exact Dowel Pin or Tension Pin required for your application, there is a good chance we can still quote or supply it.

    Call Cold Headers at 773-775-7900 or email Sales@coldheaders.com for pricing, availability, or a quote.

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    Cup Point Slotted Headless Set Screws

    Every socket set screw in our catalog needs the right hex key in the right size before it moves. A Cup Point Slotted Headless Set Screw needs the most common tool on earth. That's the whole argument for the slotted drive, and it's why the style refuses to disappear: a technician standing at a machine in the field with a pocket screwdriver can adjust, remove, or replace a slotted set screw on the spot — no key set, no metric-or-inch question, no walk back to the toolbox. Like its socket cousins, it's headless, so it seats flush or below the surface and leaves nothing protruding to snag.

    The slotted drive earns its keep in a few specific places. Field service and MRO work, where the available tool decides the repair. Legacy equipment, because decades of American machinery left the factory with slotted set screws in its collars and pulleys, and a like-for-like replacement keeps the repair honest. Very small diameters, where a slot is easier to drive than a miniature hex socket. And electrical work, where slotted set screws have long secured wires in lugs, terminals, and connectors.

    The cup point is the gripping end of the equation: its hardened rim bites into the shaft or mating surface for the strongest holding power of any standard point style, which makes it the default choice for locking collars, gears, and pulleys to shafts. One honest note on the drive itself: a slot can't accept the torque a hex socket can, so for maximum clamping force in larger sizes, our socket cup point set screws are the heavier hitter. For light-to-medium duty and anywhere serviceability wins, slotted is the right call.

    Applications

    • Shaft Locking
    • Pulleys & Gears
    • Collars
    • Industrial Equipment
    • Machine Repair
    • Power Transmission
    • OEM Manufacturing
    • Maintenance & MRO

    Beyond Our Online Catalog

    Cold Headers offers a wide array of Slotted Headless Set Screws beyond what is shown in our online catalog. We regularly supply slotted set screws in Alloy Steel, 18-8 Stainless Steel, and 316 Stainless Steel, with numerous sizes, lengths, and configurations available upon request.

    In addition to Cup Point, we also offer slotted set screws in:

    • Cone Point
    • Flat Point
    • Oval Point
    • Half Dog Point
    • Full Dog Point
    • Knurled Cup Point

    Slotted set screws in these point styles and materials are exactly the kind of difficult-to-source combination we keep on the shelf when nobody else does. If you don't see the exact size, material, or point style you need, there's a good chance we can still supply it.

    Call Cold Headers at 773-775-7900 or email Sales@coldheaders.com for pricing, availability, or a custom quote.

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    Hi-Collar Lock Washers

    A socket head cap screw usually lives in a counterbore — a recess machined just barely wider than the screw head, so the assembled fastener sits flush and protected below the surface. That precise fit creates a problem: a standard split lock washer is wider than the screw head, which means it's wider than the counterbore. It either won't go in at all, or it wedges against the counterbore wall and holds the head proud of the surface, defeating the reason the counterbore was machined in the first place. Hi-Collar Lock Washers are the answer to exactly that problem: a helical spring lock washer with its outside diameter trimmed to roughly match the screw head, so it follows the socket head cap screw down into the counterbore where it belongs.

    Cutting down the outside diameter would normally cost spring energy — less material, less push. The hi-collar design pays that back in height: a taller, heavier cross-section (the "high collar") that restores the spring action within the narrower footprint. The result, made to the dimensions of ASME B18.21.1, keeps tension on the joint and helps resist loosening under vibration while fitting where no standard lock washer can. Cold Headers has stocked them alongside our socket head cap screws since 1962, because the two parts are designed for each other — this is the one lock washer that's a socket-screw part first and a washer second.

    One fitment note worth stating plainly: the pairing runs both directions. Just as a standard split washer doesn't belong in a counterbore, a hi-collar washer is sized for socket head cap screws specifically — under hex heads and in open assemblies, conventional washers are the right part. When a print calls out a hi-collar, it's calling out the geometry, and the correct replacement matches it.

    Applications

    • Socket Head Cap Screw Assemblies
    • Counterbored Connections
    • Industrial Machinery
    • Automation Equipment
    • Power Transmission
    • Manufacturing Equipment
    • Machine Building
    • Maintenance & Repair (MRO)

    Features

    • Reduced outside diameter sized to fit socket head cap screw counterbores
    • Tall, heavy-duty collar section preserves helical spring action
    • Manufactured to ASME B18.21.1 dimensions
    • Helps resist loosening from vibration
    • Maintains clamp load under dynamic conditions

    Hi-collar washers are a low-volume, high-necessity item — the size you need for a repair is rarely the size anyone stocks. If it isn't in our online catalog, it's a strong candidate for our hard-to-find shelf: contact our sales team and we can likely supply it through our inventory and supplier network.

    Call Cold Headers at 773-775-7900 or email Sales@coldheaders.com for pricing, availability, or a custom quote.