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Specialty FastenersSpecialty fasteners are certain varieties of fasteners that are manufactured for a specific industry, job or material. In comparison to general purpose fasteners, which are found in tool boxes and are applicable to a wide variety of different industries and jobs, specialty fasteners’ applications are limited and specialized. Market-specific fasteners serve a certain industry. For example, there are fasteners made only for the electronics, industrial, domestic appliance, automotive, construction, aerospace and textiles industry. Screws used in the manufacturing of electronics differ dramatically from those made for assembling automobiles. Some are made specifically for securing certain kinds of material, like metal, plastic, fabric and wood, each with different strengths. Fasteners differ in driving recess, head styles, shoulder form, shank types, thread form and point styles. Driving recesses are the slots on the top of fastener heads that let different types of drills and screw drivers in. Head styles can be hexagonal, round, square, oval and flat. Shoulder forms are oval, round, ribbed, square and fin neck. Thread forms differ based on country standards and materials. Those being used in wood have a specific type of thread, and American and British fasteners have different threading based on different measurement systems. Point styles are either blunt or pointy. This also depends on what material the fasteners are securing. Different types of metal and plastic fasteners are market-specific. For example, plastic screws, since they are not high-strength, are limited in applications. However, they have excellent vibration and shock resistance, so they are often used in automobile manufacturing. Stainless steel fasteners are best used for outdoor fasteners like decking fasteners because they are made with the strongest material available. Decking fasteners are threaded a certain way, and if they are used in anything but wood, splitting and mushrooming are common issues.
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