Your one-stop shop for fasteners
We provide a comprehensive range of standard and specialty fasteners for various industrial applications, including truck bodies, utility bodies, trailers, fire and rescue vehicles, emergency vehicles, industrial equipment, buses, rail cars, and the marine industry. Our product offerings include standard nuts, screws, bolts, and washers, as well as specialty structural bolts, rivets, inserts, weld fasteners, and fastening tools. Austin Hardware is a HUCK PARTNER DISTRIBUTOR making us one of only a few distributors in the US certified to demonstrate, sell, service, and repair Huck fastening tools.
Our Fastener Brands
Austin Hardware is a HUCK PARTNER DISTRIBUTOR making us one of only a few distributors in the US certified to demonstrate, sell, service, and repair Huck fastening tools. But the fastener brands we represent go far beyond Huck alone. Just a few of the other brands of fasteners and fastening tools we provide include Huck, Goebel, IDG, Pop, Gesipa, Avdel, AVK, Stanley Engineered Fasteners, and more.
Types of Fasteners
Threaded Fasteners
Threaded fasteners include bolts, nuts, screws, and rods are user friendly and widely used in commercial, industrial, and vehicular applications. One of the main advantages is their ability to join non-metallic and dissimilar materials. They are among the most user-friendly fasteners available, as they are easy to install and uninstall, and the necessary tools for their installation are readily accessible. Additionally, self-tapping screws do not require pre-threaded holes.
Rivets
Available in many forms, rivets are used in all types of manufacturing. Rivets are a permanent fastener, not designed for easy removal. They can join dissimilar metals and resist heat distortion, requiring little to no surface preparation for installation. Aluminum rivets are particularly light and resistant to atmospheric and chemical corrosion.
Nails
Nails are essential in construction, woodworking, and DIY projects, and are the simplest fasteners both in design and how they’re made. One end has a head; the other end is sharp, and they’re available in different sizes and materials. Despite their simplicity, there are many different types of nails. As with any fastener, the application should determine the nail you choose.
Retaining Rings
Retaining rings are typically installed inside a housing, bore, or in a groove on a shaft to create a shoulder that holds an assembly in place. They eliminate the need for threading, tapping, drilling, and other machining operations commonly associated with screws, nuts, bolts, and similar fasteners. Because the grooves necessary for retaining rings can be machined using other processes, they can help lower production costs and are more compact than traditional fasteners while providing equal functionality.
Washers
Washers are crucial to the function and longevity of most products using mechanical fasteners. Washers are simply disks of metal or non-metallic material placed beneath a nut, an axle bearing, or a joint, to relieve friction, prevent leakage, isolate, prevent loosening, or distribute pressure. Austin Hardware® has a large selection of washers to complement most fasteners and applications.
Structural Fasteners
Traditional structural fasteners include high-strength bolts, nuts, and washers that are designed for critical load-bearing applications. However, there are other types of fasteners that fall under the category of "structural," such as structural blind fasteners and two-piece structural fasteners like lockbolts. These fasteners offer high shear and tensile strength and are specifically designed to withstand intense vibrations. Unlike conventional nuts and bolts, they are permanent, mechanically locked fasteners that will not loosen even under the most extreme conditions.
Bolts
Bolts are available in a variety of styles and materials for many applications. Carbon and alloy steel bolts are the most used types in the industrial sector. Steel bolts are categorized into two groups: High-Strength Structural and Common. High-strength structural Steel Bolts are used to connect steel structures in construction projects and are typically made from quenched or tempered steel with a minimum tensile strength of 120 ksi for use in structural connections. Examples include ASTM-rated A325 and A490, specifically Types 1 and 3 structural hex bolts.
Self-Clinching Nuts
Used in applications from household appliances and electronics to medical, telecom, and automotive equipment, self-clinching fasteners are used in thin metal assemblies where tapping is impractical. The three main types of self-clinching fasteners are nuts, studs, and standoffs. Self-clinching nuts create strong threads for bolts and screws by being pressed into the metal, forming a secure connection. Standoffs typically protect the circuitry in printed circuit boards (PCBs) and electrical assemblies. Studs serve as threaded fasteners for mounting essential components.
Grooved Pins
Grooved pins are often used in friction-fit holes, providing a connection that is nearly as strong as a dowel while also offering excellent vibration resistance. Common applications include locking collars, linkage or hinge pins, valve T-handles, spring anchors, and roller stop pins. The main functional difference between a grooved pin and a dowel is that, while the displaced material from the swaged grooves increases the pin's diameter, the grooves close when the pin is pressed into a hole.
E-Clips
Retaining rings are designed to restrict the movement of mating components and keep them securely in place during operation. By creating a shoulder to retain the assembly, retaining rings are a cost-effective solution, reducing the need for threaded fasteners or machining shoulders on to components. With three points of contact, e-clip-type retaining rings provide a larger surface for retaining and yield a higher thrust load capacity than other types of external rings.
Lock Washers
There are many types of lock washers, each functioning differently depending on the application. However, the basic concept of holding the nut and bolt in place is the same. Their use is common in the transportation industry and on commercial products such as washing machines, where vibration is a significant factor.
Lockbolts
A lockbolt is a two-piece, permanent, mechanically locked structural fastener. Its primary benefit is that it offers long-lasting vibration resistance and won't loosen even under the most extreme vibration. This is because an installed, fully swaged (cold-formed collar on the grooved pin) lockbolt has no gaps between the grooves of the pin and the swaged collar, as found in threaded fasteners such as nuts and bolts. It's essentially a best-of-both-worlds hybrid of a bolt and a rivet.
Blind Bolts
As loads and potential vibrations increase, structural blind rivets with high shear and tensile strength (up to 1,000 lbs.) may be the right choice. However, structural blind rivets typically max out at around ¼" diameter, so for more demanding applications, manufacturers may turn to lockbolts, which range from ¼" to 1" in diameter and offer strength values starting at 3,000 lbs. tensile. This leaves a gap between the capabilities of structural blind rivets and lockbolts, which is where blind bolts, like Huck BOM, find their niche. These blind, oversized, mechanically locked fasteners with a unique push-and-pull installation design allow for maximum locking strength from a blind-side installation.
Fastener Nuts
Nuts are one of the most common fastener types worldwide, with the most common varieties are standard nuts and locknuts. They are simple, hexagonal fasteners with internal threads that screw onto the shaft of a bolt. Other standard nuts that function similarly include cap nuts, wing nuts, flange nuts, and more. The major difference between standard nuts and locknuts is standard nuts consist simply of a threaded hole, while locknuts are designed to prevent loosening when exposed to vibration. As with standard nuts, there are many different variations of locknuts from which to choose.
Fastener & Fastening Tool Resources
Discover Austin Hardware's resources for our unparalleled selection of rivets, inserts, specialty bolts, and tools for trucking, industrial, marine, and emergency vehicle applications.
Value-ADD Services for manufacturers
At Austin Hardware®, we do more than simply supply the right parts at the right time. Our solutions team works closely with industrial customers to enhance and support their entire supply chain, adding value by solving their biggest business challenges. Our customers choose us because we offer a comprehensive suite of services - consolidation, distribution, consulting, problem-solving, and the introduction of new products, services, and production techniques.
Huck & Blind Fastener Installtion Repair Program
As a Huck Partner Distributor, we are one of the few certified distributors in the country authorized to demonstrate, sell, service, and repair Huck fastening tools. We provide upfront quotes and won't proceed with any work without your authorization. You can count on quality workmanship and quick turnaround, backed by our competitive pricing and satisfaction guarantee. In addition to Huck, we also service and repair a wide range of other top brands including Pop, Gesipa, Avdel, AVK, and Far. For those who prefer to maintain their own tools, we stock a full inventory of new units and replacement parts.
Implement a preventive maintenance program to keep your Huck and blind fastener tools operating at peak efficiency. We'll put your entire "fleet" of fastening tools on a regular maintenance schedule, rotating them offline for preventive care. The goal is to maintain 100% production capacity by having enough tools in use while others undergo routine maintenance.
Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) Programs
Our customizable Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) and Customer Managed Inventory (CMI) programs help reduce the non-revenue generating costs of inventory management and replenishment. This allows our partners to focus on their core business activities. Implementing a VMI program can yield substantial cost savings by optimizing inventory levels, reducing storage expenses, and minimizing losses from obsolete or excess stock. A streamlined replenishment workflow also enhances overall operational efficiency by lowering administrative overhead.
For businesses managing high-volume products, VMI can more efficiently optimize inventory levels. Maintaining the right stock is critical, as insufficient inventory leads to costly stockouts, while excess ties up capital. VMI enables vendors to monitor sales data and proactively replenish stock, ensuring inventory aligns with customer demand.
SHOP PRe-packaged FASteners
Our pre-packaged fasteners are a great solution for many consumers, DIYers, commercial retailers, and dealers who don’t need to buy in bulk. DIYers can save the trip and avoid the high prices of big box stores, while commercial dealers and retailers can have an easy-to-display, small-pack solution available for walk-in customers.