Gauges & Measuring Tools

How to Use Fastener Measuring Tools Transcript

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Bob: Welcome to Albany County Fasteners - Fasteners 101. Today we're going to talk about gauges; different types of gauges. So let's get started.

So today I'm going to teach you about gauges. We have numerous gauges for measuring many different types of fasteners. I'll start off with the rivet gauge.

This is a rivet gauge. It's made for measuring the diameter of a rivet along with the number for the length of a rivet, and that will give you the grip length for the rivet. So here I have a rivet. I'm going to find what size it is. It's not a 5...so this is a number 6 and the length is 6-4. You find the diameter, you find the length, the slot that it fits into. See, these? It doesn't fit into them. So, fit it in the slot and then right to the bottom where the ball is, that's your length. You don't measure a rivet like that; that's totally incorrect. You can't measure it like that. It has to be measured by the hat to the size number.

The next gauge we have is an Imperial/metric gauge. This gauge will allow you to measure, this is a 1/4"-20 (screw), so here, down here, they have anywhere from a number 4 all the way up to a 1” (hole) you can slide (the bolt) in here. On this side, so half of the gauge has Imperial, which is this side here, and the other half of the gauge is metric.

So, to measure this hex cap screw, I would go to look for what hole it will slide in, snugly, we can see it fits in the 1/4"-20, this is the 5/16" it’s too big. It's just flopping around in there. We know that it's 1/4". Then to measure the length because, hex cap screws are measured from under the head, we would measure it from this side.

This has two measuring points, I'm sorry it would be this side, we have two measuring points. This little angle cut in here is made for a flat head, and this side is made for the length from under the head. So, in this situation, we would see that this is 7/8" of an inch, when all said and done. This is 1" inch and it's 1/8" less so we have 7/8" of an inch. So we know it's 1/4" by 7/8" Ok but we don't know, this gauge will not tell you what the thread is. Is it fine thread? Is it coarse thread? This gauge is not able to tell you that (*Now the gauges have a threading guide added so you can determine threading on them).

We have this other gauge that will tell you that. This is another gauge where you can measure or find out what type of threading you have. This is a metric. The metric goes from an M4 all the way up to M12. This also includes coarse, fine and some super-fine lengths. You can see it’s on a wire here. I have one that's in here. You can go to each one of these until it fits and then you can find out at that point, what threads you have along with the size.On here it will tell you that this is an M6 x 1.0. So you have an M6 x 1.0 thread pitch. That's all for metric.

We have another thread gauge this is for imperial sizes. This is perfect for your shop you gotta have it. Here's a nut. This is 1/2"-13. Put the nut on, you can find what size this will fit on. This is 1/2"-20. It doesn't work. It doesn't go on. So the 1/2"-13, we know that this is 1/2"-13. Along with a hex cap screw that I have in here. That I'm unscrewing, you can screw it back in. That size I believe is 1/4"-20.

So that's your imperial set. They have these end loops, so you can hang them on your tool boxes or connect them to your workbench or somewhere in your shop. These are great gauges to have. We use them here in our warehouse when we have mixed bins that we find where we have product mixed in the wrong bin. It's not something that we like to have but unfortunately, that does happen sometimes and this gets us out of that bind.

When you're measuring a flat head socket cap, flat head sheet metal screw or a flat head wood screw or deck screw this notch, right here, that is made so you can get the length. The length of this, which includes the head, would be 2-1/2" inches long. That's how you measure that with that gauge.

The next gauge I have which is basically an (Digital) caliper. This does metric and does imperial sizes. This is good for measuring many different ways It has an on and off. It has the zero so when it's closed you can zero it out (for an accurate measurement). It has millimeter and inches up here. You can switch between millimeter and imperial sizes. So if I wanted to measure this flat washer, the inside, which I know that this is 1 inch, I believe. It should be more than 1” so a 1” bolt can fit in that.

These two prongs on the outside measure the inside circumference or inside diameter. This measures out at 1.062. Now it just went to 1.0 because I pulled it out, so it's possible, if it's not totally straight in there because it's round and trying to get a number and that's a good way to make sure you got the right number. So 1.059, that's what it's coming up with, 1.059. I don't know if you can see that but that's the inside and that's fine because if you put a 1-inch bolt into this you need that extra room for the bolt to fit in there properly.

You can also measure, with a caliper, the outside diameter. Which will say that the outside of this washer is 2.014 inches. So it's just over 1” and you can measure the thickness. So that's 0.1175 . This is a very handy tool to have. You can do many different things with it. If you had to measure an inside, let's just take something, let's just say you want to measure inside this area. You can take this end piece here, which is a ruler basically, and you can push it in there and then you push it down and you know the depth. That's 0.447 from the top to the bottom of the inside. So there's many, many uses for this caliper.

We use it in our office all the time. These are great gauges to have at your fingertips whenever you're using or working on your projects; you'll find all the answers.

These are the old-fashioned type right here. Which are pieces of paper, that you put your washers on or you line your nut or your screw on and try to find out which size it is, what it is, I mean you know, this is old stuff. I don't know why we're even bothering with that stuff today. You got to get rid of that. This is what you need, this is what you got to get.

I've showed you the gauges. These gauges are available on our website. Put them right to work, you'll definitely use them, and you'll need them.