I went to the hardware store & paid $6.00 for a 2" bolt today!

[EDG]

A grade 8 hexhead cap screw will have 6 bars on the head.
They are usually black oxide finished. The high strength alloys are more sensitive to hydrogen embrittlement from the plating process so they are usually NOT plated.
All the features of US fasteners are standardized. You can look up the grade , finish, strength, material etc in a fastener handbook.

[Kenstone]

Local Tractor Supply has them and you pay by the pound and its cheap.

Love the per pound hardware at TSC...but hate the over priced blister packed stuff

A little of topic here...
I try and keep a length of threaded rod/all-thread in all thread sizes in my garage, along with a bunch of nuts.
I just cut off the length I need for a project, instead of making a trip to the hardware store for a certain length bolt.
Sorry for the drift,

[BAGTIC]

Don't you have a farm supply store in your area. That is where all my fasteners. Cheaper than hardware and better variety.

[pacomdiver]

Tractor supply has them in all lengths, also if your near a Fastenall store, they can get 3 or 4 ft sections of the 7/8x14 threaded rod, i got one last year to experiment with, think it was like 14 bucks

[wrench man]

Yep, look at the markings on the head of the "CAP SCREW" to tell the grade, the finish has little to do with the grade.
I've found that a GR8 cap screw will machine MUCH better than a SOFT GR5 cap screw!

[RED BEAR]

went to hardware store for a couple of ss bolts got to register and they rang up at over 7 dollars a piece said no thanks and went to lowes whole pack for under 3 dollars. pays to check around.

[William Yanda]

I have no knowledge of what is available in TX. Near me, in upstate NY, Tractor Supply carries a variety of bolts in Grades 2,5 and 8. Grade 2 are shiny silver colored, Grade 5 have a greenish phosphate finish and Grade 8 have the gold color you mentioned. I am sure Grade 2 or even Grade 5 would drill easier than Grade 8. By the way, they sell by the pound, so $6 would have bought a handful.

[mdi]

The grade 8 bolts, American made, I had at the City of LA, Dept. of Water Heavy Equipment repair would dull a drill bit. Tried to drill a lock wire hole in a few, really tough...

[HangFireW8]

Dull a drill bit... Chinese generic 115pc, Black &Decker, Sears, deWalt, Chicago Latrobe, Norseman... 118, 135... HSS and fake HSS, Cobalt, Nobium... There are a lot of quality levels out there.

[sparkyv]

I acquired a few really-junk dies a while back -- years ago. They ARE already threaded 7/8"-14; unscrew the smaller parts from the die, and you have a nice "sleeve" to hold a 1/4" machine bolt, the head at die's bottom, with the ability to use said 1/4" bolt atop the die to fasten whatever you choose to. I had one I used a section of angle-aluminum to hold similar tools, with drilled holes near front for Allen wrenches. Just a thought -- but I'd be much surprised for you to get no results if you posted a WTB for someone's scratched, or rusted die. Seems a less-work method, which has worked for me, than messing with solid bolts.
geo

Brilliant!

[lightman]

I didn't know you could machine or drill a grade 8 bolt. Learned something new. Several years ago I swapped a little bit of electrical work for a couple of bolt bins and about a truck load of nuts, bolts and washers. Best deal I ever made! It took me about a week to get them sorted out and put up. I've also learned that there is a grade higher than grade 8.

[mattw]

Bolts have grade marks on the head... No marks, grade 1 &2, 3 marks grade 5 and 6 marks grade 8. More marks that 6 means don't drill it and follow torque specs because it is harder than hammered hell!

[Ole Joe Clarke]

All of the various colors of bolts are for corrosion resistance, specified by the buyer or end user. The yellow is just yellow zinc chromate.

Speaking of drilling grade 8 bolts, I noticed that the drill bit sets that Harbor Freight sells are just sold with no relief ground on the cutting edges and the web is so thick it takes a lot of pressure to drill even a small hole.

Have a blessed day,

Leon

[beagle]

Go Tractor Supply or Ace Hardware. I once bought stabilator bolts for the MH-60 Blackhawks at work. Used once and discarded. Cost me $700+. Close tolerance, stainless steel, magnfluxed and X-rayed and serial numbered. Don't complain about $2. The boys on the line that had farms sure loved the old 7/8" diameter bolts for tractor hitch pins. Lasted forever./beagle

[uscra112]

McMaster "Grade B7" threaded rods machine beautifully. I use 9/16-18 to make custom expander plugs for Lyman M-dies. 7/8-14 for special dies and die adaptors. Just bought some 7/16-20 to make expanders for 310 tong tool dies. McMaster has no minimum, takes your credit card, often delivers next day. Shipping can be a bit expensive, but so is gas to get to town.

McMaster's unofficial motto: If we don't have it, you don't need it.






;

[alamogunr]

I didn't know you could machine or drill a grade 8 bolt. Learned something new. Several years ago I swapped a little bit of electrical work for a couple of bolt bins and about a truck load of nuts, bolts and washers. Best deal I ever made! It took me about a week to get them sorted out and put up. I've also learned that there is a grade higher than grade 8.

A couple of years ago I wanted a 7/8 X 14 bolt to seat some flat nose boolits. Went to Fastenal and all they had in that size was 2 bolts grade 9. One was about 4" long and the other about 3' long. As I recall they charged me about $2 each just to get them out of their inventory. I would have been happy with Grade 2 bolts.

I just looked at Fastenal's website. They show Grade 9 bolts. When I scrolled down to 7/8 x 14, some lengths were marked down to a fraction of the regular cost. ie. a 3' bolt is $17.17 and the next line(same length,different SKU) is $2.97. Not sure what the different SKU's mean.

[john.k]

Caterpillar make bolts with the whole head covered in lines.............Cat bolts are usually easy to machine too,unlike the Chinese Gr 8 bolts that are very hard................incidentally,we found the Chinese Gr8 bolts very prone to fracture through the threads,in fact the cheap Gr 5 bolts seemed more resistant to fracture......Beware of Chinese in critical applications.