Fasteners

Marine Fasteners

West Marine offers a wide selection of nuts, bolts, screws, washers and other types of fasteners. When selecting fasteners for your application, you need to consider the fastener’s material, thread style, head style, drive type and in addition the type of nuts or washer you will need. Note: For a deeper dive into the world of marine fasteners, see The Nuts and Bolts of Marine Fasteners.

Fastener Materials

Most marine fasteners are stainless steel, which provides the best combination of strength, corrosion resistance, appearance and cost in most applications. Other materials include brass, bronze, aluminum and Monel.

Thread Styles

There are a variety of thread styles on threaded fasteners: wood screw threads which are tapered and have sharp threads to engage wood fibers, sheet metal screw threads which are deep, widely spaced, and have sharp points; and machine screw threads which are cut to engage a nut or previously threaded hole.

The following list describes some common marine fasteners offered by West Marine.

Nuts

• Hex Nuts: Most common has six sides for general use. Ideal for general applications that are not exposed to heavy vibration. Can be used with thread locking products to resist loosening caused by vibration. Examples: Deck hardware through-bolted installations, installing mounting brackets for equipment and motor mounts.
• Nylock Nuts: Thicker nut that uses a nylon ring to prevent the nut from loosening when exposed to vibrations. Professionally viewed as a one-time use. Example: Used for just about any application where you want the nut to stay tight.
• Cap (Acorn) Nuts: Also called acorn nuts due to their shape. These nuts are commonly used to give a finished look to installations and isolate the sharp end of machine screws and bolts. Using cap nuts often requires cutting excess threads to allow it to tighten properly. Example: Deck hardware installations without headliner to cover fasteners, brackets through-bolted to lockers and bulkheads shared by other equipment.
• Wing Nuts: Nuts designed to be hand-tightened using two small tabs cast into the nut. Typically wig nuts are viewed as being inadequate for many marine applications because they are more prone to loosen. Examples: electronics mounting brackets, adjustable equipment such as interior lighting, supports for lockers and nav station tops, portlight dogs.
• Barrel Nuts: Unique threaded socket with truss head. Accepts machine screws and bolts and provides a low-profile Phillips or Allen socket truss head. Example: portlight, deck hardware and installations that benefit from a low-profile head.

Washers

• Lock Washers: Prevent loosening due to vibrations; suitable for high-stress applications.
• Flat Washers: Most common general-purpose washer usually has similar footprint of hex head or nut. Ideal for metal parts or where loads do not require being spread over large area. Example: Thru-bolting hardware that is not subject to heavy loading.
• Fender Washers: Larger cousin to the flat washer. Designed with double the surface area to spread the load over a larger area. Ideal for through-bolting hardware that carry heavy loads. Examples: anchoring stands up blocks, thru-bolting ladders to flybridge, thru-bolting stanchions to a deck.
• Nylon Washers: Insulating and corrosion-resistant; ideal for electrical applications.
• Finishing Washers: Enhance aesthetics, commonly used in visible installations.

Screws

• Wood Screws: Offered in stainless steel and bronze materials, wood screws have a sharp point and threads designed to cut their way into wood and hold securely. Example: Bronze wood screws which are traditionally used to secure hull planking on a wooden boat.
• Machine Screws: West Marine offers an excellent selection of machine screws. Most are offered in stainless steel. Unlike wood screws, machine screws are designed for thru-bolting different components together. Two typical uses for machine screws on boats are the screws used to secure a deck to a hull and also the screws used to thru-bolt hardware to a deck. Machine screw threads vary in terms of their length, diameter, number of threads per inch, head type and drive type.
• Sheet Metal Screws: Also called "self-tapping screws", these are general purpose coarse threaded fasteners for securing wood, fiberglass, soft plastics, thin, soft metals and more. Pieces should be temporarily clamped for best fit. Example: attaching systems brackets to bulkheads, assembling cabinetry and interior frame work, installing non-critical hardware.

Packaged Fasteners from West Marine

West Marine sells retail packs of fasteners. The quantity of fasteners in each package varies from as few as two up to packages that contain 100 fasteners. Fasteners are also offered in kits that contain an assortment of fasteners in various quantities along with nuts and washers.