Custom Dowel Pin Manufacturing

Dowel pins are short cylindrical parts that are used to align or join two or more parts. Wooden dowel pins are commonly used to hold furniture together. Metal and plastic dowel pins with custom diameters and lengths are found in machinery, vehicles, and consumer goods.

Pins are a type of precision fastener and they’re made with any type of material and available in every diameter and length. Spex uses different machining processes to manufacture a wide variety of custom dowel pins. In this post, we’ll explain more about precision dowel pins and their uses.

Different types of pins

Pins usually serve a similar function as screws or bolts, but pins are unthreaded. Instead of threading, pins use different methods of staying in place and hold parts together. Usually a custom pin has a specific diameter size that matches the parts it will hold together. The lengths are also machined to the part specifications.

The names of pins usually refers to the different features of the pin. A grooved pin for example, has grooves running along the length of the part which gives them more elasticity. A spring pin is a hollow pin that’s able to be compressed and expanded. A spring pin or roll pin is another hollow pin that’s made with rolled metal.

Dowel pins are solid pins, and usually the most precise type of pin. These are also the most basic type of pins and don’t have the secondary features that other precision pins have. Because dowel pins are more precise, they can also be more difficult to insert and remove.

One or both ends of the pin is chamfered to help align and inset the pin into the hole. Once it’s in place, a precision dowel pin provides a very tight seal and hold components together for a long time and withstand a good amount of pressure. Because dowel pins are headless, they can be more difficult to remove than a screw or bolt.

Stepped dowel pins are used when components with two different sized holes need to be connected. One half of the dowel pin will be smaller than the other end. The last common type of dowel pin is a pull dowel. These pins have a threaded hole so a screw can be inserted to remove the pin more easily.

Common uses and materials used for dowel pins

Dowel pins are one of the simplest types of fasteners available and can be the perfect solution for many different machines. Pins in general have been used for thousands of years. Of course, modern machining technology has improved and expanded the use of precision metal pins. Our machines can mass produce dowel pins with extreme precision.

Because they’re incredibly versatile, simple, and cost efficient, pins are used in thousands of different applications.

Dowel pins are commonly used in machinery to keep components properly aligned. Solid pins usually do a much better job at maintaining alignment compared to screws. Metal dowel pins retain their physical dimensions, meaning they won’t easily wear down or lose their shape. This makes metal dowel pins ideal for machines where precision is required.

Dowel pins are also used in the automotive, medical, aerospace, and military industries.

You’ll find wooden dowel pins in your furniture, but using metals offers much greater precision and strength. At Spex, our Swiss lathes and other machines can produce custom dowel pins within a 0.0001″ tolerance.

Custom dowel pins can be made of various materials. Each material has different advantages and the best choice is dependent on how the is being used. Some industries require specific alloys to be used to meet strength requirements. The most common materials include:

Aluminum
Carbon steel
Stainless steel
Titanium
Nickel alloys
Brass

In some instances, plastics or polycarbonates will be used for pins in electronics or in components that require less strength.

If you’re not sure which material to use for your custom dowel pins, our team can help you decide which one is best for your unique application.

Get a quote for custom dowel pins

Are you looking for a dowel pin manufacturer?

Spex is an industry leader in manufacturing precision fasteners and pins. We are an ISO 9001:2015 certified organization, which means we use the highest industry standards for manufacturing parts. Our vast machining capabilities allow us to produce large quantities of parts that meet the tight tolerances that are often needed.

We have decades of precision manufacturing, customer satisfaction, and serve many industries around the world

Reach out to get a quote for your next project.