Bay Supply Blog - Rivets, Fasteners, and Tools (13)

The tariffs the Trump Administration has imposed in 2018 have been met with plenty of criticism, along with a few approvals. Recent news from Ford has really brought the decisions—specifically, tariffs on steel and aluminum—into sharper focus.

Ford announced that, after attributing $1 billion in lost profits to President Trump’s tariffs, it will institute “massive layoffs”—up to 24,000 jobs, according to one report. The automaker’s woes are not unique to the industry—other manufacturing sectors have also struggled with the effects of the new duties imposed on goods from other nations, including Canada, China, Mexico, and the European Union.

For some applications, a tight seal plugging a hole isn’t a luxury—it’s mandatory. Leaks of air or fluid are simply not acceptable, and you must have confidence that the seal you supply will perform as expected, even if you don’t have access to one side of the hole during installation.

Sometimes, the job you’re on doesn’t require more power, but versatile power as well as mobility. If that’s the case, Bay Supply will soon be offering a tool that is perfect for your needs.

Arconic and Makita have teamed up to produce the Huck Range Force Battery Tool. This incredible advancement in adjustable force lockbolt/blind rivet installation technology gives users industry-leading performance for practically any application.

Blind rivets provide outstanding fastening functionality in places where you don’t have access to one side. But what if your application requires something a little less permanent than a rivet? What if you want to be able to undo bolts, but keep your options open to reinsert them as needed? And what if you can’t see the other side of the surface you are working on?

Bay Supply, the largest engineered fastening supply warehouse in the United States, is pleased to announce it is now an authorized distributor of Goebel fasteners. Bay Supply has a proven track record in marketing and supporting emerging brands like Goebel.

In modern manufacturing, especially in transportation, lighter is the becoming the new standard.

Vehicles that aren’t as heavy tend to get better mileage and fuel efficiency (including getting more from the charge on electric vehicles), are better for the environment, reduce structural fatigue, and can even improve performance. Increasingly, manufacturers are deciding lightweight manufacturing is smart business.

A modern Boeing 747 contains about 1 million rivets. If each rivet took a hypothetical five seconds to place, you would need more than 57 days around the clock to complete the job. Of course, building a 747 takes longer than 57 days, but you get the idea—the labor behind the riveting for creating such an enormous machine is substantial.

With many heavy duty, industrial applications, regular fasteners usually don’t make sense. For jobs where one side of the workpiece is unreachable or where welding isn’t an option, steel structural blind bolts are the perfect permanent and secure solution.

Whether you’re fixing an oversized or misplaced hole or need to complete a repair on original equipment (OEM), key locking inserts are the ideal fastener for repairing damaged threads.

From snowmobiles to rail joints, excavators to farm equipment, vibration can lead to costly—and sometimes dangerous—fastener failures. The key to maintaining installation integrity? The Huck 360® powerbolt, which is the most impressive vibration-resistant fastener on the market today.