When assembling furniture, you may have to use dowel pins and dowel nuts. Many couches, chairs, tables and countless other types of furniture feature these fasteners. Dowel pins aren’t the same as dowel nuts, however. What’s the difference between dowel pins and dowel nuts exactly?
What Are Dowel Pins?
Also known as dowel rods, dowel pins are cylindrical pieces of material that are used to join or align parts. Some of them are made of wood. Others are made of stainless steel, carbon steel, aluminum, plastic or alloys.
What Are Dowel Nuts?
Dowel nuts are cylindrical fasteners that feature a threaded hole in the center. The threaded hole essentially runs from one side of the dowel nut to the other side. It’s designed to support a threaded fastener, such as a bolt. In addition to a threaded hole, most dowel nuts have a head with a drive recess. A flat-head recess, for instance, will allow you to install or remove a dowel nut using a flat-head screwdriver.
Differences Between Dowel Pins and Dowel Nuts
Dowel pins and dowel nuts share some similarities. You can find them in many of the same materials, and they both feature a cylindrical shape. Dowel pins and dowel nuts are also used in many of the same applications, such as furniture assembly. With that said, they are different types of fasteners.
Dowel pins are used by themselves to either join or align parts. With their cylindrical shape, they can be inserted into a hole. A single dowel pin, in fact, can join two parts. If both of the parts have a hole, the dowel pin can connect them together. In machines, dowel pins are often used for aligning applications. They can align machinery parts in the appropriate position.
Dowel nuts are typically used exclusively for joining parts. To join two parts, for instance, you can insert a dowel pin into one of the parts. You can then drive a threaded fastener into the other part. The threaded fastener will go through both parts where it’s able to reach the dowel nut. Turning the threaded fastener will then secure it to the dowel nut, thus holding the two parts together.
All dowel nuts require the use of a threaded fastener. Dowel pins, on the other hand, don’t require any other fasteners. You can use dowel pins simply by inserting them into a hole. To use dowel nuts, you’ll have to insert them into a hole and then connect them to a threaded fastener.