Many people assume that eye bolts and hoist rings are the same. After all, they are ring-shaped fasteners. You can connect equipment or objects onto eye bolts or hoist rings. They may feature a similar design, however, but eye bolts and hoist rings aren’t the same.
What Are Eye Bolts?
Eye bolts are bolts with a circular, ring-shaped head. Like all bolts, they feature a threaded shank. But eye bolts don’t feature a traditional circular or hexagonal head. Instead, they feature a ring-shaped head that protrudes out of the surface in which they are installed. You can install an eye bolt in a wall, for instance. The ring-shaped head will then stick out of the wall.
What Are Hoist Rings?
Hoist rings are heavy-duty rings that are designed to support a load. They are used in commercial lifting applications. Hoists are devices that lift, as well as lower objects. Some hoists are manually operated, whereas others are pneumatically or electrically driven. Regardless, hoists require a connection point for the chain. Hoist rings serve as these connection points.
Differences Between Eye Bolts and Hoist Rings
Eye bolts and hoist rings aren’t the same. Eye bolts are bolts with a threaded shank. Hoist rings are heavy-duty lifting rings that are used in commercial lifting applications. Hoist rings don’t have a threaded shank; they only have a base and a ring.
When lifting objects, you should use hoist rings. Eye bolts can support light loads, but they aren’t designed for lifting applications. You can use eye bolts to hang wall decorations. For commercial lifting applications, on the other hand, you should use hoist rings.
Hoist rings are available in different styles. Side-pull hoist rings are designed to support a pulling force. If you need to pull an object, as opposed to lifting the object, you may want to choose a side-pull hoist ring. There are also swivel hoist rings. Swivel hoist rings consist of a base and a ring. The base on swivel hoist rings, though, can rotate in all directions.
What About Rope Rings?
There are also rope rings available. Rope rings look like hoist rings, but they are designed for tie-down applications. If you need to tie down a load or object, you may want to use a rope ring. Rope rings offer a simple and effective solution for tying down loads and objects with rope. You can mount them on a flat surface, after which you can run rope through them to tie down the load or object.