Latest Posts

How to Make a Toy Car that Won’t Break

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When I was a little boy, I would often go to see my grandparents, who lived on the west side of Chicago. This was always exciting to me. It was very different from our home, two miles away but it might have been a million miles away for all it seemed. They had a neighbor […]

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Three Critical Fastener Truths

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“Your bolts are breaking in my engine blocks!” The purchasing manager was furious! This was a massive, costly failure. Someone would pay. The unimpressed fastener engineer on the other end of the phone replied wryly.  “What did you want to break?” WHAT???? It was simple.  Tremendous shear and tension had built, and something had to […]

Fast-Rite – Authorized representative for Siam Malleable Iron Pipe Fittings

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At Fast-Rite, we’re pleased to announce we are now an authorized distributor for Siam Fittings Company Limited, A leading international manufacturer of malleable iron and bronze pipe fittings. Siam pipe fittings are well known worldwide under the brand name SA. Founded over 50 years ago in 1968, Siam products are manufactured under exacting international standards […]

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How to reduce “Cam-Out”

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Cam-Out – we’ve probably all experienced it. Perhaps we’re putting a faceplate on an outlet, or driving into metal. So we pull out our trusty slotted screwdriver, and start to turn the screw. But the slot depth is shallow, perhaps it’s a struck slot instead of a saw slot, or maybe, this screwdriver has seen […]

Why Cast?

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Casting is most often used for making complex shapes that would be difficult or uneconomical to make by other methods. Precision engineered castings are found everywhere.  Your car, for example.  The water pump, alternator, air conditioning clutch, perhaps the brackets holding these devices, manifolds and more, all are prime examples of highly engineered precision castings. […]

Aggregate your way to cost effective and stress-free precision stamping supply.

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If you’ve ever walked into a major auto production facility, you may have heard a rhythmic thud in the background – perhaps a massive press stamping out the unibody for a sedan or SUV. This is the beginning of the manufacturing process, but there are many other parts to go that will need to be […]

Platings and Coatings

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What is the main purpose for plating and coating hardware? Hardware is usually coated or plated for corrosion resistance. Corrosion can seriously affect the performance of hardware and so it may need these secondary processes to extend its lifetime. The main difference between the two is that coatings utilize a specific solution and do not […]

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Top Four Fastener Trends Observed in 2021

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1. New Materials “If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it…” But that isn’t Fast-Rite’s way. We say, “if it can be better, then why not?”. Fasteners were traditionally made from metal and plastic but there are other materials that can be more suitable with enhanced solidity. Materials such as ceramics, carbon fiber and special alloy […]

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Container Shortages and Port Congestion Leads to Increasing Freight Costs

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  How did the container shortage come about? Only 40% of containers shipped from China to North America were returned to China after China’s Covid-19 recovery and during the shutdowns in the Western hemisphere. This means almost half of those containers are unusable. On one hand, container manufacturers are not producing them fast enough to […]

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COVID-19 Update

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Freight Shipping Due to the COVID-19 pandemic all freight is now subject to GRI (Gross Rate Increase) at the time of shipment. Please understand we are doing everything possible to mitigate any potential freight increases and we appreciate your continued support. We will continue to proactively monitor the situation and will release updates on a […]