When you are working on a construction job site, you must consider the weight of heavy duty fasteners because the weight of heavy-duty fasteners affect your daily schedule and your logistics. A lag screw is an type of fastener, and a lag screw has a specific mass that you must account to when you are planning a project. If you do not estimate the weight of the lag screws correctly, you may recieve a shipment that is too heavy for a delivery vehicle, or you may place a shipment in a storage bin that exceed the weight capacity of the storage bin.
The diameter of the lag screw and the length of the lag screw determine the mass of a lag screw. As the diameter of the lag screw increase, the volume of the steel in the lag screw grows exponential, and because the volume grows exponentialy, a lag screw that is only slightly thicker will be more significantly heavier than a thinner lag screw. Therefore, you must understand that the difference in mass between a small fastener and a large structural bolt are large, and these differences in mass is important for your planning.
How to Estimate the Weight of Lag Screws
The finish applied to a lag screw also change the total weight of the lag screw. A zinc-plated lag screw is a lightweight option for indoor projects, and a zinc-plated lag screw does not add much mass to the shipment. However, you may need to use a hot-dip galvanized lag screw or an stainless steel lag screw for exterior work.
A hot-dip galvanized lag screw has a thick layer of zinc, and because the hot-dip galvanized lag screw has a thick layer of zinc, the hot-dip galvanized lag screw is heavier than a zinc-plated lag screw. While the extra weight of one hot-dip galvanized lag screw is small, the extra weight of many hot-dip galvanized lag screws can add many pounds to a large order, and this extra weight are important when you are calculating shipping costs. If you dont have a weight chart, you can estimate the weight of a lag screw by use mathematics.
You can treat the lag screw as a steel cylinder, and you can use the diameter of the lag screw and the length of the lag screw to calculate an approximation of the mass. You should add extra weight to your calculation to account for the head of the lag screw and the coating of the lag screw. Additionally, you should add a ten percent buffer to your weight calculation because manufacturing tolerances and packaging can changes the total weight.
It is better for you to overestimate the weight of the lag screws so that you are not under prepared when the shipment arrive. You must organize your fasteners by diameter and by length to maintain organizational discipline on a job site. You should not mix different diameter of fasteners in a single bin, and you should not mix different finishes of fasteners in a single bin.
If you mix different fasteners in one bin, you will be unable to estimate your remaining inventory by weight, and you may also use the wrong fastener in a structural connection. Keeping the fasteners sorted by diameter and by length ensure that you use the correct fasteners for the project. When you manage bulk quantity of fasteners, the weight of the fasteners become very large.
A small box of fasteners may weigh only a few pounds, but a full pallet of fasteners can weigh thousands of pounds. Because a pallet of fasteners is very heavy, you must consider forklift access and you must consider the weight limits of your receiving area. Precision regarding the mass of the fasteners are necessary because precision help you to manage your logistics and precision helps you to keep your project on track.
