Bolted joints and fastening
A review of joints that loosen, fatigue or are hard to maintain: fastener selection, preload targets, tightening methods, locking options and inspection intervals.
Consulting services
Practical help with mechanical products
Consulting from Firmament Bolt Company (FBC), the company developing SmartBolt: fastening, design for manufacture, prototype sourcing and development planning.
What we help with
Services
Design for manufacture
A review of parts and assemblies before they go to a machine shop: tolerances, material choice, setups, and the features that drive cost and lead time.
Prototype sourcing
Quote packages with drawings, models and a clear scope; finding and comparing machine shops; checking quotes against the drawings; and following the order through to delivery.
Product development planning
Turning an early concept into a staged plan: what to prototype first, what to document, and what to keep confidential before talking to suppliers or investors.
Who it is for
Teams working on physical products
Engagements are scoped to the question you need answered, from a single design review to support across a prototype build.
- Hardware startups and inventors. Moving from a concept or sketch to parts a shop can make.
- Manufacturers and machine shops. A second opinion on a design, or help preparing a quote package.
- Maintenance and reliability teams. Recurring problems with joints that loosen in service.
- Investors. An outside view on the design and manufacturing plan of a mechanical product.
How it works
From first message to delivery
Tell us the problem
Send a short description through the form or by email. Drawings can wait until an NDA is in place, if you need one.
Agree the scope
You receive a written scope with deliverables, timeline and fee, agreed before any work starts.
Receive the work
Written findings, marked-up drawings or a sourcing summary, followed by a call to go through them.
Need the CAD files themselves?
FBC also produces manufacturable CAD models and drawings at a fixed scope.
Start with a short description
Use the form, or email dennis@smartbolt.net.