Instant Dowel Pin Pricing

Dowel Pins Made to Order

Most of the time you should buy the standard part. It is cheaper, it ships today, and for the job it was designed to do nothing here will improve on it. This page is about telling the difference — including the cases where ordering from us would be a mistake.

What an off-the-shelf dowel pin actually is

The dowel pins carried by MSC, McMaster-Carr and every industrial distributor come in a fixed series of nominal diameters and lengths, each held to one published diameter tolerance. That tolerance sits above nominal: ASME B18.8.2 pins run about 0.0002" over, and the ISO 2338 metric series specifies an m6 shaft.

Fixed sizes and one tolerance is exactly why they are cheap and immediately available — produced by the million and sitting in a bin near you. The only question worth asking is whether one of those sizes is right for what you are building.

Pins here are turned from bar to a shaft tolerance — ISO 286-1 grades h6 to h8 in inch and h5 to h8 in metric. Shaft grades run to theminus side of nominal, the opposite direction from a catalogue pin's published tolerance, so the two are not interchangeable in a hole sized for one or the other. Work out the diameter your application actually needs before choosing either.

We turn from bar and do not harden or grind after machining. Where hardness matters it comes from the stock rather than a heat treat afterwards — stainless 17-4 in the H900 condition, for example, arrives already hardened and is turned in that state. We make no claim of conformance to ASME B18.8.2 or ISO 2338.

Buy the standard pin when…

The standard diameter suits the application
This is the deciding question. Catalogue dowel pins come in a fixed series of nominal diameters, each held to one published tolerance. If a size in that series gives the fit your hole and your application call for, the part already exists and nothing here will improve on it.
The length is one of the stocked steps
Standard pins are stocked in set length increments. Where your length lands on one of those steps, you are buying a part that is already made rather than paying to have one turned.
You need them today, or you need thousands
Distribution wins outright on both availability and commodity volume. A stocked pin ships the same day and costs less than anything we can turn. We are worth talking to at quantity when the part is not standard — not when it is.

Consider a custom pin when…

The diameter falls between stocked sizes
A hole reamed to an odd size, a repair to a worn bore, or a design that simply does not land on the fractional series. Any diameter in range can be turned, not just the ones in the catalogue.
You need a length nobody stocks
Length is the most common reason to order here. Turned to the length you ask for rather than cut down from a longer pin, so both ends are finished. More →
You want a slip or locating fit, not an interference one
Shaft tolerance grades are the point here rather than a limitation: a pin meant to locate and come back out wants clearance, and that is what these bands give. The grades available are stated below, and differ between inch and metric.
The material is not one distributors stock as a pin
Dowel pins are commonly stocked in hardened alloy steel and a stainless or two. Anything beyond that — titanium, brass, aluminium, a specific stainless — is a turned part wherever you buy it.
The part is stepped, shouldered or tapered
More than one diameter on a pin puts it outside the catalogue entirely. Multiple turned sections and tapers between them can be configured and priced online. More →
You need very few
One piece is a real order here. A prototype, a replacement, or a handful for a fixture does not need a minimum buy or a quote thread. More →
You need the paperwork
Every order ships with a Certificate of Conformance, a material certification from the vendor and first-article and in-process inspection records — the documentation a bin of commodity pins cannot give you. More →

What we can turn

By requirement

By material

Still not sure?

Work out the diameter your application needs first. If a standard size gives you that, buy the catalogue part — you will get it sooner and for less money. If you are reading this because the size, material, profile or quantity you need is not in the catalogue, that is exactly what this shop is for.

← Configure a pin and get an instant price