Some years ago, while researching the history of threaded fasteners, I came across this lovely little booklet available on the Lewis Bolt & Nut Company's website. Most American companies don't bother to use their resources to write and publish this kind of thing, which made it even more wonderful.
Beginning as the Indian Bolt & Nut in 1921, the Minnesota company was started by the Northern Pacific Railroad to make fasteners to repair railroad cars. It was sold in 1927 to other interests, which changed its name to its current form. Its specialty was both cold and hot-headed products:
Cold-heading machines take coils of steel, 1/4” to 5/8” in diameter, cut the steel to length and form a head by pressing the cold steel between dies. In the hot-heading process, 12’ to 20’ rods of steel are sheared to length, heated red-hot in a furnace and then upset into the desired head shape, again by pressing the steel between dies. The cold-heading process is used generally to manufacture smaller bolts that are standard in nature. The hot-heading process is used to manufacture larger bolts, many special in nature.
In the 1980's, for a variety of reasons we've all heard before, the company faced severe financial crisis. In that decade, almost half of the U.S. fastener manufacturers went out of business. Fortunately, Lewis Bolt & Nut Company survived.
Their website no longer includes the booklet. I've uploaded a copy of the booklet here. I hope they don't mind.
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