Every fastener buyer knows the moment: the drawing calls for an odd diameter, a discontinued size, or a length nobody lists — and the big catalogs come up empty. That moment is what Cold Headers has specialized in since 1962.

We’re a family-owned master distributor in Chicago, and hard-to-find is not a sideline for us — it’s the business. In the 1980s, when foreign and domestic competition flooded the standard-size market, we went all in on the sizes nobody else would stock: odd increment lengths, extra-long lengths, odd diameters, and non-ferrous materials in every type of fastener we carried. Forty years later, that’s still who we are.

What “Hard to Find” Means Here

  • Odd increment lengths — the in-between lengths standard catalogs skip
  • Extra-long lengths — well beyond typical published ranges
  • Odd diameters and thread pitches — including small-number sizes, in-between diameters, and special pitches
  • Non-ferrous and specialty materials — brass, silicon bronze, Monel, and 316 stainless socket products
  • Special metric fasteners — special metric sizes in all materials, alongside a full standard metric line
  • Non-catalog configurations — nylon inserts, special points, and modified parts through our in-house machine shop

The Inventory Behind the Promise

Our online catalog publishes over 15,000 sizes — and that’s the tip of the shelf. More than 150,000 additional sizes are stocked beyond the catalog, for over 165,000 standard, metric, and special sizes in all. If it’s a socket screw, socket set screw, shoulder screw, dowel pin, or related industrial fastener, there’s a good chance it’s either on our shelf or within fast reach of it.

And because roughly 99% of our nylon insert installation happens in our own machine shop, many “nobody makes that” requests — a nylon pellet on an odd-size set screw, a special configuration on a standard blank — are things we can produce rather than merely search for.

Who We Serve

Fastener distributors have been our core customers for over sixty years — when your customer hands you an impossible line item, we’re the call that saves the order. We also supply OEM manufacturers, machine builders, tool and die shops, and maintenance professionals across North America who need exact sizes matched to drawings and service records.

How It Works

Call 773-775-7900 or email Sales@coldheaders.com with the size, material, and quantity — a print or a sample works too. Our experienced sales staff will quote price and delivery with speed and accuracy, and in-stock orders ship the same day.

Frequently Asked Questions

The size I need isn’t in your online catalog. Is that a dead end?
No — the online catalog represents only a portion of what we stock and supply. Non-catalog sizes are quoted every day; that’s the specialty.

Do you handle special metric sizes?
Yes — special metric fasteners in all materials are an active and growing part of our inventory, alongside standard metric sizes.

How fast will I get a quote?
Fast quotations have been the business model since 1962. Call or email with your requirement and our sales team will respond with price and delivery — quickly enough that you won’t leave your own customer waiting.

Hard to find is what we do.

Prefer to browse first? Explore over 15,000 published sizes in our online catalog — then call about the 150,000+ that aren’t shown.

We Don’t Just Source Hard-to-Find Fasteners — We Make Them Exist

Some fasteners can’t be found because nobody makes them. That’s where our in-house modification work comes in: we start with a standard socket screw from our own 165,000+ sizes and machine it into the part your print actually calls for — typically in days, not mill lead times.

Custom lengths — we cut screws down to the exact length you need, including the odd increments no catalog lists.

Left-hand threads — turned in-house. Left-hand socket set screws and cap screws are among the hardest fasteners in the industry to source; we make them to order.

Machined points on cap screws — full dog, half dog, cone, flat, oval: we can machine any point style onto a standard socket head cap screw. A dog point cap screw barely exists commercially; if your design needs one — or any other pointed cap screw — this is where it comes from.

Nylon locking pellets — installed on-site, converting a standard screw into a self-locking fastener without threadlocker.

Nylon and brass tips — installed on set screws to protect ground, polished, or coated shafts from marring.

If a print calls for a fastener nobody stocks, call us before you redesign around it: 773-775-7900 or Sales@coldheaders.com.

Call 773-775-7900 or email Sales@coldheaders.com — or request a quote online.