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UNC and UNF fasteners in Britain

Arran Cameron
Somebody will know the answer to this…


Almost all British machinery manufactured before 1950 used Whitworth, BSF, or BA fasteners. Manufacturers moved towards using metric fasteners in the 1970s and these have been the most commonly available and used family since 1980, although the proposal to use metric fasteners dates back 1965. Whitworth and BSF officially became obsolete in 1948 following an agreement between the UK, US, and Canada to standardise on the American UNC and UNF fasteners for future use. UNC and UNF fasteners were used in British machinery manufactured in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s where they gradually replaced Whitworth and BSF before themselves being replaced by metric fasteners.


1. Were UNC and UNF fasteners used across most industries in the UK or were they largely confined to specific industries such as automotive and machine tools? Were they regularly used in railways or shipbuilding?

2. Were the numbered sizes smaller than ¼ inch commonly used or did industry stick with BA fasteners until they moved to using metric fasteners?

3. Were UNC and UNF fasteners commonly used in construction? What are the most common family of fasteners used to hold together 1960s tower blocks and university buildings?

4. Was it easy to buy UNC and UNF fasteners from hardware and DIY shops in the 1960s and 70s or did they move directly from selling Whitworth and BA fasteners to metric fasteners?
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    Hi,

    I remember coming across UNC and UNF really quite late (in the 80s, possibly 90s) which suggests they weren't around in the company - a good old UK engineering company - where I did my apprenticeship in the late 70s. From memory, and I may be wrong, they mostly used BSF for heavy work, but might have been Whitworth. Definitely, as Roy says, BA sizes were used everywhere in electronics in the 70s - only about 5 years ago we were still using them in railway signalling products much to the annoyance of our suppliers.


    BA are also still used on Mamod steam engines, luckily I have plenty of BA spanners lying around from the old days!


    Cheers,

    Andy
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  • 0
    Hi,

    I remember coming across UNC and UNF really quite late (in the 80s, possibly 90s) which suggests they weren't around in the company - a good old UK engineering company - where I did my apprenticeship in the late 70s. From memory, and I may be wrong, they mostly used BSF for heavy work, but might have been Whitworth. Definitely, as Roy says, BA sizes were used everywhere in electronics in the 70s - only about 5 years ago we were still using them in railway signalling products much to the annoyance of our suppliers.


    BA are also still used on Mamod steam engines, luckily I have plenty of BA spanners lying around from the old days!


    Cheers,

    Andy
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