Pin types compared: parallel dowel, slotted spring, coiled spring and clevis
All four pins in this table join parts through or beside a hole, but they hold the joint in four different ways: precision friction, a split spring wall, a coiled spring wall, or a retained hinge. This table compares the four pin types we publish individual specification pages for, using only fields that mean the same thing across the columns. Where a figure is not established by the collected evidence, the cell says so and asks you to confirm it at RFQ; nothing is filled in with an assumption, and no cell implies a type cannot be supplied.
Comparison table
Load figures are quoted at each column's own collected size series, load mode and pin material and are marked as differing bases — they position the types, they are not convertible numbers.
| Field | Parallel Dowel | Slotted Spring | Coiled Spring | Metric Clevis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type & construction | Solid cylindrical pin with chamfered ends — locates parts by friction fit between pin and reamed hole | Hollow pin split along its full length (roll pin) — at least one end chamfered for insertion | Strip stock rolled into roughly two and a quarter coil turns — a closed 360-degree spring wall, not a solid pin | Hinged pivot pin with a low flat head, cotter cross-hole near the point and a chamfered end — single-shear hinge duty |
| How the joint is made (hole & fit) The field that separates these four in practice: what the hole must be and what makes the fit. | Pressed into a reamed hole — fit set by tolerance class (m6 press fit, h6 clearance), band ladders published per length range | Driven into a plain drilled hole sized to the published bore D2 per dimension (e.g. 4.5 → ~2.9 mm, 8 → 5.5 mm) — the compressed pin grips the bore wall | Driven into a plain drilled hole — the free-state pin is deliberately oversize (up to +1.1 mm at Φ20) and springs out against the bore; hole accuracy demands far lower than a solid dowel | Running fit in the clevis bores — drill or ream to nominal shank; length sized as clevis width plus stack so the cotter hole sits clear of the ear |
| Size range (collected) | d 1–20 mm nominal (1, 1.2, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 16, 20) | Dimension series 1–13 mm (1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, 3.5, 4, 4.5, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 13) | Φ0.8–20 mm standard duty (0.8, 1, 1.2, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, 3.5, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 20) | Shank 3–100 mm, twenty sizes; 6, 16 and 25–32 mm not covered by published tables |
| Load figures (as published) Same meaning (capacity of the pinned joint) but different bases — size series, load mode and pin material differ per column, so figures are marked, not converted. | No joint shear figures tabulated — capacity follows the chosen steel property class (4.6–12.9) or stainless strength class (500/700/800 N/mm² per ISO 3506); state the joint load at RFQ Unverified — confirm at RFQ | Single shear 0.35 kN at dimension 1 to 57.6 kN at 13; double shear 0.7 kN to 115 kN across the same series, per diameter | Minimum double shear 0.4 kN at Φ0.8 to 250 kN at Φ20 — footnoted as applying to spring steel; the table prints a/b rows per size without a duty label in the collected text Conditional — confirm configuration | Not tabulated by the collected specification — clevis pins take single-shear pivot loads; state working load, clevis width and environment at RFQ Unverified — confirm at RFQ |
| Vibration & shock behavior | Rigid friction fit — the rigid choice where parts must stay precisely aligned; the complement where the joint must not flex | Tightens under shock and vibration — the pin presses back against the hole wall as it is loaded, so the fit does not loosen | Even 360-degree bore contact over the full length — resists vibration, absorbs hole-tolerance extremes and does not score the bore | Rotation by design — the joint pivots on the pin; retention (not friction) holds the assembly on the pin |
| Materials (as collected) | Steel property classes 4.6–12.9; stainless A1 (303), A2 (304), A4 (316) per ISO 3506 | Steel (spring pin grades per the collected chemistry table); stainless austenitic groups — 301 named in the collected stock table | Collected table covers geometry only; the shear footnote names spring steel — material and finish per RFQ Unverified — confirm at RFQ | Not tabulated by the collected specification — material and finish per RFQ Unverified — confirm at RFQ |
| Retention & removal | No extraction feature — removal by press or drift; the internal-thread pull dowel (DIN 7979D) is the removable variant of the parallel pin | Held by spring-back against the bore — drive out for removal; removed pins should be replaced, not re-driven (a cycled slot may not re-grip at printed loads) | Held by spring-back along the whole coil — drive out for removal; same replace-don’t-re-drive caution as slotted pins Conditional — confirm configuration | Retained by a cotter or clip through the cross-hole (dl column, pairing per the ISO 1234 ladder) — the pin itself is free to withdraw once the retainment is out |
| Best for | Locating and joining parts that must stay precisely aligned in a rigid joint — fixtures, plates, machined assemblies | Joints that must tolerate shock, vibration and repeated insertion — hinges, springs and linkages on a drilled hole | Shock-loaded joints on plain drilled holes with wide hole tolerance — where the coiled wall spreads bore contact and takes assembly abuse better than the slot form | Single-shear pivots that are serviced — linkages, agricultural and construction pivots, mechanisms and appliances from 3 to 100 mm shank |
- Verified
- Differs
- Unverified — confirm at RFQ
- Conditional — confirm configuration
How to choose
By how the joint must be held
A parallel dowel pin holds position by precision: an m6 pin pressed into a reamed hole stays exactly where it was pressed, which is why fixtures, dies and machined assemblies locate on dowels. A spring pin — slotted or coiled — holds by spring-back: it compresses to enter a plain drilled hole and presses outward against the bore wall, so the joint tightens under shock and vibration instead of loosening. A clevis pin holds nothing by friction at all: it is a hinge, retained by a cotter or clip, built to rotate while the assembly stays on it.
By your hole reality
The dowel is the only column that needs a reamed hole and a named tolerance class — m6 for press fits, h6 for clearance. The spring pins go into plain drilled holes: the slotted series publishes a recommended bore per dimension, and the coiled pin's free-state diameter stands deliberately proud of nominal so it absorbs the widest hole-tolerance window of the four. The clevis pin is a running fit — bore to nominal shank, and size the length so the cotter hole sits fully clear of the clevis ear.
By the load path and service
Order the four by duty, not by strength figure alone: dowel where alignment dominates, spring pins where shock and repeated insertion dominate (the coiled wall spreading bore contact more evenly than the slot), clevis where the joint pivots and is serviced. Then rate the joint from the specific page's own table at your size and material — the table's figures are positioning markers at different bases, and two of the four columns publish no joint-load figures at all, which is a reading of the collected sources, not a limit on supply.
Frequently asked questions
Dowel pin or spring pin — which does my joint need?
Decide by how the joint is held, not by size. A parallel dowel pin (DIN 7 / ISO 2338) holds position by a precision friction fit in a reamed hole — the choice where alignment must never slip, but it needs an accurately reamed hole and has no give. A spring pin — slotted (DIN 1481 / ISO 8752) or coiled (ISO 8750) — goes into a plain drilled hole and holds by pressing outward against the bore wall, so it tightens under shock and vibration and forgives hole tolerance, at the cost of dowel-grade positional precision. If the drawing names the standard, quote against it; if it names only "pin" and a hole size, say so on the RFQ and confirm the type before ordering.
Slotted or coiled spring pin — does the form of the spring wall matter?
Both go into plain drilled holes and hold the same way, but the wall is different: the slotted pin has two prongs along a slot, the coiled pin a closed 360-degree strip wall of roughly two and a quarter turns. The coiled form distributes bore contact evenly over the full length, which typically takes shock-load and hole-tolerance extremes better and does not score the bore. The two series also size differently — DIN 1481 runs dimensions 1–13 mm in the collected tables, ISO 8750 standard duty runs Φ0.8–20 — and their published shear figures sit at different series and load bases, so compare from each page’s own table at your size rather than across the columns.
How should I compare the load figures in the table?
They are positioning markers, not design allowables: each column quotes its collected source at its own size series, load mode and pin material. The slotted column carries single- and double-shear per diameter; the coiled column carries minimum double shear footnoted to spring steel; the dowel and clevis columns carry no joint-load tabulation at all — capacity follows the chosen material or is stated at RFQ. For a real joint, take the figure for your specific size and material from the individual specification page, state the load mode (single or double shear, pivot) on the RFQ, and confirm the rating basis at quotation.
Individual pin specification pages
Each type has its own page — dimension tables, published load figures and RFQ guidance.
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