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Washers · Industry standard · Application guide

What Are Cup Washers Used For?

Typical applications, the industries that specify cup washers, and how to choose the right size, material and finish for the joint.

Cup Washers are used for load distribution and anti-loosening under a bolt or nut. They are manufactured to Industry standard, and selection is driven by the nominal bolt size, the fit and tolerance the assembly requires, and the service environment.

Primary duty
Load distribution and anti-loosening under a bolt or nut
Governing standard
Industry standard
Nominal bolt size range
M0.1 to M6
Category
Washers

Application notes are general engineering guidance. Verify the property class and any approval requirement against your own design calculation.

What Are Cup Washers Used For? application image

Cup Washers are used primarily for load distribution and anti-loosening under a bolt or nut. This page lists the industries and assemblies where they are specified, the selection criteria that matter for each application, installation practice, and the cases where a different fastener type is the correct choice. Parts are supplied to Industry standard. Stocked across roughly M0.1 to M6, they cover light-duty and instrument-scale work.

Typical Applications for Cup Washers

The most common settings where these are specified:

  • General machine building: fastening covers, brackets, motors and sub-assemblies on production equipment.
  • Maintenance & repair (MRO): a stocked size for servicing existing plant where the original fastener spec must be matched.
  • Fabrication & metalwork: bench and on-site assembly of steel frames, enclosures and weldments.
  • Bolted structural joints: spreading load over soft or oversized holes and protecting the surface.
  • Vibration applications: spring and serrated types that maintain tension under cyclic load.

How to Specify Cup Washers for Your Application

  • Size: Match the nominal size to the mating thread or hole. This product spans M0.1–M6; check the full table below for the exact dimensions of each size.
  • Type & OD: Select flat for load spreading, spring/serrated for anti-loosening, or fender/large-OD for soft or oversized holes.
  • Environment: For damp, coastal or chemical exposure prefer A4/316 stainless or a suitable coating; indoors, plated steel or A2 is usually sufficient.
  • Standard: This product is supplied to Industry standard. Quoting the standard on your order guarantees interchangeable dimensions between suppliers.

Installation & Assembly Practice

  • Place the washer under the rotating element (usually the nut) so tightening does not score the surface.
  • Chamfered-hole side of a hardened washer faces the bolt head fillet.
  • On serrated-flange hardware, do not add a plain washer — it defeats the serrations.

Common Selection Mistakes with Cup Washers

  • Relying on a spring washer for locking on class 8.8+ joints — at high preload it flattens and adds nothing.
  • Choosing an OD too small for soft material, so the head pulls through or embeds.

Where Cup Washers Are Not the Right Choice

A washer does not replace a locking feature on its own in severe vibration, and a spring washer adds little clamp on high-strength joints.

Technical Drawing

Customize the parameters below — every spec field is editable, and the drawing redraws to match the values you choose. Changing the size will snap the other fields to that size's standard values; you can then override any individual value.

Sends the selected values to the quote form below.

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The form below follows the current technical drawing configuration. Change the drawing values above and the request details update automatically.

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Specification
Business Information

Dimensions & Specifications (Industry standard)

Screw sizeInner diameter d1 (mm)Outer diameter d2 (mm)Thickness s (mm)Cup depth (mm)Seat angle (deg)Reference standard
No.6 (3.5 mm)3.710.00.61.690Industry standard
No.8 (4.0 mm)4.211.50.71.890Industry standard
No.10 (4.8 mm)5.013.00.82.090Industry standard
No.12 (5.5 mm)5.715.00.92.390Industry standard
M44.311.50.71.890Industry standard
M55.313.00.82.090Industry standard
M66.415.01.02.490Industry standard

Video: What Are Cup Washers Used For? in use

About the Special Measuring Cup for the LG Sidekick Pedestal Washer-Date: 12/30/2020

Third-party video, selected automatically for this topic. It is not produced by Engineering Hardware and is not a specification source — use the tables on this page for dimensional data.

Inside the plant

Manufactured in our own plant

This part is cold-formed, threaded, heat-treated and finished in-house. The stages below are where its class and finish are actually decided.

  1. Wire rod feeding into a cold heading machine
    01

    Cold heading

    Wire rod is drawn to size and cold-formed into blanks. Forming rather than cutting keeps the grain flow continuous around the head, which is where a bolt is most likely to fail.

    Head dimensions and under-head radius checked at set-up and per shift.

  2. Thread rolling machine producing bolt threads
    02

    Thread rolling

    Threads are rolled between hardened dies rather than cut. Rolled threads are stronger in fatigue than cut threads and hold pitch and flank angle far more consistently across a batch.

    Go / no-go ring gauges to ISO 965 tolerance class 6g.

  3. Baskets of bolts staged for heat treatment
    03

    Heat treatment

    Quench-and-temper brings carbon and alloy steel to the property class ordered — 8.8, 10.9 or 12.9 — with the furnace charge tracked so a finished lot can be traced back to it.

    Core hardness and tensile tested per lot to ISO 898-1.

  4. Zinc plated bolts in a treatment basket
    04

    Surface treatment

    Zinc, zinc-nickel, hot-dip galvanizing, black oxide, phosphate and Dacromet, selected against the service environment rather than against the price list.

    Coating thickness and neutral salt spray hours to ISO 9227.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are Cup Washers used for?

Load distribution and anti-loosening under a bolt or nut. They are supplied to Industry standard.

Which industries use Cup Washers?

They are commonly specified in vibration applications, timber & soft materials and general machine building, among other sectors.

How do I choose the right size of Cup Washers?

Match the nominal size to the mating thread or hole. This product is available from M0.1 to M6; the full dimension table on this page lists each size.

Do Cup Washers actually stop bolts loosening?

Spring and serrated washers help maintain tension under light vibration, but for critical joints a prevailing-torque locking nut or adhesive is more reliable. Flat washers mainly spread load and protect the surface.

Can I get a quote for Cup Washers in the size and material I need?

Yes. Use the technical drawing and quote form on this page to set the size and options, then send the exact configuration to our team for pricing and lead time.