In general, a spacer is a solid part with a hole in the center used to separate two parts in an assembly. Spacers can vary in size and be either standard or metric measurements. They can be made from steel, plastic, nylon, brass, stainless, or aluminum. If you thread it, it is called standoff instead of a spacer.

They come both round and hex typically, though any shape can be made. Some may have knurling. The hex are typically more popular when a wrench is needed to tighten it.

A spacer may look similar to standoffs but are unthreaded pieces of tubing which let the entire bolt pass through. Since they cannot be tightened, they are usually round. These are commonly part of the electronics hardware group.

Talk to Hardware Everywhere’s knowledgeable customer service team for help choosing the fasteners that match your application. Call us at 1-800-432-8979 or contact us online.