Product
Bright Bar — Hex
Across-flats hex for parts that have to be gripped, indexed and turned — nuts, couplings, adaptors and fittings.
Overview
What you get, and what it saves
Hex bar exists because some parts have to be held. A nut needs flats for a spanner; a coupling or adaptor needs them so it can be tightened; and on an automatic machine the flats let the part be indexed reliably between operations.
Drawing hex is a different discipline from drawing round. The die has six faces and six corners, and material flows differently at a corner than at a flat. Flat quality, corner sharpness and the consistency of the across-flats dimension all depend on die condition and drawing control — which is why we run hex on the same monitored lines as round, not as an afterthought.
One point worth stating plainly, because it causes ordering errors: hex bar is always specified across flats, never across corners. The across-corners dimension is about 15.5% larger, and quoting it produces a bar substantially heavier than intended.
Specifications
Technical data
Ranges shown are what we draw across the grade range. Availability for a specific grade and size is confirmed at the time of enquiry.
- Size range
- 6 mm – 46 mm AFAcross flats; exact availability confirmed on enquiry
- Tolerance
- h9 / h10 / h11ISO 286, applied across flats
- Grades
- Free cutting, medium carbon, low carbon and case hardening
- Standard lengths
- 3, 4, 5 and 6 metreOr cut to your bar feeder requirement
- Surface
- Bright, scale-free, drawn finish
- Weight per metre
- AF² × 0.006798 kgRoughly 10% heavier than round at the same nominal size
Tolerance
Choose the band your process actually uses
h9 — Closest
Specified where the bar is used with minimal machining, or where a close running or locational fit is needed. Typical for hydraulic rods and precision shafting.
h10 — Standard
The general purpose bright bar tolerance. Suits most turned components and bar-fed automatic work where a finishing cut follows.
h11 — Commercial
Economical, for general engineering and fabricated work where the bar will be machined all over or where fit is not critical.
Grades
Available in 10 grades
MS
Low Carbon
The general purpose workhorse — weldable, formable, economical.
SAE 1018
Low Carbon
Controlled-chemistry low carbon steel — the carburising and cold forming standard.
EN8
Medium Carbon
The standard medium carbon shafting steel — hardens through the section.
EN8D
Medium Carbon
EN8 held to tighter limits — for parts where batch-to-batch variation costs money.
EN8M
Medium Carbon
Medium carbon strength with free cutting machinability — the best of both families.
EN1A
Free Cutting
The highest-volume free cutting grade — built to be turned fast.
EN1A PB
Free Cutting
Lead-added EN1A — the fastest machining grade we produce.
16MnCr5
AlloyCase Hardening
The standard carburising alloy — hard case, tough core, proven on gears.
16MnCr5H
AlloyCase Hardening
Guaranteed hardenability band — consistent case depth on every batch, every time.
20MnCr5
AlloyCase Hardening
Higher carbon, higher chromium — for heavier loads and larger sections.
Packing & dispatch
How it reaches you
Bundled, tagged and documented — so the link between the physical bar and its certificate survives the journey to your gate.
How our traceability works- Bundled and weighed on the in-house scale
- QR tag on every bundle carrying heat number, grade, size and production reference
- Heat number printed on the delivery challan
- Kalika test certificate plus the mill certificate for that heat with every consignment
Other products
Also available
Bright Bar — Round
The volume product across every one of our grades — bright, straight, round within a controlled band, and ready to clamp.
Black Bar
Hot rolled bar, supplied where paying for a drawn surface would be waste — and we will tell you when that is the case.
Chemical composition and mechanical properties shown are as per the applicable standard and are indicative. Actual values for your consignment are certified in the Mill Test Certificate supplied with each dispatch. Available sizes and tolerances are confirmed at the time of enquiry.
Need bright bar — hex?
Send us the grade, size, tolerance and quantity. We will confirm availability and quote.