Spring Pins (Roll Pins)

Spring pins, commonly called roll pins, are slotted hollow pins that compress when driven into a drilled hole, gripping the bore by spring tension. Economical, self-retaining, and tolerant of loose hole tolerances, they're a workhorse for locating and retaining parts in machinery, hinges, and shafts. We stock slotted spring pins in spring steel and stainless across the full size range.

How Roll Pins Work

Manufactured larger than its hole, the pin's lengthwise slot lets it compress as it's hammered in. The resulting spring force presses outward against the bore, locking the pin by friction. No reaming or tight tolerance is needed — a plain drilled hole works — which makes roll pins fast, forgiving, and inexpensive to install and remove.

Advantages

Roll pins absorb shock and vibration, tolerate looser holes than solid dowel pins, and can be removed and reused. Their hollow design is lighter and cheaper than solid pins for many locating and retaining jobs. For higher fatigue resistance under cyclic load, consider coiled spring pins.

Materials

Spring steel (high carbon): heat-treated for spring force, the standard. 420 stainless: corrosion resistance with retained spring strength. 18-8 stainless: maximum corrosion resistance for lighter retention.

Dimensional Standards

Slotted spring pins conform to ISO 8752 / DIN 1481 (heavy duty) and DIN 7346 (light duty), with inch sizes per ASME B18.8.2.

Selecting the Right Spring Pin

Drill the recommended hole diameter — the pin supplies its own grip, no reaming needed. Choose heavy duty for shear strength, light for thin walls. Select spring steel for general use, stainless for corrosion. Size length to fully engage both parts, and use coiled pins instead where high cyclic fatigue resistance is needed.

Use the filters to narrow by diameter, length, and material.