Shaft Collar Types: Set Screw, One-Piece Clamp, Two-Piece Clamp, and Hinge

Selecting a shaft collar for your rotating machinery is about more than just the right fit; the proper collar will enhance the performance and longevity of your equipment. With the wide variety of shaft collars on the market, each with its own unique features, benefits, and applications, it’s important to understand what sets them apart.

In this guide, we’ll help you gain an understanding of the differences between set screw, one-piece, two-piece, and hinge shaft collars, focusing on aspects like axial holding power, price, installation, accessibility, and maintenance requirements.

Mountable Shaft Collars – A Selection Guide

Mountable shaft collars are used in many food processing, conveying, and heavy equipment applications. They attach to shafts, rods, pipes, tubes, or cylinders to position and secure components, help align moving parts, and guide or restrict movement within assemblies.  

Mountable shaft collars fit around shafts of different diameters and shapes including round, threaded, hexagonal, and square. Collars are secured to shafts with clamp screws and come in hinged and one- or two-piece configurations. They can also be mounted to plates, brackets, bearings, or equipment to secure the collar as part of an assembly. Collars can be made of a variety of materials including steel, stainless steels, aluminum, and plastic. All of these options make them versatile for applications including power transmission and motor components, gear assemblies, bearings, and more.

Here, we’ll look at different types of shaft collars, how they work, and several options for customization.

Selecting the Best Type of Mountable Shaft Collar for Your Application

Mountable shaft collars come in a range of materials, bore sizes and shapes, and mounting options to meet the requirements of many applications. 

Most mounting collars are secured around a shaft, cylinder, pipe, or tube with a clamp screw located on the outer diameter of the collar. The clamp screw provides excellent holding power against axial rotation and does not damage the shaft, which can be a risk with set screw collars. 

Collars can be used on a shaft alone, mounted to a flat surface, stacked or mounted to other collars, or welded to other components.

Three of the most common configurations are described below:

• Drilled/Threaded Face Holes: These collars feature two tapped and threaded mounting holes through the face of the collar to ensure a secure interface between components like plates, pulleys, bearings, or sprockets. They are easily mounted, allowing flexibility for a variety of applications.
• Outer Diameter (OD) Flats and Holes: These feature flattened portions at the top and bottom of the outer diameter of the collar. Vertical tapped holes are centered in each flat portion and can be used with different types of screws to secure the collar around a shaft, cylinder, or pipe, or to stop it from moving. These collars can be used in traditional shaft mounting applications for guiding, positioning, or stopping rotation of a shaft, and they can be mounted to each other, to a base plate, or welded to components.
• Quick Clamping/Quick Adjust: These standard mountable shaft collars have the additional advantage of a quick adjust mechanism. They are a good choice for applications that require frequent tension adjustments or repositioning of tools, fixtures, and equipment without the hassle of finding the correct wrench or other tool. 

Our Mountable Shaft Collars

Stafford Manufacturing offers a full line of mountable shaft collars to suit every application. Collar design, material, and finishing choices can be customized to meet your specific requirements. 

Our full product line includes round, threaded, square, and hex bore collars; rigid shaft couplings to connect two shafts and transfer rotary motion; flanged or other collar designs; remachinable collars and couplings; and tools and accessories for retrofitting and maintenance.

Our mountable shaft collar options include the following:

• Accu-Flange™ Shaft Mounting Collars
• Metric Accu-Flange™ Shaft Mounting Collars
• One-Piece Split Face Mounting Shaft Collars
• One-Piece Split – Stackable (Cap) Shaft Mounting Collars
• Shaft Mounting Collars Two-Piece Split Clamp-Type Stackable
• Two-Piece Split – Stackable (Cap) Shaft Mounting Collars
• Hinge Shaft Mounting Collars
• Metric One-Piece Split Face Mounting Shaft Collars
• Plastic Shaft Mounting Collars
• Python™ Flange Mounting Collars

Why Stafford Manufacturing?

Stafford Manufacturing has over four decades of experience in Mounting Shaft Collar manufacturing. We carry over 4,000 standard products, with many in stock for same-day shipping. Our Solution Series of products includes more than 1,000 specialty mechanical products you won’t find from any other manufacturer.

Our team also has the expertise to create custom collars, with end-to-end support including in-house CAD design and engineering. Facility certifications include ASA, ASME, ANSI B18.3, ISO 9001:2015, REACH, and RoHS.

Contact Our Experts for Premium Shaft Mounting Collar Solutions

Stafford Manufacturing leads the industry in quality, service, selection, and value. Please contact us or request a quote to discuss your shaft mounting collar application.