Hardware & Tools

A cage nut is a square nut that has threaded holes wrapped in a piece of spring steel designed like a cage. You would use a cage nut when you have a rack that has square mounting holes and you need to mount a product that requires a threaded hole.

The spring steel on the cage nut has two flanges that when pressed together, allow the cage nut to be inserted into the square hole and clip in. The cage nut is typically loose in the cage to allow for adjustments when installing the screw.

There are 3 common sizes for cage nuts: 10-32, 12-24, and M6. You can determine what size you need by the product you are mounting. For an easier instillation, we recommend you purchase the corresponding screw to use with the cage nut."

Rack screws are used to attach equipment to the vertical uprights of a 19" rack. Racks do not have a standard thread type. There are three common thread types for rack screws: 10-32, 12-24 and M6. Since the introduction of the square hole rack and Cage Nuts, the exact thread can be selected and changed at will. 12-24 is now more common than 10-32 in pre-threaded racks. 12-24 fasteners are slightly larger than 10-32 and have courser threads. The term 12-24 comes from Unified and American Screw Threads for Bolts, Nuts, and Machine Screws standards published by ANSI B1.1-1974. The number "12" is simply a size designator corresponding to the nominal diameter of the bolt. The number "24" refers to 24 threads per inch. You can identify a 12-24 screw by measuring the diameter with a ruler at slightly less than 7/32" (slightly larger than 3/16" or 0.210").