Replacement Shims & Spacers

Replacement Shims & Spacers for Maintenance Teams

Replacement shims are the parts nobody thinks about until a machine is apart and one is missing. The original may have come with equipment built decades ago, from a supplier who no longer exists, in a thickness nobody stocks. What the maintenance team has is the worn part in their hand and a machine that needs to run. That is enough to get replacement shims made.

At Northern Industrial Manufacturing, these parts get cut to print or to sample in carbon steel and stainless steel, with no minimum order and a five day lead time. This article covers how to order when no drawing exists, what to measure, and how to keep the next repair from being as difficult.

Why Replacement Shims Are Hard to Find

Several things make replacement shims harder to source than they should be. Equipment documentation goes missing, and shims are rarely detailed anyway. Maintenance teams end up with a part and no paperwork. Replacement shims can still be made, since a sample with measurements works as well as a drawing for most flat parts.

Original equipment manufacturers drop parts, change suppliers, or stop supporting older machines. The replacement shims that once had a part number no longer do. Having them cut to the original dimensions sidesteps that entirely.

Catalog washers and shim stock cover standard sizes. A shim that sets a specific clearance rarely matches one. Replacement shims cut to the measured thickness solve the problem without forcing a redesign of the assembly around an available part.

Ordering Replacement Shims From a Sample

A worn part is usually enough to have replacement shims made.

Measuring Replacement Shims

Measure the outside dimension, the bore, and the thickness, along with the position of any slots or holes. Take thickness at several points, since a worn part may be thinner in one area. Those measurements are what replacement shims get cut from.

Photographing Replacement Shims

A clear photo of replacement shims alongside a ruler or caliper helps confirm shape and proportions. It also catches features that are easy to describe incorrectly, such as a notch position or a flat on one side. Send it along with the measurements.

Accounting for Wear in Replacement Shims

A part pulled from service may have worn thinner than it started. If the assembly calls for a specific clearance, measure the gap as well as the part. Replacement shims should restore the original setting rather than duplicate a worn condition.

Materials for Replacement Shims

Material for replacement shims depends on where the part lives.

Carbon Steel Replacement Shims

Carbon steel suits most indoor machinery and protected environments. It is economical and widely available, which helps when replacement shims are needed quickly.

Stainless Replacement Shims

Stainless suits washdown areas, outdoor equipment, and anywhere corrosion has already caused a problem. If the original part was rusted when it came out, stainless replacement shims may outlast the one being replaced.

Matching Material on Replacement Shims

When in doubt, match what the original replacement shims were made from. If the original looks like plain steel and the environment is dry, carbon steel is the safe choice. Where the environment is harsh, moving to stainless is a small upgrade that costs little.

Timing on Replacement Shims

Downtime is usually why replacement shims get ordered at all. At Northern Industrial Manufacturing, replacement shims ship on a five day lead time, which turns a long outage into a short one. Because no tooling has to be built, the schedule depends on the drawing and the material rather than on a die.

Incomplete measurements are the most common delay on replacement shims. A missing thickness, an unclear bore, or an unmeasured slot position all send the request back for questions. Sending everything at once protects the schedule.

Ordering a few extra replacement shims while the machine is apart costs very little and saves the next outage. With no minimum order, that quantity can be exactly what the risk justifies rather than a case quantity.

Replacement Shims Across Equipment Types

Replacement shims cause the same sourcing problem across industries. Presses, conveyors, gearboxes, and drive assemblies all use replacement shims to set clearances and spread load. When one of those parts fails or goes missing, production stops until it is replaced. Machines built decades ago rarely have parts available through the original supplier.

Outdoor equipment wears replacement shims faster, since moisture, dirt, and vibration all work against them. Stainless is often the right answer for a rebuild, even when the original was plain steel, since the replacement then outlasts what came before it.

Pumps, fans, power equipment, and building systems need replacement shims and spacers during service. The quantity is usually small, the timeline is short, and the part has to match something already installed.

What to Send for Replacement Shims

A complete request gets replacement shims quoted as fast as a drawing would. For replacement shims, send dimensions, a photo with a scale, or the physical part itself. Any of the three works. What matters is that the outline, the bore, the thickness, and any features are clear enough to program.

Say whether the replacement shims should be carbon steel or stainless, and how many you need. There is no minimum order, so the quantity can be one. Mention the date you need them, since that is usually the driving factor.

A sentence about where the replacement shims go helps more than it seems. It guides the material recommendation, flags whether corrosion protection is worth adding, and sometimes reveals that the original part was the wrong choice to begin with.

Cost of Replacement Shims

Replacement shims are priced by the part rather than by the urgency behind them. Cutting time on replacement shims follows the cut path, so a plain washer costs less than a part with slots and multiple holes. Quantity spreads the setup, and stainless costs more per pound than carbon steel. None of those factors change because the order is small.

An hour of stopped production usually costs more than the replacement shims that restart it. That comparison is worth making before deciding whether to wait for a cheaper source. A five day lead time on a custom part often beats a longer wait on a catalog substitute that does not quite fit.

Replacement Shims From a Worn Part

A used shim tells you more about the replacement shims you need than it appears to. Marks on the faces show how the part was loaded and whether it sat evenly. Uneven wear can point to a misalignment worth fixing rather than a shim worth duplicating. Mention what you see when sending measurements, since it may change what the replacement shims should be.

Sometimes the part that came out was already a substitute, cut by hand or picked from a drawer because it was close enough. Replacement shims made from that part inherit the compromise. Measuring the gap the part fills, not just the part, catches this before it repeats.

A repair is a chance to make the part better. Moving from carbon steel to stainless in a wet environment, or adding corrosion protection, costs little at small quantities. Replacement shims do not have to be identical to what failed, only correct for the job.

Keeping Records of Replacement Shims

The second repair should be easier, and records of replacement shims make it so. Once replacement shims have been measured and made, keep the drawing and the part number. The next time that machine comes apart, the order takes minutes rather than an afternoon with calipers.

Reorders of replacement shims under the same drawing skip the setup of the first order. Keeping consistent part numbers across orders is what makes a repeat repair straightforward, even years later.

Machines with a history of the same repair deserve a small stock of replacement shims on the shelf. Because there is no minimum order, that list can grow one part at a time as each repair reveals what is worth keeping.

Parts Beyond Replacement Shims

The same approach that covers replacement shims covers related parts. Spacers and washers face the same sourcing problem as replacement shims. All are flat parts that can be cut to a measurement, in whatever shape the original had.

Replacement shims do not have to stay flat. Bends and formed features can follow the cut, so a bracket or a mounting piece can be replaced the same way a shim can.

When a rebuild needs replacement shims and other custom pieces, quoting them together uses material better than separate orders. It also means one delivery rather than several, which keeps the repair on schedule.

Getting Replacement Shims Made

Replacement shims do not require a drawing, a part number, or a minimum quantity. Send measurements, a photo, or the sample itself, along with the material and how many you need. Parts are cut in carbon steel or stainless steel, flat or formed, on a five day lead time, made in the USA. Northern Industrial Manufacturing Corp. works from an IATF 16949 certified plant near Detroit. Send us what you have, and our team will quote the parts your equipment needs.

US Replacement Shim Manufacturer

Northern Industrial Manufacturing is your premier parts manufacturer for replacement shims and spacers. With a reputation for the closest tolerances, highest product quality, short lead times, process innovations, and technical prowess – we can meet your shim and spacer manufacturing needs, while exceeding your expectations and delivering your parts on time and on budget.

If your manufacturing needs calls for precise, close tolerance replacement shims or spacers, the team at Northern Industrial Manufacturing is ready to support you. Call 586.468.2790 or request a quote today to discuss your project and discover how our US based manufacturing services can support your production goals.

Replacement Shim Manufacturing Company: 586.468.2790