Which hole type is preferred for ease of assembly in the provided context: tapped holes or thru-bolted holes?

• A. Tapped holes
• B. Thru-bolted holes
• C. Blind holes
• D. Self-tapped holes

Answer: (B)

The main idea here is that ease of assembly favors through-bolted joints. With through-bolted holes, a bolt simply passes through the aligned holes in all parts and is secured with a nut on the opposite side. This avoids the need to cut internal threads in one component, which can be time-consuming and sensitive to hole quality, alignment, and debris. Assembly becomes faster and more forgiving: you can line up parts, drop in the bolt, and tighten the nut from the accessible side, and you can easily disassemble later by removing the nut and pulling the bolt out.

Tapping internal threads in a hole introduces potential delays and risks—if the hole isn’t perfectly aligned or clean, or the thread gets damaged, you’ve got to rework the hole or replace parts. That makes the process less forgiving and slower, especially for multi-part assemblies or prototypes. Self-tapped or blind-hole options have their own use cases, but for straightforward, quick assembly, through-bolted holes are the best fit.