Shim (spacer)

A shim is a thin and often tapered or wedged piece of material, used to fill small gaps or spaces between objects.

This guarantees a flexibility for adjustments, like a slight raising or lowering of a motor, when parts of the machinery need to be replaced.

In luthiery, a thin strip of various materials (most often steel or wood) can be used beneath the nut or the saddle of a stringed instrument (such as a guitar, mandolin, ukulele or banjo) to raise the height of either.

[4] On printed circuit boards, special CPU shims are used to protect the central processing unit when installing a heat sink.

They are essential for aligning and supporting heavy loads, contributing to the stability and safety of buildings and infrastructure.