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How to screw stuff together without screwing up the threads (as much). — Parallax Forums

How to screw stuff together without screwing up the threads (as much).

ElectricAyeElectricAye Posts: 4,561
edited 2013-07-08 00:33 in General Discussion
How to screw stuff together without screwing up the threads so much - finally, the secret is revealed!

For all you software geeks gurus out there struggling to make things out of worldly materials for the first time, maybe you need to watch this and take notes. I'm serious.

Comments

  • mindrobotsmindrobots Posts: 6,506
    edited 2012-11-29 14:45
    Notice he didn't tackle bicycle peddles!!
  • Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
    edited 2012-11-29 14:47
    I was half expecting him to stick his thumb in the socket.

    -Phil
  • ElectricAyeElectricAye Posts: 4,561
    edited 2012-11-29 14:50
    Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) wrote: »
    I was half expecting him to stick his thumb in the socket....

    Well, since he seems to know how to use the right hand rule, I'm guessing he's not a software dude, so there was probably little chance he'd do that.
  • NWCCTVNWCCTV Posts: 3,629
    edited 2012-11-29 18:42
    mindrobots wrote: »
    Notice he didn't tackle bicycle peddles!!

    Or 1969 Pontiac tires!!!

    Whatever happened to "Right On" "Left Off"??????

    Or, Righty tighty lefty loosey??
  • ElectricAyeElectricAye Posts: 4,561
    edited 2012-11-29 19:12
    NWCCTV wrote: »
    ...Whatever happened to... Righty tighty lefty loosey??

    When you're crouched under a machine and you have your arm snaked up inside the workings of an engine, and uh, it's kinda relative even which way is up and which way is down because you're at an angle or floating around under water, it's not so easy to determine which way is right and which way is left relative to the bolt, etc. Back in 1991 the deep submersible Alvin got stuck in mud at the bottom of the ocean and the scientists on board had to dump some emergency weights to break free. They had to dump the weights by cranking a finely-threaded screw mechanism, but if you cranked it the wrong way, it would shear the rod. They remembered righty-tighty, but then they started to debate, which way is to the left? the top or the bottom? and which way is that?

    Luckily, the kid shows you how to determine your right hand from your left hand, so you're in luck.
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2012-11-29 23:12
    I usually just back off a half a turn or so until I feel the thread drop into place and then turn in the tightening direction. This isn't rocket science, it is craftsmanship.
  • xanaduxanadu Posts: 3,347
    edited 2012-11-29 23:55
    Admirable desire to pass along his methods.
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2012-11-30 02:49
    How many YouTube videos does it take to screw in a light bulb?
  • mindrobotsmindrobots Posts: 6,506
    edited 2012-11-30 03:38
    Loopy Byteloose wrote: »
    How many YouTube videos does it take to screw in a light bulb?

    ...and how many people are watching this video and having "ah ha" moments? Society is doomed!
  • skylightskylight Posts: 1,915
    edited 2012-11-30 10:31
    try using that rule screwing on the fanblade on an electric fan :smile:
  • ElectricAyeElectricAye Posts: 4,561
    edited 2012-11-30 11:08
    skylight wrote: »
    try using that rule screwing on the fanblade on an electric fan :smile:

    Hint 1: not all threads are right-handed.

    Hint 2 (for the software guys): first turn the fan off.
  • ElectricAyeElectricAye Posts: 4,561
    edited 2013-07-06 20:36
    Okay, so here's something I learned the hard way while trying to fix a friend's toilet this weekend. The flush handle on a toilet (or at least on one that is placed on the left hand side of the toilet tank) has a left-handed thread. You can't even imagine how much liquid wrench I wasted before I figured that out.
  • Beau SchwabeBeau Schwabe Posts: 6,566
    edited 2013-07-06 23:11
    Dang! ElectricAye, is that what happened to the toilet when you over tightened? :thumb:
  • ElectricAyeElectricAye Posts: 4,561
    edited 2013-07-07 09:23
    Beau Schwabe (Parallax) wrote: »
    Dang! ElectricAye, is that what happened to the toilet when you over tightened?...

    Um, no. That was caused by my friend's July 4th spicy BBQ sauce.
  • Duane DegnDuane Degn Posts: 10,588
    edited 2013-07-07 09:32
    We recently had a plumber over to fix a supply line and while he was here I asked if he'd look at me recent toilet repair. He said it looked good but made a few adjustments and then said "Oh, let me change this handle for you." I was just saying "Good luck getting the old one off." as the handle came free in his hands. He laughed and told be about the left handed threads.

    Sorry for not passing the information on to the forum as I should have.
  • BeanBean Posts: 8,129
    edited 2013-07-07 11:22
    My friend had a dodge dart (I think it was), and the lug nuts on the left side where left-handed threads.
    We broke off two studs before we called someone and they told us.

    Bean
  • potatoheadpotatohead Posts: 10,261
    edited 2013-07-07 12:58
    That's terrible.
  • GenetixGenetix Posts: 1,754
    edited 2013-07-07 14:05
    I just remember that screws goes in clockwise (CW) and come out counter-clockwise (CCW) but that is when are looking down at the screw.
    I always need to think of which direction I need to turn especially when I am changing the oil in my car since the drain bolt is pointing up.
  • YanomaniYanomani Posts: 1,524
    edited 2013-07-07 16:43
    I was just wondering about clockwise and counterclockwise rotations and how they are influenced by the point of view perspective, when I realized that analog clocks were being progressively substituted by their digital counterparts. My former method of teaching kids about how to open and close faucets and the like will be surely revised. In my childhood, I used to love spring-loaded or friction movement limiters used by many apparatuses usually found in my grandfather's garage, since they provide a feedback when a bolt or nut reaches its setting point. Nowadays, in our almost all-plastics world, it's a bit harder to do people training in the arts of screwing and unscrewing things without screwing up anything...
    Torquemeters and good lubricants are an excelent heal for heavy hands, but I feel we are being driven to a semi-bionic behavior well before we can acquire enough self-knowledge.
  • Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
    edited 2013-07-07 19:29
    Bean wrote:
    My friend had a dodge dart (I think it was), and the lug nuts on the left side where left-handed threads.
    My '66 Rambler American was that way. ('Loved that car, but totaled it. [sob]) I think the idea was that there would be less chance of the nuts coming undone due to the wheel turning. (Coriolis force?)

    -Phil
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2013-07-08 00:33
    If you have ever worked in a service station, one soon learns that some... but not all auto makers have left handed threads on one size of the car and right handed threads on the other. The concept is the same in bicycle pedals. When you are going forward.. everything is supposed to get tighter.

    From what I can tell.. if nothing is excessively loose... the use of different threads on different sizes won't matter. But it something has gotten loose, it may be very helpful.

    All I know about makes of cars is that I will never buy another Ford regardless of how they bolt on the wheels.

    I have had three disastrous failures -- failed emergency brake, a front wheel and a-frame fall off, and a cracked vehicle frame --- all Fords. All could have killed somebody, but luck was a lady in those events. There were obvious design deficiencies in all.
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