26 Nov
2008
26 Nov
'08
7:16 p.m.
On Nov 26, 2008, at 3:50 PM, Tony Duell wrote:
Oh for %deity's sake!. There exist things called torque
screwdrivers for
this problem. And yes I have one.
Using the cam-out of a phillips screw for this is a kludge at best.
Yes.
I detest Phillips and Pozidriv screws. They always
seem to strip or
'cam
out' when you try to remove them.
Philips screws were in fact designed to do exactly this. The idea
was to prevent overtightening in assembly line environments. Of It
doesn't happen at a precise torque (it depeds -- a lot -- on the azial
force applied to the tool), it damages the tool, and it damages the
screw
head making it difficult to remove later.
Yes. But the design (and the reasoning behind it) dates back to
the 1930s...were there in fact torque screwdrivers at the time? Even
if there were, they'd still be significantly more expensive than
ordinary screwdrivers (as they are now), and the motivation behind
the cam-out design was (as I understand it) to allow not-so-highly-
trained assembly line workers assemble things without destroying
them. In such a cost-motivated environment, I expect they didn't
care too much (as they don't now) for repairability later on.
Which, of course, sucks the big wazoo with great fervor.
-Dave
--
Dave McGuire
Port Charlotte, FL