Comments by "GH1618" (@GH-oi2jf) on "Why Are There so Many Types of Screws?!" video.

  1. No, it isn’t. “Inch” is.
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  2.  @fillinman1  — The United States is unlikely to abandon US Customary units, but we use metric units as well, wherever there is a reason to. The US adopted the metric system in 1866 and since then has contributed to its development.
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  3. Nobody uses that except people making stupid jokes in web forums.
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  4. I don’t know what he means by that. This fellow should get a real engineer to check his work.
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  5. I agree with you. It is not a serious engineering education channel. It is better to get what you can from it, then teach your students yourself.
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  6. The origin of the definition of the inch may be obscure, but it hardly matters. The difference between Customary units and metric units isn’t about how they were defined, as both have an aspect of arbitrariness about them. The difference is in the underlying principle. Metric units are chosen so have a decimal relationship between them, across units of all types. Customary (or Imperial) units are chosen to have units of a convenient size in the way that the particular unit is commonly used. Both are vaalid. As for screw threads, the design of a machine screw thread is the same for SAE and metric threads, except for the units employed. The principle is the same; the sizes are different.
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  7. It isn’t in the First Amendment, but you may measure how you please, for your own purposes. For purposes of trade, we are bimetral — US Customary and Metric. We do have a law in the USA that makes Metric units legal. As an individual, you measure things any way that you please, but if you tried to sell products which were denominated neither in US Customary units nor Metric units, you would probably have some trouble.
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  8. I have some square drive screws, but I have noticed that the U. S. supplier has stopped selling them.
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  9. That’s right. Practically every tool is an inclined plane or a lever. Even an inclined plane can be thought of as a lever. It’s all about mechanical advantage, or “leverage.”
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  10. The BS about metric vs. U. S. Customary units adds nothing to the subject. Anyway, when talking about threads, the terms S.A.E. or U.S.S. apply to threads in U. S. Customary units. Another criticism: The screw thread is an example of an “inclined plane,” which is a better term than “wedge,” and is the term generally used when one first learns about simple machines, at least in the U.S.A.
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  11. I’ve used them, but I wouldn’t use them everywhere.
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  12. There is no one “best” drive type, because it depends on the application.
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  13. It’s been that way since 1893. There are practical reasons for doing it that way. I don’t see where the humour is. The Fahrenheit temperature scale has been pinned to the Centigrade scale for a long time also. It simplifies conversion.
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  14.  @happygimp0  — In the United States, we call them US Customary units. We used to call them “English” units, but that wasn’t really accurate.
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  15. In fact, there is a great deal of metric usage in the United States.
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  16. The torx drive was not invented by Apple.
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  17. Technician’s trick: beeswax can be used to make a screw stick to the screwdriver.
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  18. I think you mean slotted drive. Flat heads are needed when you want a flush finish.
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  19. Every type of screw drive is optimized for a particular purpose. There is no one type which is best for all purposes. That is why there are so many types. As for torx, I think it’s a good design. If it gets damaged in use, either someone used the wrong driver, or it was the wrong choice for the application.
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  20. right
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  21. Flat head is not a type of drive. You can have a flat head screw with torx drive.
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  22. Because there is no authority in charge of such things. You are free to phase them out where they are under your control.
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  23.  @serpentinious7745  — What is different is that there is no motivation to make a change, in most applications. For example, the cover plate over an electrical receptacle or switch in the USA is usually held in place by one or two slotted screws. It works perfectly well as is. Everybody either has a small screwdriver which fits these screws or can easily find one at low cost. There is no need to change. The hinges for my cabinet doors use small Phillips drive screws. These work well in that application because they hold the driver centered, so work goes faster. There is no need for anything more sophisticated in that application.
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  24. Most US engineers know that units are arbitrary and can work in any system of units.
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  25. You must mean "slotted" heads. A flat head is one that is flush with the surface when installed. A countersink bit is used make the seat for the head. Sometimes you need to preserve a flat surface while putting screws in it. Slotted heads have been around a long time. They were probably made that way because they are easy to manufacture. They work well enough in many applications.
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  26. I (a Usanian) used some square drive concrete screws (in concrete, not of concrete). They worked very well because of the positive grip. I got them from McFeely’s, but it looks like McF has stopped selling square drive. A shame.
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  27. It doesn’t matter how many types of screws there are. In a free society, one may invent any type of screw one pleases. Generally, a particular type of screw is designed for particular reasons. If you designed a new screw type only because you wanted something different, it probably wouldn’t catch on. The marketplace decides.
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  28. Do you use a hand tool or a power tool?
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  29. Phillips screws have some advantages for manufacturing. They go in quickly because of the way the screw head holds the bit in place in the center. They avoid overtightening because the bit will cam out. The latter feature can make them hard to remove, however. Manufacturers don’t care much about that.
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  30. Like any security device, it isn’t supposed to be impossible to defeat. Security devices slow down intruders and may exclude casual intruders.
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  31. In the US, that problem is solved with adapters. What is so different that it can’t be adapted?
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  32. The best drive type depends on the application. For example, I have some concrete screws with square drive. I doubt torx drive would be as suitable because of the high torque required. Torx drive is generally used in low-torque applications.
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  33. Yes and no. Yes, people who invent a better screw want to make money from it either by lowering their costs or by selling it. But no, they won’t make any money unless it is better in some way, so the main thing is to make a better s rew for a particular purpose.
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  34. The narrator is wrong when he says that the inch was defined in barley units until it was redefined as 25.4 mm. The relationship of units to barley originated in ancient times and may have persisted into the middle ages, but by the time of the industrial revolution English units were more rigorously defined. The industrial revolution would not have been possible otherwise. The inch (along with other units) was redefined in the United States in 1893 to be based on le mètre, the foundation of Metric units. It was redefined in the 1950s to become the international inch of 25.4 mm. The reason for the international inch was to unify the various standards used by English-speaking countries. Even Germany defined the zoll to conform to the international inch. These are basic historical facts. The story given here seems to have been made up for dramatic effect.
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  35. Yes. This channel needs a real engineer to consult.
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  36. The tripod mount is a UNC thread, used world-wide and present on most Cameras made in Germany, Japan, or anywhere else. There are two sizes: 1/4-20 and 3/8-16.
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  37. You don’t understand infinity.
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  38. No, it doesn’t. Assembly line workers don’t want to work harder to get the screw tighter than required.
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  39. “Flathead” is not the correct term, as used here. This channel is a poor example of real engineering.
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  40.  @smaragdwolf1  — We adopted the Metric System in 1866. We haven’t “switched” because we are bimetral.
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  41. Slotted screws have their place, though. The screws that hold license plates are generally slotted, so anybody will have a screwdriver which fits, or can buy one cheaply.
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  42. This presentation is juvenile in tone, and it gives the impression that US threads have made no progress since the earliest days when there were no standards. In fact, US threads have been well standardized for a long time. And the manner in which threads should be cut is a separate question from the choice of units. US and metric threads are similar except for the dimensions. Anybody who uses the term “freedom units” is not someone to be taken seriously. Real engineers can work equally well in US and metric systems. Engineering is not politics, it’s just about making things that work.
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  43. The United States adopted the metric system in 1866. You haven’t said how how we should adapt it. I think it is fine the way it is.
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  44. That wasn’t an objective for the Phillips drive.
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  45. They aren’t direct competitors. I have used a few square drive screws in an application where that drive type has an advantage over other drive types.
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  46. I don’t know anything about his notions, but I have some square drive concrete screws and they work well for that application.
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  47. Sure, but some people are into tools and like having a lot of them.
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  48. Your last statement is baloney.
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  49. “New-clear is correct. “New-cue-lar” is wrong. People who say the latter sound illiterate.
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  50. Do you mean square drive? There are square head bolts that are driven with an 8-point socket, or an open end or adjustable wrench.
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  51. The Phillips head was designed to cam out. Every drive type was designed for a reason, and sometimes you want cam out. It prevents over driving a screw. If the type is used in an application where that is a problem, then blame the person who chose it, not the design.
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  52. Barley hasn’t been relevant to measurement for a long time. In preindustrial times, grains of barley were useful for measuring small weights because they were commonly available, hence the unit “grain.” I still think of an aspirin tablet as 5 grains, even though it has been marked 325 mg for many years.
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  53. If he’s talking about TC, it just proves this is a political channel, not an engineering channel. I’m not defending TC, I just didn’t expect to be reading about him here.
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  54. No. Different types of drive are optimized for different purposes. Even if you decided to use only square drive, you would need different sizes.
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  55. Compatibility with old plumbing. They also use UNC threads for camera mounts. And UNEF for putting air in tyres.
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  56. They have their advantages in certain applications, though. The principle advantage is that the bit instantly gets centered and stays centered.
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  57. Why do some people dislike torx?
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  58. Is that just square drive? I’ve used them in the US. I ordered them fromM Feely’s, but that company seems to have dropped them.
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  59. It seems to me that it was set up to rant against customary units as much as to discuss screw types.
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