Tuesday 12 November 2013

Self Tapping Screws And Other Magical Devices

By Bonnie Contreras


Another name for self tapping screws is self drilling screws. The clue is in the name. They drill the hole in the metal for you so you do not have to drill what is called a pilot hole first. This is useful when you want to mount things like computer monitors onto metal shelving because you do not have to fiddle around matching up holes, you just drill the screw through everything and you only have to do it once.

These gadgets are really clever. You get the job done without needing extra pairs of hands or starting any arguments. They are also used to mount security cameras and in dental and other types of surgery. Dental implants are a type of linear actuator.

Self drilling screws may have either crosshead (Phillips) heads or plain ones. Crossheads give the screw more more leverage when being driven through metal. You can see how important it is to make sure you have the correct tool for the job at hand. Such a tiny modification in form can translate to a significant change in function.

Most conventional screws are right-handed and need to be tightened in the clockwise direction. To loosen, turn the screwdriver counterclockwise. A convenient mneumonic is, "lefty-loosey, righty-tighty." The same principle applies to adjusting a radiator or opening or closing a jar of jam or pickles.

There are like a gazillion different types of screw. They differ in the space, or pitch, between threads. They differ in what they are made of, usually steel, brass, copper, nickel or zinc. Their heads may be flat, round and have one or two grooves in the top of the head. The two-grooved heads are known as cross-head or Phillips head.

The guy who invented the ingenious screw was named Henry Phillips. He purchased the rights to the design from his pal, John P. Thompson. He tweaked the design a bit and then had it patented. He first sold the device to General Motors, who used it in the Cadillac. Phillips sold the patent in 1945 to Ford Motor Company for a sum of five million dollars. This is a huge amount of money today and a huge amount of moolah way back then.

Most screws are right-handed, meaning they tighten in the clockwise direction. There are times, however, when a screw is going to encounter strong counterclockwise forces, in which case a left-handed thread is preferable. Other items with helical threads that can be rightfully called a screw include propellers and the Archimedes' screw water pump.

Self tapping screws are brilliant devices that save time and hassle when fastening pieces of metal to one another without the need to drill separate holes which you then have to fiddle around and line up. Sometimes, less is more when it comes to design. Screws have a lot of different varieties. They are made from a number of different metallic materials, such as copper, chromium, steel, zinc or nickel.




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