Relative Something

From the files of “more information than you asked for” comes a random lesson about Phillips screw heads… (Courtesy of aaronsscrewdrivers.com). I did not know this:

Ironically, Phillips screws were designed to cam out. They were invented to prevent unskilled industrial workers from overdriving fasteners. The tapered wings of Phillips drivers act as a clutch that forces drivers out of screw sockets after the screws are driven home. But the tradeoff is that workers have to lean hard on the drivers to prevent unwanted slippage.

If a Phillips bit “jumps out” of the fastener (often referred to as camout), the surrounding work piece area can be damaged. ACR bits reduce the risk of camout and permit higher applied torque. ACR insert bits’ special wing-face ribs grip screw recesses to reduce stripping and camout. Some ACR bits have these special wing-face ribs for driving screws, some have ribs for removing and yet ether have ribs for both driving and removal.

In case you didn’t know, ACR stands for the “anti-camout ribs” that are formed on Phillips driver tips and may also occur in screw sockets. The ribs mate drivers securely to screws to minimize camout while reducing worker fatigue. ACR drivers can reduce camout by 30% to 40%.

Designed to cam out. Go impress your friends with that tidbit.

I played Mr. Construction Guy Thursday after work and got out the circular saw and the drill and finished the chore Elysa started, building the second raised bed for a vegetable garden. I also ended up modifiying her first one to make it sit a bit more level on the slight incline where the garden is located. Toward the end of the little project, I was racing the fading daylight, concerned all the hammering and drilling might become annoying to nearby families trying to put young kids to bed as it got later and later. I was a bit surprised to see the police officer walking up, but figured maybe I had already made too much noise or something.

“Did someone call 9-1-1?” he asked.

He told us they had received a 911 hangup from this address. A complete shock to us, but Cyndie had been using the phone to try and reach Elysa to see about getting more nails for our project. In the end, we found the second box and didn’t need to buy more. But the whole time we were visiting with the officer, apologizing for the likely inadvertant dialing, while he called off the other patrols racing to save us and phoned the dispatcher to verify our phone was the one that called, I was watching my light fade and worrying about my noise now carrying on even later into the evening. It didn’t take too much longer to get the building part completed, so now all that is left is a lot of hauling dirt. I’m afraid I won’t be able to get to that until long after others have had better opportunities to take care of it first. I can hope.