Roller coasters are thrilling. Riders soar and dive and flip upside down. They get blasted out of tunnels and splashed down through ponds. It’s an experience that causes people to grip their handrails, white-knuckled, to scream in terror, to pant for breath, and, when it’s over, to laugh. The intended effect is to expose riders…
As a precision technician, you use a torque wrench to achieve the exact tightness you need to extract maximum performance. However, the only way you can be sure a fastener is tight enough to resist vibration, but not so tight as to strip the threads or stretch the bolt beyond its yield point, is through…
Whether you’re in manufacturing or maintenance, it’s essential to use the right tools in order to get the job done right. After all, the tools you invest in will determine the type of work your business is capable of handling. Understanding the differences between similar tools and choosing correctly between them is, therefore, an important…
For some areas in the United States, winter isn’t the end of the year; winter is the year. Winter is when the ponds ice over for fishing, the falls freeze for climbing, and the snow covers the ground for skiing. It’s when the hockey sticks come out of the closet, the snowshoes get tightened, and…
How fast can you fasten? In assembly line production, fastening speed is a key indicator of production volume. It can even be a factory’s bottleneck, limiting the number of pieces completed. In fact, improving fastening speed can often be the most effective way to increase production and, in turn, revenue. However, speed is no substitute…
If it moves, salute it. If it doesn’t move, pick it up. If you can’t pick it up, paint it. Naval recruits following this time-honored advice may be able to grasp the basic necessities of keeping their ship trim and themselves out of trouble. But the apparent simplicity of these rules, under closer examination, reveals…
Manufacturing high volume products—such as electronics, toys, or appliances—requires speed and precision. After all, hundreds of thousands of identical products have to be assembled and fastened, correctly, in as little time as possible. Many products involve multiple fasteners that require complex fastening sequences. Most, if not all, of the fasteners have specific torque requirements. Often,…
Emergency equipment varies widely. Simple tools—like backboards, braces, anchors, pulleys, ladders, and axes—intermingle with more complex equipment like SCBA gear, ventilation fans, HAZMAT-rated suits, the jaws of life, and even remote-controlled or autonomous search and rescue drones. For each of the many, far-ranging types of emergencies in the civil, industrial, wildland, marine, or military spheres,…
Whether you’re producing large volumes of products or small batches with low or no tolerance for failure, repeatability is king. Of course, in an imperfect world, perfect repeatability is easier aspired to than achieved. So, what’s the solution? Testing your tools as often and as accurately as you’re able. The electric and pneumatic tools you…
Modern appliance manufacturers must work continuously to improve the efficiency of their operations in the face of stiff competition domestically and abroad. Producing household or commercial appliances—like dishwashers, washing machines, or televisions—requires a faster pace and greater accuracy than ever to meet the market’s demands for speed and volume. At the same time, lightweight, inexpensive…