In 2017, the International Organization for Standards (ISO) updated its guidelines for the accuracy and calibration of hand torque tools, previously modified in 2003. It was a comprehensive update that split the standard into two parts. The first part, ISO 6789-1:2017, lays out requirements for the design and testing of torque tools to ensure they…
Rail moved $184 billion dollars worth of freight in the U.S.A. in 2017. Veining all throughout the nation, our rail lines provide channels for the lifeblood of our country. Rail moves goods from a broad range of domestic industries, from bulk agricultural goods to specialized freight like generators, turbine blades, automobiles, and aerospace components. Hundreds…
We’re all familiar with the old television trope of characters not being able to pay for a meal. The friend who promised to pay for dinner dashes out, and the remaining person finds their wallet empty or has their credit card declined. Cut to the character up to their elbows in sudsy water, washing dishes…
A lot happens in a day at the factory. Noise levels rise and fall. Temperatures climb and plummet. Shifting vibrations rattle and roll through the building and everything in it. Workers come and go, some passing tools between them and using them with different amounts of force. Tools can drop, or get mucked, or misused.…
In refrigeration, you don’t actually cool a room, refrigerator, or freezer. Instead, you pump the heat out, and doing so requires an arrangement of tubing, blowers, compressors, and evaporators all connected with fittings. If a fitting is left loose, a service valve cap might leak, releasing its refrigerant. If you tighten it too much, you…
The fastener that holds the main rotor to the mast in the Bell Iroquois UH-1 “Huey” helicopter was called the Jesus Nut by helicopter pilots and their passengers in Vietnam. Given that if anything went wrong with this nut in flight, the rotor would go spinning off to an unknown destination and the helicopter left…
Overhead cranes are critical infrastructure for the industries which use them, including shipping, rail, freight, warehousing, metallurgy, paper production, heavy manufacturing, and any industry where heavy weights must be continually lifted in the same area. When an overhead crane goes out of service, it can bottleneck significant portions, or the entirety, of a company’s daily…
Scuba diving can be a wonderful experience. Whether witnessing the multiplicity of ocean life in the reefs and kelp forests or mapping hidden caves in mountain lakes, scuba divers experience an element unknown to those of us who walk above. But with that comes an element of danger. Scuba divers—from coastal tourists to scientists to…
Modern farming is a capital-intensive industry. The large machines that family farms and corporate farming operations employ to seed, weed, tend, and harvest can represent sizeable portions of multiple years worth of revenue. In order for the farm to succeed, these tractors, combines, harvesters, and other large pieces of equipment must do enough work to…
This article is about using rotary torque sensors to measure torque during the torque verification and auditing process. But first, let’s talk football. Recently, a professional field goal kicker blew an easy shot. It was his second in the game and his fifth in two weeks. You can call it coincidence or cause-and-effect, but his…