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Bolts vs Screws 6

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ringman

ringman

Mechanical
Mar 18, 2003
385
ASME Y14.5 'tends' to differentiate between bolts and nuts in the Fixed and Floating fastener formula section.

Is there a consensus amongst engineers/designers/cad operators as to the technical correctness of the definition of bolts verses screws?
 
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MechEng, you don't have hex drive or torx/star drive screw drivers? Not even exchangeable bits for a ratchet or electric driver?

What kind of an engineer are you?;-)

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...
 
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Well CheckerRon you were typing as I was.

I think that's probably the answer the OP wanted, is ASME B18.12 referenced (directly or indirectly) by 14.5?

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...
 
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Thanks, CheckerRon, that pretty much jives with the rule of thumb I posted, so think I'll stick with it.

When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty. - [small]Thomas Jefferson [/small]
 
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Time was when I asked for a box of 1/4-20 screws I got a box of devices that may have hex heads or some variety of screwdriver heads. If I asked for a box of 1/4-20 stove bolts I got a box of devices that were designed to be turned or held by a flat blade screwdriver and an equal number of square nuts. Usually unplated.
When installing the heads on my old flathead Ford V8, I never screwed "head screws" into the block. In fact I have never heard of "head screws" I have heard bikers threaten to do something similar to their enemies.

Bill
--------------------
"Why not the best?"
Jimmy Carter
 
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"Why not the best?"
Jimmy Carter.

Then why have we gotten the worst from Jimmy Carter?
 
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Kenat - I have the tools that perform the same function as you mentioned, but the ones I have are hex/torx/star BOLT drivers. Certainly not screwdrivers... I don't know where you shop that you get "screwdrivers" that are used on bolts. Maybe if it's manufactured in a foreign country it is a translation mistake.

-- MechEng2005
 
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MechEng,

Screwdrivers is the common term. I've never even seen bolt drivers as a term before. I hope you are being sarcastic. If so, sorry for not catching on. If not, do a search on McMaster-Carr for screwdriver to see. The do one for bolt driver.

Matt Lorono
CAD Engineer/ECN Analyst
Silicon Valley, CA
Lorono's SolidWorks Resources
Co-moderator of Solidworks Yahoo! Group
and Mechnical.Engineering Yahoo! Group
 
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fcsuper,

Yes, I was being sarcastic. Just trying to have a little fun with the topic. The fact is that if you ask me for a screwdriver to put in a socket head, I'll hand you the right tool. If I asked you for a bolt driver for a socket head, I suspect I would get the proper tool. =)

It's just sometimes fun to "play" with a topic. Engineer's don't get enough "play" time (at least where I work). It's either right or wrong. Sometimes I think things should be "technically wrong, but fun/amusing."

-- MechEng2005
 
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No, it's an Allen Key

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...
 
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I'd call it a socket head cap screw driver. :)

Joe
SW Office 2006 SP5.1
P4 3.0Ghz 1GB
ATI FireGL X1
 
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An allen wrench could be termed as an allen wrench. It would be USED to torque a socket head BOLT though, not a socket head screw.

In my opinion anyways

-- MechEng2005
 
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ctopher
It's the verb, not the direct object.
How do you torque a socket set screw?
(which our friend MechEng2005 might call a socket set bolt)

 
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To my Good Buddy KENAT:
As I recall "allen key" tried unsuccessfully to run for president, and to beat Barack out of the Illinois senate seat---or was that keyes?

 
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btrueblood had the right idea back on 25 August ... the standard talks about fixed vs floating fasteners, not screw vs bolt. Beyond that, the mental extension to screws & bolts is natural because a nut & bolt work together as a pair to secure mating components between them, whereas a screw is threaded directly into the workpiece ... which is how fixed & floating fasteners work respectively.

Jim Sykes, P.Eng, GDTP-S
Profile Services TecEase, Inc.
 
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