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You know that trick to get a nut/bolt started without crossing the threads ...

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cosmokenney

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Oct 18, 2017
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275
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Loyalton, CA
So, we all probably know the trick to start a nut or bolt without crossing the threads. I.e. turn it counter clockwise until it kind of clicks and you can feel it.
The other day I was thinking about this as I used the trick on one of those 16.9 OZ/500 mL bottles that I cannot seem to get to thread right unless I do that every single time -- otherwise they leak.

But it got me thinking: who taught me that? I really can't remember. I think it was one of my older brothers. Not sure, though.

How about you - who imparted this essential pearl of wisdom on you?
 
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Jmonnty

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Dec 6, 2015
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Dowelltown TN
My dad taught me when I was 12, helping him installing hardware and at a Panera bread while I was on Christmas break, in 6th grade.
My dad's DeWalt hammer drill broke an armature and the superintendent loaned me a hilti combi hammer, I came out of that Christmas with a new appreciation of tools.
 
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Nick Rivers

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USA
Father while working on the family car 1967.

Formal instruction: Millwright Apprentice class - The Timken Company
 
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Aaron_W

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Feb 6, 2018
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Northern California
You can thank Mr Clinton Higbee for that. He patented the idea in 1891. It is known as the Higbee cut.

I learned about it in the fire academy.
 
E

ER70S-2

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Jan 2, 2015
Messages
803
I was helping someone attach some sort of big threaded knob to his boat and he told me not to drop it or screw up because if I dropped it, it would fall into the lake (the threaded hole was over the edge of the boat). Anyhow, realizing how important it was that I did not screw up, I started by rotating it counterclockwise to make sure the threads were engaged and he yelled at me for turning it the wrong way :D

I did not get into it with him. Someone who does not know this trick is not worth conversing with.
 
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bwringer

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Jan 1, 2013
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Indianapolis
I rebuilt my first lawn mower engine when I was five, so I suppose it had to be my Dad who taught me this stuff at an age so early I cannot remember.

Dad taught me all sorts of useful things, including how to ride a bicycle, treehouse engineering, etc. but the one thing he didn't care about and we didn't cover was sportsball. I think that worked out for the best anyway.


Dad taught my sister and I to read when we were four (my sister is two years younger than me, so she got even more of a head start on her letters by watching my lessons). We arrived at kindergarten (five years old in the US) reading comfortably at nearly a sixth grade level. Turns out, this REALLY gums up the works in schools. They're simply not equipped for such a thing as a wee tot who can actually read.

I was bored to literal tears, and got in trouble many times. I was forced to do many worksheets and exercises over because I got them done too quickly and accurately, and had to be "cheating" somehow.

Finally, I was "caught" and punished for sneaking in Popular Mechanics to hide in our basic letter books. The teacher was absolutely convinced that I was "pretending" to read and not paying attention to learning the basic letters. I asked her to bring me any book or magazine to show her I could read, but she refused to perform the experiment.

I didn't know the word "apocalyptic" yet, but let's just say Mom brought both the thunder and the lightning to the principal and teacher the next day, and they drank deep of fear... I was called in, handed a random magazine, and told to read a random paragraph aloud. After several repetitions, the teacher and principal had to agree that I could, indeed, read.

Some sort of compromise was reached where I could read more "advanced" stuff, as long as I could explain what I had read. And for some reason, I still had to do all the same worksheets and exercises as my classmates. Articles in Popular Mechanics and Popular Science soon surpassed the teacher's ability and interest, and I was mostly left alone for the rest of kindergarten.

Rinse and repeat for the next several years... I really feel sorry for kids who were a little different in any way and didn't have a grizzly bear for a Mom.
 
S

Skyman

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Nov 9, 2021
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Location
Central Maryland
bwringer said:
I rebuilt my first lawn mower engine when I was five, so I suppose it had to be my Dad who taught me this stuff at an age so early I cannot remember.

Dad taught me all sorts of useful things, including how to ride a bicycle, treehouse engineering, etc. but the one thing he didn't care about and we didn't cover was sportsball. I think that worked out for the best anyway.


Dad taught my sister and I to read when we were four (my sister is two years younger than me, so she got even more of a head start on her letters by watching my lessons). We arrived at kindergarten (five years old in the US) reading comfortably at nearly a sixth grade level. Turns out, this REALLY gums up the works in schools. They're simply not equipped for such a thing as a wee tot who can actually read.

I was bored to literal tears, and got in trouble many times. I was forced to do many worksheets and exercises over because I got them done too quickly and accurately, and had to be "cheating" somehow.

Finally, I was "caught" and punished for sneaking in Popular Mechanics to hide in our basic letter books. The teacher was absolutely convinced that I was "pretending" to read and not paying attention to learning the basic letters. I asked her to bring me any book or magazine to show her I could read, but she refused to perform the experiment.

I didn't know the word "apocalyptic" yet, but let's just say Mom brought both the thunder and the lightning to the principal and teacher the next day, and they drank deep of fear... I was called in, handed a random magazine, and told to read a random paragraph aloud. After several repetitions, the teacher and principal had to agree that I could, indeed, read.

Some sort of compromise was reached where I could read more "advanced" stuff, as long as I could explain what I had read. And for some reason, I still had to do all the same worksheets and exercises as my classmates. Articles in Popular Mechanics and Popular Science soon surpassed the teacher's ability and interest, and I was mostly left alone for the rest of kindergarten.

Rinse and repeat for the next several years... I really feel sorry for kids who were a little different in any way and didn't have a grizzly bear for a Mom.
Click to expand...

A week or two into my year in first grade, the teacher called my mom into the room and scolded her for not letting the teacher know I could read. Mom replied that she didn't know that I could. Thereafter, I got sent to the library while the rest of the class was learning to read, which was fine by me. It was mostly downhill academically for me from that point forward. Almost without exception, school bored me out of my skull, and I hated that it was wasting my time when I could have been doing something that would have been infinitely more entertaining and/or educational.

None of that means I'm brilliant. I'm not, and I know my weaknesses very well. It just means I learn things very differently than was expected of me, and I wasn't cut out for the typical public school experience. I didn't start liking school until I was (allegedly) an adult, and I learned nearly nothing of lasting value throughout those childhood years of misery while confined in classrooms. I was taught little at home, too, so I learned how to figure stuff out on my own for the most part. Seems to have worked out well enough in the long run.
 
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WisJim

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Dec 20, 2010
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2,289
Location
Menomonie, WI
I thought it was genetic--if you were born knowing, you had mechanical ability.
Regarding reading early, I got into trouble by 3rd or 4th grade by correcting the teacher when it came to technical, mechanical, or science and photography questions or facts. Luckily, my dad taught the sciences in the high school in the same building so I could depend on him to back me up.
 
S

Stuart in MN

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Joined
Sep 8, 2005
Messages
23,139
Location
Minneapolis
cosmokenney said:
So, we all probably know the trick to start a nut or bolt without crossing the threads. I.e. turn it counter clockwise until it kind of clicks and you can feel it.
The other day I was thinking about this as I used the trick on one of those 16.9 OZ/500 mL bottles that I cannot seem to get to thread right unless I do that every single time -- otherwise they leak.

But it got me thinking: who taught me that? I really can't remember. I think it was one of my older brothers. Not sure, though.

How about you - who imparted this essential pearl of wisdom on you?
Click to expand...
I probably learned it from my dad but I honestly don't remember, it's like I've always known about it.

Speaking of bottles (or jars)...the other day I had a pickle jar that I just could not get open, I finally had to go get a giant Channelock out of the tool box in order to unscrew it. :) I've lost some grip strength as I've aged, but this thing was ridiculous.
 
D

dchawk81

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Joined
Jul 31, 2014
Messages
14,407
Stuart in MN said:
I probably learned it from my dad but I honestly don't remember, it's like I've always known about it.

Speaking of bottles (or jars)...the other day I had a pickle jar that I just could not get open, I finally had to go get a giant Channelock out of the tool box in order to unscrew it. :) I've lost some grip strength as I've aged, but this thing was ridiculous.
Click to expand...
I legit have unwrenched food containers with tools as well.

I bought a pipe wrench online specifically for some mayonnaise.
 
D

DGersic

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Joined
Mar 12, 2017
Messages
6,348
Location
DeKalb, IL
Stuart in MN said:
I probably learned it from my dad but I honestly don't remember, it's like I've always known about it.

Speaking of bottles (or jars)...the other day I had a pickle jar that I just could not get open, I finally had to go get a giant Channelock out of the tool box in order to unscrew it. :) I've lost some grip strength as I've aged, but this thing was ridiculous.
Click to expand...

I wouldn’t buy the giant channel locks for this, but since I already have them, they do occasionally get used as jar openers. There’s a brand of salsa that I buy that combines a large lid with some ridiculous level of sticky jar lid sealer that refuses to open any other way.
 
K

kbuhagiar

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Joined
Dec 27, 2005
Messages
1,753
Location
Escondido, CA
ericm said:
I figured out out myself.
Click to expand...
^^^This. Same here. When I was 11 or 12.

I remember I had bought my first used drum set and I disassembled everything - heads, shells, hardware - in order to clean it. Lots of nuts, bolts, screws and threaded connections, and it was a cheap, offshore brand. Not the best fasteners. Figured out that little trick while putting everything back together.
 
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J

Junkdrawer Dog

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Joined
Jan 14, 2019
Messages
1,460
Location
LV NV
Dad taught me when showing me how to cut screws to a shorter length. Run a nut up past the cut point, make the cut, then back the nut off. Clean it up with a file, then if the nut doesn't want to start, turn it backwards just a bit til you feel it start to take up. I must have been about 12.
 
H

Hal

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 8, 2008
Messages
670
Location
Vermont
bwringer said:
I rebuilt my first lawn mower engine when I was five, so I suppose it had to be my Dad who taught me this stuff at an age so early I cannot remember.

Dad taught me all sorts of useful things, including how to ride a bicycle, treehouse engineering, etc. but the one thing he didn't care about and we didn't cover was sportsball. I think that worked out for the best anyway.


Dad taught my sister and I to read when we were four (my sister is two years younger than me, so she got even more of a head start on her letters by watching my lessons). We arrived at kindergarten (five years old in the US) reading comfortably at nearly a sixth grade level. Turns out, this REALLY gums up the works in schools. They're simply not equipped for such a thing as a wee tot who can actually read.

I was bored to literal tears, and got in trouble many times. I was forced to do many worksheets and exercises over because I got them done too quickly and accurately, and had to be "cheating" somehow.

Finally, I was "caught" and punished for sneaking in Popular Mechanics to hide in our basic letter books. The teacher was absolutely convinced that I was "pretending" to read and not paying attention to learning the basic letters. I asked her to bring me any book or magazine to show her I could read, but she refused to perform the experiment.

I didn't know the word "apocalyptic" yet, but let's just say Mom brought both the thunder and the lightning to the principal and teacher the next day, and they drank deep of fear... I was called in, handed a random magazine, and told to read a random paragraph aloud. After several repetitions, the teacher and principal had to agree that I could, indeed, read.

Some sort of compromise was reached where I could read more "advanced" stuff, as long as I could explain what I had read. And for some reason, I still had to do all the same worksheets and exercises as my classmates. Articles in Popular Mechanics and Popular Science soon surpassed the teacher's ability and interest, and I was mostly left alone for the rest of kindergarten.

Rinse and repeat for the next several years... I really feel sorry for kids who were a little different in any way and didn't have a grizzly bear for a Mom.
Click to expand...
My mother could already read when she started school, so they stuck her into third grade. Unfortunately she hadn’t learned much arithmetic, so she suffered there for three years until she finally caught up on it.
 
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