What's a life lesson you learned the hard way that you'd want to share with others to help them avoid the same mistake? - eviltoast
    • punkfungus@sh.itjust.works
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      3 months ago

      By hand you can feel that you’ve engaged the thread properly. If you just send it with a power tool then dealing with cross threaded fasteners is in your future.

    • slazer2au@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      my assumption is a machined bolt is not as tempered as a store purchased one so using an electric tool on it could strip the head.
      Using a hand tool applies less torque so you are less likely to strip it.

      • papalonian@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        “Machined” doesn’t mean “homemade”, it’s a manufacturing method meaning that the threads of the bolt/nut were cut from a smooth piece of metal (as opposed to being cast or forged from a mold). Machined hardware is more likely to have defects like tiny nicks in the threads or bent threads that can damage/ destroy whatever you’re using it to fasten. You can usually tell pretty quickly if you’ve got a shitty bolt or nut if you’re threading it by hand - any irregularities are easy to feel. But if you just blast it with a power drill right off the rip, you won’t feel any of it, and might end up with an unplanned permanent fixture.