Technology

60081 readers

3335 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.

Our Rules

Follow the lemmy.world rules.
Only tech related content.
Be excellent to each another!
Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
Politics threads may be removed.
No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
Only approved bots from the list below, to ask if your bot can be added please contact us.
Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed

Approved Bots

founded 2 years ago

MODERATORS

373

LMG has made a response video to Gamers Nexus' concerns (www.youtube.com)

submitted 1 year ago by Noah@lemmy.federated.club to c/technology@lemmy.world

200 comments fedilink hide all child comments

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] somedaysoon@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

That's called back drag, it's really not important in a screwdriver. I think ratcheting screwdrivers are just really gimmicky, are more of a hindrance in most cases. Maybe you can enlighten me, but really there are two main reasons here for that opinion.

It's faster to spin the shaft with your fingers on a fixed screwdriver than it is to ratchet on the handle to turn in bolts. This is especially true for smaller bolts.
Many times to get threads to line up it's easiest to turn the bolt counter-clockwise until the threads align and fall into place before you start turning them clockwise into the threads. You couldn't do this with a really low back drag, or it would be cumbersome to change the ratcheting function on it. A fixed screwdriver just seems all around more efficient and faster.

So what benefit does a ratcheting screwdriver offer? It's slower and it's cumbersome to have to change it back and forth just to change directions. And because it has a ratcheting mechanism, it will fail faster under less forces.

[–] LinuxSBC@lemm.ee 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I use a ratcheting screwdriver in my job at a computer repair shop. For smaller screws, I use a precision screwdriver, in which I do just spin the shaft with the top of the screwdriver in my palm, but I sometimes need the larger screwdriver for more force.

Often true, and I often do that on my ratcheting screwdriver. However, it's faster still to use two hands, one on the handle and one on the shaft, and alternate them. While the handle is ratcheting back, the shaft continues turning, so it ends up screwing or unscrewing twice as fast (or at least faster; I know that moving your hand is pretty fast). Also, when working on a screw that requires more force, the ratchet allows me to apply that force without repositioning my hand frequently, again making it faster.
Again, I totally agree. This is especially important on small screws or when screwing into plastic, which I work with often. That's a good point about how low back drag (thanks for the name) makes it more difficult. I was thinking that it would make it easier when screwing into certain materials that change their resistance as I screw, but maybe the back drag I have on my current screwdriver is a good amount.

Yeah, if you don't like ratcheting screwdrivers, you definitely won't like the LTT screwdriver. That's fair. I think they make me faster, but it's up to personal preference.

[–] somedaysoon@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

Yeah, fair points, a lot of it really is just personal preference and it depends greatly on how you're using them.