Cant find the correct screw to hold up my pendants

[CWESPARK]

OK, OK, You all want to beat me up now,
Let me tell you what I was taught,

What holds a light switch / socket in to a backbox? A 3.5MM PIN.

What holds a fitting to a metric conduit box? A 4MM PIN.

What do you use to hold a set in galv trunking? A 6MM PIN AND NUT.

That's what I was taught, HND Mech Eng.

CW.

 

[JohnW2]

Cheers John,
And I don't want to start a row, but I was taught (HND Mech Eng) Set Pins Walsall Tech 1980.

It's not a row - I'm just interested. So what were you taught a machine screw was, since they've been on the scene since long before 1980?

Some of the terminology is confusing and often mis-used, but what I was taught was that a bolt is intended to mate with a nut, whereas a screw goes into a threaded hole in a component - either a pre-tapped hole or (as with wood screws or self-tapping screws) a threaded hole created by the screw itself. However, 'machine screws' (the precise defintrion of which currently escapes me) confuse those definitions a bit, since they are often used with nuts. An added factor which complicates the terminology is whether the fastener is fully or only partially threaded. Bolts are often only partially threaded, whereas screws (although not some wood screws, which have a shank) are often fully threaded, but there appear to be plenty of exceptions to the rule.

... and I was taught nothing about threaded 'pins'.

Kind Regards, John.

 

[JohnW2]

... and I was taught nothing about threaded 'pins'.

Rather intrigued, I've just spent a bit more time than makes sense seeing if Mr Google could help me to understand what a (threaded) 'pin' or 'set pin' might be.

Given that it's something that was suggested as being 'correct terminology' for a very common item, I found extraordinarily little of much help/relevance. I found virtually nothing relevant about 'pin'or 'set pin' (apart from a couple of eBay listings, which actually appeared to relate to screws or bolts!). I did find a few references to 'threaded pin' but, as one might expect, these all related to threaded rods, or part-threaded rods (i.e. with no head).

Kind Regards, John.

 

[CWESPARK]

Hi John,

Yes I did the Google search myself, and you're right. Yet it remains a common term in daily use by most of the lads I work / have worked with.

The only thing I can think of is that it's another Black Country name like "Tun dish" (funnel) that I always assumed was country wide, but in reality is very local. It is certainly the term my Walsall College lecturers used years ago, and going into the wholesalers for a bag of 4mm pins and nuts is never questioned.

Cheers,
CW.

 

[JohnW2]

Yes I did the Google search myself, and you're right. Yet it remains a common term in daily use by most of the lads I work / have worked with.
The only thing I can think of is that it's another Black Country name like "Tun dish" (funnel) that I always assumed was country wide, but in reality is very local. It is certainly the term my Walsall College lecturers used years ago, and going into the wholesalers for a bag of 4mm pins and nuts is never questioned.

Yes, I guess it must be a regional thing, although I remain surprised and intrigued that the rest of us (and Mr Google) have not at least heard of it! In contrast, even though I am (and always have been) a good few miles SW of the Black Country, "tun dish" is something I know and understand well - assuming you mean in the plumbing sense, and not just a word for funnels in general.

Cheers, John.

 

[ricicle]

Tundish used here in Glos (with those who know their Boyle from their elbow)

 

[wingcoax]

Tundish also used here in "LANCYSHIRE" I was always taught that pins were plain parallel or tapered and machine screws were parallel threaded