The Timing of the Screw

[Jim Koepke]

A thought on how habitually clocking (timing) screws can pay off.

In many of my project where possible my preference is to align the screw heads so they all face the same way:

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Some think this odd. Though in many places where professional electricians take care of things it is common. One explanation is it lets the professionals know if an amateur has been mucking about.

This weekend it helped with my project of refinishing the handrails on both porches. With bifocal glasses it is difficult to see what is going on with a screwdriver on the underside of the rails. Clocking the screws made it much easier to get the screw driver in place without contorting my body:

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Didn't have to see the whole screw head to get the screwdriver aligned properly. It was easy to align the screwdriver viewing from the side.

jtk

[Tom M King]

A recent handrail job. I wanted them easily replaceable. Posts were already there on a rental house, so I used unseen aluminum blocks with threaded holes, lagged onto the posts.

[Jim Koepke]

A recent handrail job. I wanted them easily replaceable. Posts were already there on a rental house, so I used unseen aluminum blocks with threaded holes, lagged onto the posts.

That looks like a great idea for some of my future railing installation, thanks Tom.

jtk

[Tom M King]

I was using some years old really twisted treated posts to get the straight pieces out of. Being not sure at all if any would go wild, I wanted to be able to replace parts if needed. They've held good through the Summer, so far. Screws in the ends of the pieces, just to show the mortises, were just for support while spray painting.

[Jim Koepke]

Did you make the blocks or are they available commercially?

jtk

[Jim Barkelew]

I have been aligning electrical cover screws for a long time because I saw somebody do it. I threw away almost all my slotted wood screws a long time ago. Now I see I can align Phillips screws . I wonder if somebody can invent an impact driver that will stop at 90 deg increments for automatic clocking.

Jim

[Stan Calow]

I have two friends whose slotted screws on all electric outlets and switch plates are aligned. However, one does his vertical and the other horizontal. Now I can't decide which is right.

[Tom M King]

I made them. I bought 2 of these off ebay 1-1/2" X 1-1/2" ALUMINUM SQUARE 6061 T6511 SOLID FLAT BAR 12" long Mill Stock.

I really like those Spax lags for exterior use that use a T30 driver bit.

Not shown are the two threaded holes into the top. The screws are stainless machine screws.

[Jim Becker]

I also align screws, especially in electrical finish work and always vertical. I've done it on woodworking projects, too, especially when brass slotted screws were a necessary evil. I'm less fastidious about the square drive and torx screws I typically use for woodworking, however.

[Bill Dufour]

Some car nuts clock sparkplugs by stacking washers. In theory it makes a difference.
Bill D

[Scott Winners]

Whenever I have an electrical box open in my house I clock the screw (vertically) when it goes back together correctly.

If my next house has several of the electrical box cover screws clocked horizontally and some of them unclocked I would plan to open one of the unclocked ones to see how bad it is. If I found nice work in 2-3 of the horizontally clocked ones I would probably just handle the unclocked ones and see if there were any issues left to address.

[Myk Rian]

I vote for horizontal clocking on cover plates.

[Jim Koepke]

I vote for horizontal clocking on cover plates.

It could be different in different areas, around here it appears they are straight up at 12 o'clock.

jtk

[John K Jordan]

I vote for horizontal clocking on cover plates.

I vote for torx screws where possible. Those who care can use a magnifier to check the clock.

As for amateurs mucking with cover plates I don't know anyone who calls an electrician to professionally remove and replace plates when painting a room.

[Mel Fulks]

Yeah, straight up is the right way . Vertical is the eye catcher , The Washington Monument would not be nearly as impressive just flat on the
ground with people walkin’ on it, nor would the Empire State Building. And … has anyone here , while reading a story to a child, ever seen
a Grandfather Clock illustration with the hands at 9-15 ?
It is true that Frank Loyd Wright liked horizontal stuff . But ,remember, people like to walk through his ‘flat-irons’ ….but often say
“nice place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there”

[Rich Engelhardt]

I'd never heard of this - until I ran across it here at SMC years ago.

The next rental my wife and I did, I made her clock all the screws. She still does it to this day if she takes the plates off to paint!

[Mark Rainey]

Is there any special technique other than stopping the screw at horizontal or vertical ( even though you think a bit more twist is needed to snug things up ) ?

[Jim Becker]

Is there any special technique other than stopping the screw at horizontal or vertical ( even though you think a bit more twist is needed to snug things up ) ?

You do have to be careful with what kind of cover plate is in play...the unbreakable nylon ones (what I prefer to use) will not give you much grief if you accidently over tighten them other than possibly some visible distortion, but the plastic ones will cheerfully crack with a half-turn too much. It's a "feel" thing. :)

[Ronald Blue]

Timing is also known as "Clocking".

[Edward Weber]

Interesting thread, I'll have to go to my default answer and say, It depends.
On cover plates, no. I tighten them until I feel they are secure, done.
On some projects it may have an aesthetic appeal, but often, if every screw head is lined up to one another or the project or hinge or whatever reference you use, it can have a distracting or "artificial" look.
Screws don't typically index themselves perfectly, so when they are timed, clocked or indexed by the craftsman, it can look forced.
JMO

[Jim Koepke]

Timing is also known as "Clocking".

Yes, "Clocking" is likely used more commonly when describing this practice. Though the use of "Timing" was more in fun for its Shakespearian intimation.


Interesting thread, I'll have to go to my default answer and say, It depends.
On cover plates, no. I tighten them until I feel they are secure, done.
On some projects it may have an aesthetic appeal, but often, if every screw head is lined up to one another or the project or hinge or whatever reference you use, it can have a distracting or "artificial" look.
Screws don't typically index themselves perfectly, so when they are timed, clocked or indexed by the craftsman, it can look forced.
JMO

Artificial? Machines don't clock, humans do. At one time one of my extra income projects was making Adirondack chairs. On one the screws across the center row of the back staves were clocked starting at the center and slightly rotated to form a smile. The screws were also in a slightly curved pattern. Some didn't seem to notice. A few saw it as a nice effect. Only a few because it sold rather quickly.

Clocking was explained to me as something started by gunsmiths. At this time screws were not machine made. The heads of the screws were not finished. The heads were small cylinders when a firearm was first assembled. Each screw was marked for orientation, then the heads were cut, slotted and finished.

jtk

[Brian Deakin]

Two additional steps I was taught at school were to put a small amount of candle wax on the screw thread as a lubricant and with brass screws to drill a pilot hole and use a steel screw of the same size first to create the correct size hole then replace it with a brass screw The rational ,when installing the brass screw you a less likely to damage the screw head as you have a hole of the correct size

I also put candle wax on the screws I use to mount a face plate on a turning blank

[Edward Weber]

Artificial? Machines don't clock, humans do.

jtk

Artificial does not necessarily indicate machine, only unnatural.

Screws don't naturally align with some user selected reference. When they are made to by the user, it can look forced or unnatural.

[Jim Koepke]

Artificial does not necessarily indicate machine, only unnatural.

Screws don't naturally align with some user selected reference. When they are made to by the user, it can look forced or unnatural.

In one of my posts above I mentioned noticing that starting wood screws from a new batch at 90º from where it was desired to stop did cause the screws to align predictably. So far this has been the same on the few occasions since then where wood screws have been used.

What one person sees as forced and unnatural is another's person's neat and tidy. Most folks do not notice such details unless they have been made aware of them.

jtk

[John K Jordan]

...
What one person sees as forced and unnatural is another's person's neat and tidy. Most folks do not notice such details unless they have been made aware of them.
jtk

Everyone who reads this thread is now aware of that detail. What one sees as tidy another might see as pointless, another, neurotic. Fortunately there is room in this big world for all.

Note to burglars: I'm clocking the screws on all the receptacles in one room so one end of the slots reveal the combination of the big safe with all the guns, ammo, gems, gold, bonds, and cash.
Using the values from other ends will set off brain-imploding alarms. Guess right the first time.

[Rob Luter]

Just reading this thread has my OCD chirping. Yes, I too clock screw heads.

[Jim Koepke]

Everyone who reads this thread is now aware of that detail. What one sees as tidy another might see as pointless, another, neurotic. Fortunately there is room in this big world for all.
...


In the old school way some would say, "don't sweat the small stuff."

Though some see taking care of even the smallest details as a sign of someone who pays attention to what they are doing.

The comment of not sweating the small stuff reminds me of repairs I used to make on some old IBM made fare equipment. A critical connector was composed of very small pins and sockets embedded in a phenolic resin. After about 30 years the resin decomposed and caused a poor connection in the equipment that would put it out of service. Replacement connectors were obsolete and no longer available. My solution was to take the connectors apart, clean off the crumbling phenolic, add some heat shrink tubing and sweat solder the pins and sockets together. I was literally "sweating the small stuff."

I often had to clean up messes left by those who "didn't sweat the small stuff."

jtk

[Ronald Blue]

In the old school way some would say, "don't sweat the small stuff."

I often had to clean up messes left by those who "didn't sweat the small stuff."

jtk

When still working we had one or two fellow "mechanics" that were referred to as hammer mechanics. No finesse for anything. No attention to detail. Someone else ended up having to repair the repair all to often. Hydraulic components mostly are pretty durable but also delicate. Forcing things never ends well. They do create a need for people who have the light touch or finesse to put things together and have them work the first time.

[Dave Zellers]

Yes, "Clocking" is likely used more commonly when describing this practice. Though the use of "Timing" was more in fun for its Shakespearian intimation.

Which is quite good BTW. Makes me smile every time I open the 'Off Topic' forum. :)

[Jim Koepke]

Which is quite good BTW. Makes me smile every time I open the 'Off Topic' forum. :)

Thanks for my afternoon chuckle Dave. Now I can go have dinner soon.

jtk