Lost or forgotten installation tips from the past!

[Pete999]

Just thinking back to my Apprenticeship time, and working on a Large luxury Housing development, the chap I was working under, was a strict, but knowledgeable Electrician.
At the time in question we used metallic oval conduit for our switch drop and sockets etc., one of his rules where possible were that all switch drops had the conduit cut to the same length and the same for the runs from the floor up to the socket positions, during the first fix he would always inquire as to which make of sockets we were going to used for the second fix, so much so that he insisted that if the L was on the right hand side of the accessory, I had to feed the 7/029 cable up the conduit , with the L on the right hand side, didn't think it mattered all that much, until you came to install the socket, and how much easier it was with the cables entering the back box all on the same side.
Anyone else got any odd little tips that they were taught, that may have gotten lost over the years?, another one was marking the lighting cables at the ceiling rose, switched pair with a cross and the feeds in and out with a split at the end for identification, simple things I know.

 

[Pete999]

That's a nail

Ringshank nail, sometimes refereed to as a screw nail by some, not by me though, never actually seen a screw nail, unless of course you are referring to a screw that your screwdriver wont work on. so you transgress and belt it with a hammer

 

[Deuce]

Ringshank nail, sometimes refereed to as a screw nail by some, not by me though, never actually seen a screw nail, unless of course you are referring to a screw that your screwdriver wont work on. so you transgress and belt it with a hammer

You called it a screw nail in the first place mate - I've never seen one either

" Use a rusty screw nail it won't split the wood so easily."

EDIT!!! Sorry, it was @sparkdog haha

Still lost as to what a screw nail is...

 

[sparkdog]

Looks like they call 'em "wood screws" now, must be getting old.

 

[Deuce]

Looks like they call 'em "wood screws" now, must be getting old.

So a screw nail is a wood screw (or as us kids call them, a screw...) or a nail?

Surely nothing is a screw unless it has a thread? Unless it's the result of a lucky night out.

 

[DPG]

You can get threaded nails, ie a nail with a screw thread but a plain flat head for knocking in with a hammer. Haven't seen any for years but I think they were supposed to drive in and grip better than annulars.

 

[static zap]

Seen all sorts of "one-way" nails , including including bits of steel wire sticking out ,holding Pallets together. ( my past frugality revealed ! )
forward+reverse twisted , ring ridged . (proper names unknown)

 

[Deuce]

You can get threaded nails, ie a nail with a screw thread but a plain flat head for knocking in with a hammer. Haven't seen any for years but I think they were supposed to drive in and grip better than annulars.

Yup, those are the designed to hammer in and hold tight. But the ones I've seen isn't a thread as such, more like a ribbed nail. I doubt they would 'screw in' to anything even if you could look a tool to the head.

I'm gonna say it doesn't qualify as a screw unless it can be screwed in or out

You can however hammer a screw, but that doesn't make it a nail imo. It's a screw

 

[Deleted member 26818]

What about those ones they use for door frames?
Screws come with a rawlplug already attached, have to hammer them through the frame into the wall, and then tighten with a screw driver.

 

[DPG]

Yeah frame fixers them spin.

 

[Deuce]

What about those ones they use for door frames?
Screws come with a rawlplug already attached, have to hammer them through the frame into the wall, and then tighten with a screw driver.

That's just another screw you can hammer. Try using it as a nail without a pre-drilled hole, and you will see that it fails to meet the definition.

 

[Deuce]

I've go the day off work by the way, I have time to argue this as long as the rest of you can be bothered

 

[Shoei]

Useful tips to get you out of (or into) a hole when you've forgotten your meter..

 

[DPG]

Brill.

 

[Deuce]

Useful tips to get you out of (or into) a hole when you've forgotten your meter..

All seams fair enough, I mean... Relatively speaking it's not that dangerous. It's just modern sparks have grown soft and lost all sense of humour for a bit of current.

You don't see plumbers worrying about touching the water in the pipes, or the bogs.. Nah, they slosh that sh*t all over the shop.

 

[Pete999]

Useful tips to get you out of (or into) a hole when you've forgotten your meter..

Wonderful stuff