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FRC4914�Mechanical Guide #1

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Table of Contents

Lab Safety
Handheld tools

Screwdrivers
Wrenches/Ratchets
Allen keys
Clamps

Measurement tools

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Lab Safety

General Guidelines

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In the Lab

Wear safety glasses
Put tools back where you found them
Food and drinks are prohibited
Long hair must be tied back
No loose items and clothing
Open-toed shoes are prohibited
No horseplay

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Safety Goggles

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Curves around eyes

Flat, does not protect eyes from all directions

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What Safety Glasses can Save You From

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In the Lab

Wear safety glasses
Put tools back where you found them
Food and drinks are prohibited
Long hair must be tied back
No loose items and clothing
Open-toed shoes are prohibited
No horseplay

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Next, you must put tools back where you found them, once you have finished
The most obvious thing that comes to mind is organization
This pertains to safety a lot, because if your workspace gets too messy, there are a lot of safety risks
Something might fall off the table
You might hit your hand on something

Don’t have any drinks or food in the workspace. Eat and drink outside, or at least not on the carpeted field or near any work, tools, or materials

Loose articles like hair and clothing can get caught in equipment
To prevent this, you can tie back your hair
Knot up the areas of clothing that are long and loose
And if you have any other removal and loose items, put them in your bag

You must have closed-toe shoes
No sandals, no slippers
Closed-toe shoes will obviously provide more protection between falling objects compared to open-toed

Lastly, no horseplay in the lab, or anywhere, as a matter of fact
Pushing, shoving, these can all lead to unintended accidents

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Handheld Tools

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Screwdriver Heads

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Flathead

Phillips

Allen/ Hex Key

Torx

Robertson

So we use handheld screwdrivers to tighten screws, nuts, and occasionally bolts
They are used specifically for tightening because using your own hand lets you control how tight you make the seal
These are the five types of screwdriver heads that we use
The most common is the Phillips head, which is the shape of a cross. They can be found on wood screws and bolts most of the time
Next there are flatheads, which are flat. They show up on bolts and regular screws, but are not as common, since they can be harder to work with
Some specific bolts use the Allen key, or Hex key design, which is a hexagon. I specifically reference machine screws
Also, don’t worry too much about the types of screws. That will be covered in a future workshop about materials
The Robertson head rarely ever shows up, unless you’re using a wood screw. It is in the shape of a square
The last head, called Torx, is the shape of a six-sided star. It is extremely rare, I think I’ve only needed to use it once in my three years of constructing stuff, so don’t worry too much about it

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Other Screwdrivers

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Precision screwdrivers

Ratchet screwdrivers

Other screwdrivers that you’ll find include the precision screwdrivers.
They use the same heads as regular screwdrivers, but they are a lot smaller
The opposite ends of these are also rotatable, so the rotating part is held against the palm while your fingers twist the screwdriver. Again, come in to workshops to practice using this

There are also ratchet screwdrivers
These have some kind of a switch on them, which allows you to apply force in only one direction
Like, if you set the switch to turn right only, turning right will tighten the screw
Turning left will make clicking noises, which is normal, and the screw won’t untighten
This lets you tighten screws faster, because you don’t have to take the screwdriver out, or take your hand off, to readjust
Ratchet screwdrivers usually have swappable tips. The docks for these tips are hexagonal shaped

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Wrenches

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Common Sizes:

7/16

11mm

9/16

1/2

9mm

13mm

10mm

Wrenches let you tighten bolts and nuts, which have a hexagon head
The U-shaped side lets you readjust slightly easier, because you can slide the wrench out and back in relatively quickly
The ring side is specifically used when you don’t need to readjust, or when it is really difficult to readjust. You just hold it in place and use something else, like another wrench, or a ratchet, to tighten the other side

Wrench sizes use both the metric system and the imperial system
The value measures the diameter of the head, or from tip to opposite tip
Because most of our parts are made by American companies, we mostly get imperial values
The most common sizes are 7/16 inches, or 11mm. Keep in mind that while these both fit, they are not actually the same size.
The 11mm is just slightly bigger, so if you are tightening a bolt in a structurally important part, use the correctly associated system to ensure that there is full control over tightening
There is a list of the most common wrench sizes we use, on an inaccurate scale of how frequent they are. It is entirely possible to get some other size that isn’t on the list

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Ratchets ‘n Sockets

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Common Socket Drive Bases:

1/4

3/8

Ratchets have the same functionality as wrenches. They tighten and untighten bolts and nuts
Ratchets are just much faster, because you only use force in one turning direction that’s set by a switch
So the typical setup for quickly tightening a bolt is by using a ratchet and a wrench on the other end.
The ratchet usually tightens the nut while the wrench holds the head of the bolt. This is because the nut is longer than the head of a bolt, so there is more surface area for a tool to grip and stay on
A socket also has a bottom, or a maximum travel distance for the bolt, so it applies downward force on the nut, while the wrench can slip off in either direction of the nut. You can try this out for yourself at a workshop
Just be careful with overtightening with a ratchet, because the longer arm means you can apply much more torque than usual
On the turning shaft is a socket head, in the shape of a square. Here a socket of a selected hexagon size can be placed for use

Here is an image of a few sockets.
On one side is the hexagon, with the same systems as wrenches, so metric and imperial
The other side is a square, the socket, and there are two common sizes: 1/4 and 3/8 inch lengths
Sockets can also have varying lengths. A short one can be used to tighten a nut on a short exposed section of the bolt
But if the exposed section is longer than the socket itself, at some point it won’t be able to reach the nut, so you need to get a longer socket
Again, you should come to a workshop to experience this

Lastly, there are times when the space you are working with is too small to get the arm of the socket in
Here, you can attach an extension socket, which just makes the turning shaft longer
Some extension shafts can also change size, usually from 3/8 to 1/4

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Ratchet & Wrench Setup

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Offset Ratchet

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Allen Keys

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Less torque, faster screwing

More torque, tighter screws

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Clamps

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Vice grips

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Table vice

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Pliers and Needle nose

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Hand Saw

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Apply force in only this direction

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File

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Wood file

Metal file

Teeth, like a shark’s mouth

Almost smooth, a fine grain, or a tiny diamond pattern

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Electronics Tools

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Wire cutters

Really bad wire cutter – stripper combo

Good quality wire cutter – stripper combo, with multiple sizes

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Wire connection crimper

Electronics Tools

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Measurements and Markers

Tools and Procedures

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Calipers

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Sensitivity dial

Thumb roller

Calipers are essentially digital rulers
They can be calibrated at any point along the ruler
They measure the distances between various points shown on the slide

The device is pretty easy to use
You turn it on
Most of the time you close the jaws, and hit the “zero” button to calibrate
And then you can measure any distance

There is sometimes a sensitivity dial, which makes it easier or harder to slide the jaws
A thumb roller is usually also included, and you can apply pressure to it with your thumb and gradually slide
These both help you to make fine measurements

Calipers can also be used to mark spots on wood, plastics, and metal
The jaws have sharp tips so you can scratch surfaces, and this helps to mark distances
The end of the calipers also has a tip that stretches out, and you can use a marker at the end to mark a point for distances

Overall, calipers are very versatile as measurement tools, especially at small distances
But try not to break them. We’ve dropped one during the build season, and it can’t measure properly anymore

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Right edges

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Right edges

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Right edges

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Measuring Tape

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Marking Tools

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Now, there are times where you are going to need to mark your measurements
You can use the tips of calipers to scratch cutting lines
But what about drilling holes?
We can use two tools in combination: an awl, and a mallet
These are used more often on metals, where pens and markers will rub off
For wood materials, you can just use a permanent marker to mark drilling holes

Let’s start with the awl
It’s spelled a-w-l
Basically it’s a pipe with a tip on one end, and a hitting surface on the either
You put the tip on the spot where you want to drill, and then lightly tap the other end with a mallet
This will create a small dent in the metal
This shows the person drilling where to place their drill bit,
And the dent actually guides the tip of the drill bit to the correct spot
Without a dent, the drill bit is prone to slipping on the flat surface of the metal, and that can screw up a lot of stuff

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Marking Tools

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Marking Tools

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Marking Tools

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Marking Tools

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