Difference between revisions of "3239: Simple Machines"
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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
{{incomplete|This page was recently purchased from DeWalt, and we're still reading the manual. Don't remove this notice too soon.}} | {{incomplete|This page was recently purchased from DeWalt, and we're still reading the manual. Don't remove this notice too soon.}} | ||
| − | There are | + | There are various ways to use a {{w|mechanical advantage}} when applying a force to an object with a tool. Classically, there were considered to be six {{w|simple machines}} which, in combination, formed the basis of all tools: |
* {{w|lever}} | * {{w|lever}} | ||
* {{w|wheel and axle}} | * {{w|wheel and axle}} | ||
| Line 18: | Line 18: | ||
* {{w|wedge}} | * {{w|wedge}} | ||
* {{w|Screw (simple machine)|screw}} | * {{w|Screw (simple machine)|screw}} | ||
| − | + | These are often considered as idealised, abstract concepts in the study of {{w|mechanics}}. | |
| − | + | {{w|Multitool}}s combine various tools into a single package, usually for reasons of portability. For example, the classic {{w|Swiss Army Knife}} combines various different forms of blade (which, in part, can act as levers and/or wedges, depending upon use) along with some non-bladed tools (such as the corkscrew, which naturally embodies the same forces as the 'simple screw'). | |
| − | + | Instead of combining simple machines to make a single tool, this comic suggests the existence of a multitool featuring all six simple tools individually, some of them with multiple purposes depending upon application. For example the lever and the inclined plane are both present via the same core rod. | |
| − | The title text is a joke about | + | The implication is that by having all the simple machines 'combined' in this way, this can serve as a universal tool, which could do the job of any other tool. In practice, though, it's hard to see many useful purposes this could be put to, since ''how'' you combine the various components and how they interact (or don't get in each others' way) is important for the function of a particular device. |
| + | |||
| + | As is often the case with multitools, there are obvious drawbacks to having this 'all-in-one' tool. The tools all have varying uses, some very different from one other, and you would find it unlikely to find many devices in need of all the tools together in a spot. So such a tool would be largely useless compared to its singular variants. Also, the tools come in many different sizes, meaning unless it has special adjustable sizes (which could well be impossible, to account for all the different sizes){{Citation needed}} the tool would be unlikely to be the right size to fit many features. As well as that, though [[Randall]] claims he can stop buying simple tools thanks to his all-in-one, in reality you often need more than one of the various tools for projects (particularly screws, of which there can be hundreds in a single project). | ||
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| + | The title text is a joke about battery powered tool ecosystems. {{w|Milwaukee Tool}} and {{w|DeWalt}} are two common American tool companies. The text notes that each company has advantages in certain specific simple machines, which makes deciding which brand to invest in for a whole system of simple machines difficult - presumably because each brand's machines are designed to work together, but would not work across brands. With battery powered tools, the batteries and the base motor units are often interchangeable between tools from a single brand (and are often purchased separately from the tools). Once you buy, say, a drill and batteries from one brand, it is more economical to buy a saw from the same brand, rather than the saw and batteries from a different brand. | ||
==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
Latest revision as of 08:53, 1 May 2026
| Simple Machines |
 Title text: It's hard to decide which simple machine system to invest in. DeWalt makes a great lever and inclined plane, but I hear Milwaukee's wheel-and-axles are really good. |
Explanation[edit]
|
This is one of 69 incomplete explanations: This page was recently purchased from DeWalt, and we're still reading the manual. Don't remove this notice too soon. If you can fix this issue, edit the page! |
There are various ways to use a mechanical advantage when applying a force to an object with a tool. Classically, there were considered to be six simple machines which, in combination, formed the basis of all tools:
These are often considered as idealised, abstract concepts in the study of mechanics.
Multitools combine various tools into a single package, usually for reasons of portability. For example, the classic Swiss Army Knife combines various different forms of blade (which, in part, can act as levers and/or wedges, depending upon use) along with some non-bladed tools (such as the corkscrew, which naturally embodies the same forces as the 'simple screw').
Instead of combining simple machines to make a single tool, this comic suggests the existence of a multitool featuring all six simple tools individually, some of them with multiple purposes depending upon application. For example the lever and the inclined plane are both present via the same core rod.
The implication is that by having all the simple machines 'combined' in this way, this can serve as a universal tool, which could do the job of any other tool. In practice, though, it's hard to see many useful purposes this could be put to, since how you combine the various components and how they interact (or don't get in each others' way) is important for the function of a particular device.
As is often the case with multitools, there are obvious drawbacks to having this 'all-in-one' tool. The tools all have varying uses, some very different from one other, and you would find it unlikely to find many devices in need of all the tools together in a spot. So such a tool would be largely useless compared to its singular variants. Also, the tools come in many different sizes, meaning unless it has special adjustable sizes (which could well be impossible, to account for all the different sizes)[citation needed] the tool would be unlikely to be the right size to fit many features. As well as that, though Randall claims he can stop buying simple tools thanks to his all-in-one, in reality you often need more than one of the various tools for projects (particularly screws, of which there can be hundreds in a single project).
The title text is a joke about battery powered tool ecosystems. Milwaukee Tool and DeWalt are two common American tool companies. The text notes that each company has advantages in certain specific simple machines, which makes deciding which brand to invest in for a whole system of simple machines difficult - presumably because each brand's machines are designed to work together, but would not work across brands. With battery powered tools, the batteries and the base motor units are often interchangeable between tools from a single brand (and are often purchased separately from the tools). Once you buy, say, a drill and batteries from one brand, it is more economical to buy a saw from the same brand, rather than the saw and batteries from a different brand.
Transcript[edit]
|
This is one of 44 incomplete transcripts: Don't remove this notice too soon. If you can fix this issue, edit the page! |
- [A rod with a square cross-section is shown sloping from top-left to bottom-right. At the bottom-right, it has a wedge tip. At the top-left, it is threaded and has a long nut on it. The nut has an eyelet where a rope is connected. The rope travels taut around a wheel on an axle connected near the wedge-end and then lies loose with a hook on the free end.]
- [Caption below comic:]
- I can finally stop buying simple machines now that I got an all-in-one tool with all six of them.
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Woah, I'm first! ---GSLikesCats307(talk). 17:43, 29th April 2026 (UTC)
Is Randall referring to any specific tools made by those companies when he says "lever and inclined plane" and "wheel-and-axles"? wheel-and-axles describes anything from a toy wagon to an automobile. Barmar (talk) 16:53, 29 April 2026 (UTC)
- Doubtful. More of an additional example of Pro-Skub vs Anti-Skub -- https://pbfcomics.com/comics/skub/ behavior. 130.76.187.47 17:31, 29 April 2026 (UTC)
- It's a joke about battery-operated tools. If you buy a battery-operated drill from Milwaukee, it probably does not come with a (removable) battery and charger. So you buy the battery and charger, which are probably comparable to the cost of the tool. Now, when you need a battery operated saw, you already have the battery and charger from Milwaukee (which will work with the saw), so you buy the Milwaukee saw. And the Milwaukee blower. And the Milwaukee weed-whacker. Etc, etc. Buying one brand of battery operated tools locks you into that ecosystem, to a certain extent. Which means you wind up agonizing over which brand has the better overall ecosystem, even though all you need right now is a drill. 163.116.145.55 18:21, 29 April 2026 (UTC)
- Sorry, no. Many Milwaukee and Black and Decker(etc)tools DO come with batteries and chargers!!! The point is to get the buyers into the "ecosystem", so future purchases that use the same battery system will be more appealing. For this purpose, providing the charger and one battery, at least for the larger, more popular products, makes perfect sense. The more specialized tools, the smaller accessories might not have them, but they are practical purchases once someone already owns a charger and at least one interchangeable battery. For Milwaukee in particular, the M12 FUEL 1/2 Drill Driver, the M18 FUEL Oscillating Multi-Tool, the MX FUEL Backpack Blower and M18 FUEL 15 Gauge Finish Nailer all include battery and charger. Sorry for this tangent, but I don't think it the joke is about batteries! After all, none of the SIMPLE tools needs a battery. It's about committing to a brand, in a broader sense. Cuvtixo (talk) 18:21, 30 April 2026 (UTC)
- None of the simple tools needs a battery, no, but the idea of an ecosystem for the types of tools that DeWalt and Milwaukee sell is mostly a thing for battery-operated tools. Though there are certainly accessories for tools that will be brand-specific, and people will have their preferences with the functionality or availability of those, that's not really something that the average person is thinking about when the make the purchase, and there's not generally an interoperability issue, because those accessories don't generally swap between different types of tool. As for purchasing tools with batteries, yes, you can find kits/bundles that include a battery, but the tool is usually also available by itself, and the kit/bundle with the battery is usually going to be a significant price hike. Plus, you don't have the ability to swap batteries between tools - if your drill battery runs down, you can't grab the battery out of the saw that you haven't used much that day - and you need to have both types of charger. 163.116.145.55 19:11, 1 May 2026 (UTC)
- Sorry, no. Many Milwaukee and Black and Decker(etc)tools DO come with batteries and chargers!!! The point is to get the buyers into the "ecosystem", so future purchases that use the same battery system will be more appealing. For this purpose, providing the charger and one battery, at least for the larger, more popular products, makes perfect sense. The more specialized tools, the smaller accessories might not have them, but they are practical purchases once someone already owns a charger and at least one interchangeable battery. For Milwaukee in particular, the M12 FUEL 1/2 Drill Driver, the M18 FUEL Oscillating Multi-Tool, the MX FUEL Backpack Blower and M18 FUEL 15 Gauge Finish Nailer all include battery and charger. Sorry for this tangent, but I don't think it the joke is about batteries! After all, none of the SIMPLE tools needs a battery. It's about committing to a brand, in a broader sense. Cuvtixo (talk) 18:21, 30 April 2026 (UTC)
This is 100% a product he should license and/or sell. It won’t make a million bucks very fast but it will make a million bucks, from science teachers and folks over on IFLS and the like. 138.88.96.2 17:27, 29 April 2026 (UTC)DanT
I edited the reference to Milwaukee Tool and DeWalt; these are American companies and not common household names where I live. 62.112.240.32 (talk) 08:18, 30 April 2026 (UTC) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)
I'm missing something... where's the wheel and axle? Is the idea that the pulley is the wheel and the lever is the axle? But it's oriented the wrong way for that to be the case 2600:4041:5890:3B00:91E6:E7CC:72C:F470 18:32, 30 April 2026 (UTC)
- I think the pulley-wheel is also the axle-wheel, just depending upon how you apply it. Its own axle is attached mid-way down (and perpendicular to) the combined lever-incline bar-piece, along with the wedge-tip on one end and the screw (which already can be basically considered a 'rotary inclined-plane') attachment on the other. 81.179.199.253 20:04, 30 April 2026 (UTC)
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