Difference between revisions of "Talk:1474: Screws"

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"cursed -1 <something>" is definitely a standard NetHack item description format, but it applies to D&D too. In general, "cursed" means you cannot remove the item, and the number is describing the item's effectiveness compared to a standard (+0) version of the item. In this case, both can be appropriate: "cursed" because -as noted- you cannot remove it in the normal way. "-1" probably comes from being unable to tighten the screw far enough to fully satisfy its purpose: maybe the joint is slightly loose, or the head of the screw is left slightly protruding, so that it easily catches on other things.
 
"cursed -1 <something>" is definitely a standard NetHack item description format, but it applies to D&D too. In general, "cursed" means you cannot remove the item, and the number is describing the item's effectiveness compared to a standard (+0) version of the item. In this case, both can be appropriate: "cursed" because -as noted- you cannot remove it in the normal way. "-1" probably comes from being unable to tighten the screw far enough to fully satisfy its purpose: maybe the joint is slightly loose, or the head of the screw is left slightly protruding, so that it easily catches on other things.
 
  [[Special:Contributions/141.101.80.80|141.101.80.80]] 13:28, 16 January 2015 (UTC)
 
  [[Special:Contributions/141.101.80.80|141.101.80.80]] 13:28, 16 January 2015 (UTC)
 +
 +
Rather than two (still) separate fissile hemispheres, that 'gap' is obviously a continuation of material around the back of a schematic cross-section of a whole sphere with a core currently missing.  I think the fissile plug will be inserted/fired at the required juncture to fill this, from the side.  Very like the device in the film The Fifth Protocol, for easy cinematic reference of the concept.  (Noting that 'gun-type' nuclear devices tend to fire the 'enclosing' larger subcritical mass, spheroidal or cylindrical ''onto'' the smaller and fixed 'plug' to fill the gap between it and the surrounding neutron reflector jacket.  For several very good reasons.  Thus that sphere would be shoved onto the currently missing 'core', although it makes the reflector assembly and positioning a bit more complex as well, compared with a cylindrical sleeve.) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.247|141.101.98.247]] 13:49, 16 January 2015 (UTC)

Revision as of 13:49, 16 January 2015

This page is now on the first page of google for "uranium screw". Mrmakeit (talk) 05:31, 16 January 2015 (UTC)


I don't think that patent is the right one, it seems to describe a uranium decontamination procedure, not a screw made of uranium like in the comic. LeoDeQuirm (talk) 05:46, 16 January 2015 (UTC)


I'm pretty sure the "uranium screw" is just a reference to the fact that the head of the screw appears to have split in two ("fissioned"), as opposed to a normal flat head screw that still has the edges connected. Sam887 (talk) 05:50, 16 January 2015 (UTC)

Just a shot in the dark here, but a company that sells uranium ore and radiological equipment happens to also sell screws for one of its Geigers that look just like the screw cross-section in the comic. [1] Conqu2 (talk) 06:01, 16 January 2015 (UTC)

I was wondering if the "uranium screw" was referring to the Demon Core -- two hemispherical domes that Louis Slotin was holding apart with a screwdriver. Then I remembered the Demon Core was plutonium, not uranium. 173.245.48.119 06:49, 16 January 2015 (UTC)

There are ferrous alloys containing (depleted, of course ;-) uranium for "increase[d] toughness and strength". [2] Knob creek (talk) 09:21, 16 January 2015 (UTC)


I think the be was going for apple's pentalobe screw with the 5 ponted star 108.162.238.162 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

I don't think the uranium screws are named for their use in stuff to do with uranium, as I have both seen and used screws that look like that before. It's basically a flat head screw whose divot extends all the way across the face of the screw. I agree more with the previous commentor who notes that the screw looks like it has fissioned. 108.162.237.182 06:34, 16 January 2015 (UTC)


An actual rivet is neither a screw nor a bolt; it's a fastener that is placed and then has one end plastically deformed -- traditionally by a rivet gun, but more often in smaller sizes by some sort of press or clamp. (Pop rivets are hollow, and are deformed by pulling a cone-sheaped wedge into the open end of the hollow core.) There's no way to remove one except to destroy it (drill it out or cut one end off). The item pictured could also be the head of a carriage bolt, but that's no help if you can't get at the other end of the bolt. Randall is slightly pessemistic, though: there *are* some "security" screws and bolts that use a slightly-elliptical domed head that's hard to tell from a rivet; they can be unscrewed, but only with a matching slightly-elliptical socket. 199.27.133.70 06:35, 16 January 2015 (UTC)


All of which can be removed by a sonic screwdriver. Totally a real thing. 173.245.50.86 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)


Could the "cursed -1" be a Nethack reference? I don't know if Dungeons and Dragons has the "blessed/uncursed/cursed" status, but in Nethack cursed items with negative enchantments (denoted "cursed -whatever") are a pretty common occurrence. 199.27.133.25 07:31, 16 January 2015 (UTC)

In Nethack, Cursed objects cannot be removed. Seems appropriate. At first I thought it was a pozidrive screw head. Posts on the fission screw head: where have you seen screws whose divot does *not* extend across the head? 199.27.128.230 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

Kreuiter (talk) 08:03, 16 January 2015 (UTC)from wikipedia: Louis Philippe Joseph d'Orléans (13 April 1747 – 6 November 1793) commonly known as Philippe, was a member of a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon, the ruling dynasty of France. He actively supported the French Revolution and adopted the name Philippe Égalité, but was nonetheless guillotined during the Reign of Terror

I don't think it is specifically a reference to Nethack as a lot of ol games (both video and tabletop) use the mechanic of non removable cursed objects. It is common enough in my opinion that we could argue about until we are blue in the face and get nowhere. 108.162.237.193 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)


uranium screw may be a reference to Louis Slotin, who died when he was using a screw driver to seperate two halves of a plutonium sphere as part of a science demonstration, and triggered a large burst of radiation when his hand slipped. --108.162.216.59 08:28, 16 January 2015 (UTC)

I'm thinking it might benefit the article to include a place in the wikitable for the correct term for each drive socket. Of course their are not correct terms for each of them. Not to mention rivets and Phillip's heads don't even have drive sockets. 173.245.56.189 09:04, 16 January 2015 (UTC)BLuDgeons


If you suggest cursed-1 is because if misuse - I in first place thought of [3] as the cursed one - because Philipps and Pozidriv are slightly incompatible and causes damage. 108.162.254.18 09:09, 16 January 2015 (UTC)

+1, the cursed one looked to me like pozidriv at the first glance, and it's really cursed as interchanging them leads to damage ... And the most fun is when you get some Chinese crap that looks like pozidriv but it doesn't fit so you use philips which doesn't quite fit too but at least it can be inserted and you end up damaging both the driver and the screw :-/ --kavol, 108.162.254.96 10:02, 16 January 2015 (UTC)

Is it really true that Phillips head are 'commonly used in construction'? At least in Europe they were replaced by Pozidriv in the 1990's and these days by Torx. -- Popup (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

Maybe this depends on the quality of the product? If i look around, i find lots of products held together by phillips screws and only a few (usually more hi-tech and expensive) one with torx screws. Knob creek (talk) 09:28, 16 January 2015 (UTC)

er, what do you call "a product"? - If "construction" is mentioned, I imagine things like wooden skeleton of a roof, fastening of windows/doors, self-tapping screws, wallplug screws ... and it's almost 100% pozidriv and torx here in central Europe. ("Almost" accounts for imports by non-european companies.) If I imagine metal constructions, from racks to bridges, hex and inbus (= hex slot) prevail. --kavol, 108.162.254.96 10:02, 16 January 2015 (UTC)
Granted I'm not in the construction trade, and I'm in UK rather than continental Europe, but I have never seen Torx used in construction. In my experience, the majority is Pozi, and the rest is Phillips. --Pudder (talk) 13:06, 16 January 2015 (UTC)

Perhaps a reference to http://xkcd.com/927/ - Standards? 141.101.79.61

Phillips screws have a larger number for larger size, not smaller.

I'm surprised Randall didn't include square/Robertson screws/drivers. Just as bad as hex-recess, but when you actually USE them they are great! Combination Robertson-Phillips are good too but rarer. And do NOT get me started about the untold types of tamper-proof designs... --BigMal // 108.162.216.209 13:06, 16 January 2015 (UTC)

"cursed -1 <something>" is definitely a standard NetHack item description format, but it applies to D&D too. In general, "cursed" means you cannot remove the item, and the number is describing the item's effectiveness compared to a standard (+0) version of the item. In this case, both can be appropriate: "cursed" because -as noted- you cannot remove it in the normal way. "-1" probably comes from being unable to tighten the screw far enough to fully satisfy its purpose: maybe the joint is slightly loose, or the head of the screw is left slightly protruding, so that it easily catches on other things.

141.101.80.80 13:28, 16 January 2015 (UTC)

Rather than two (still) separate fissile hemispheres, that 'gap' is obviously a continuation of material around the back of a schematic cross-section of a whole sphere with a core currently missing. I think the fissile plug will be inserted/fired at the required juncture to fill this, from the side. Very like the device in the film The Fifth Protocol, for easy cinematic reference of the concept. (Noting that 'gun-type' nuclear devices tend to fire the 'enclosing' larger subcritical mass, spheroidal or cylindrical onto the smaller and fixed 'plug' to fill the gap between it and the surrounding neutron reflector jacket. For several very good reasons. Thus that sphere would be shoved onto the currently missing 'core', although it makes the reflector assembly and positioning a bit more complex as well, compared with a cylindrical sleeve.) 141.101.98.247 13:49, 16 January 2015 (UTC)