Why do power drills have R and L?

[Rod Speed]

But C and A arent going to work very well for many.

[Commander Kinsey]

Fuck you, it was on Ebay. I have never seen one in person.

[Commander Kinsey]

An arrow towards the front and back of the drill would make more sense, indicating the direction. The drill does not go left and right, it drills into or out of the workpiece.

[Commander Kinsey]

Why not a tumble drier?

[rbowman]

One of the things in the mandated senility check when I go for my annual is to draw a clock face at a particular time. I've told the nurse that pretty soon she's just going to get a blank stare.

[rbowman]

Does 'millenium' suggest any particular birth date to you? They came after the Karen generation, aka X.

[Mr Pounder Esquire]

+1

[Dave Plowman (News]

Just looked at one to hand. Lidl. Has an arrow pointing forwards on one, backwards on the other. Never really noticed before. Most would see if the was running in the wrong direction for the task in hand and just reverse that.

[NY]

Except those which aren't - like (IIRC) the fittings on bottles of propane and butane etc. The nuts on those fitting have a notch cut in each face to remind the fitter that this is a "left-hand thread".

I suppose the use of "R" and "L" works on the assumption that "everyone knows" it relates to the top of the screw/drill: if the top moves towards the right (and the bottom moves towards the left) then the screw/drill is turning clockwise (*). Likewise for a car steering wheel: you turn it clockwise (so the *top* of the wheel moves to the right) to turn right.

(*) As seen looking conventionally *towards* the object that it is screwing into. That's another convention!

[The Natural Philosopher]

As opposed to the tiller on a boat or the pedals/rudderbar on an aeroplane...

[ARW]

Most?

I wish.

Have one of my apprentices for a day. Feel free to dry bum f*ck him but please do not ask him to perform a simple work related task.

[NY]

True, but both of those operate at the back of the boat/plane so have to move in the opposite sense - as seen from above, the shaft of the rudder flap has to move anti-clockwise to make the boat/plane turn right (starboard). It's the same as for a road vehicle (eg dumper truck) that has rear-wheel steering.

If the rudder flap was at the front (in the direction of travel) then it would move clockwise and to the same side as you wanted the boat/plane to turn.

Was there a good reason why rudders on ships were always at the back rather than the front, or was it a case that long ago it was easier to design a ship with the rudder at the back and all subsequent designs have followed that initial trend which was then used for planes as well.

[rbowman]

Chrysler used left handed lug nuts on one side of the car. The studs usually had a 'L' stamped on the end. It was easy to read after you snapped it off going the wrong way.

There is an explanation about the direction of wheel rotation loosening the nuts that probably goes back to a single spindle nut holding the wheel on. Other manufacturers used them but Chrysler was the last holdout on passenger cars afaik.

[Mark Lloyd]

I looked at 3 drills, no R and L. All 3 had arrows. R and L sound like a really bad idea.

[Mark Lloyd]

[snip]

For a drill, it's in and out. However, drills are often used as screwdrivers (with a different bit). R and L are still wrong for that.

To push it left, you're pushing on the RIGHT side.

[Mark Lloyd]

[snip]

Those words are becoming less useful, now that more people don't use analog clocks.

I often do use "right" and "left" that way, although it IS ambiguous (PART is going right and an equal part is going left).

Also, I have 3 drills. All are marked with arrows, no R and L.

[The Natural Philosopher]

The layout of a plane is to have the engine in front so it doesnt crush you in a crash

The stability criteria are not satisfied by having tailplanes at the front. Think throwing a dart backwards.

Birds naturally evolved that way and planes mostly copied then

I imagine its similar for boats

[Mark Lloyd]

[snip]

I really prefer to look at a digital clock, and do my own fuzzing (converting exact to approximate). It's faster.

If your imagination is limited.

[Mark Lloyd]

I think the triangle is an alert. The other could mean "machine wash".

Also, the sign for parking used to be E (could be 2 parking places). It must have been too confusing, so that was changed to P.

[Sam E]

People expect you to be primarily verbal, and don't care if you're not. It is NOT the direction of rotation, but which side of the lever to push (like they were buttons).

"push the lever left" is the wrong way to say it. It's "push the RIGHT side of the lever".