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The Wrong Thread.

I've always found left hand threads very confusing.

Me too...I recently started to work on (small) engines and some basic Clanky engineering for a hobby and encounter them all too frequently. Prior to this hobby, I hardly ever came across them. Been mucking around with engines for over 40 years now and they were a rarity...

If you know the story about "Dead-Eye Dick, the only man with a corkscrew pr.." - Oops, forgot that this was not in "general".
 
Me too...I recently started to work on (small) engines and some basic Clanky engineering for a hobby and encounter them all too frequently. Prior to this hobby, I hardly ever came across them. Been mucking around with engines for over 40 years now and they were a rarity...

They are found on bicycles; the left pedal mounting has a left hand thread and the right pedal has a right hand thread; this is to stop the pedals working loose as one's feet turn them round.

Wikipedia lists the following applications;

Where the rotation of a shaft would cause a conventional right-handed nut to loosen rather than to tighten due to fretting induced precession. Examples include: The left hand pedal on a bicycle.[3]
The left-hand grinding wheel on a bench grinder.
The lug nuts on the left side of some automobiles.
The securing nut on some circular saw blades - the large torque at startup should tend to tighten the nut.

In combination with right-handed threads in turnbuckles and clamping studs.[4]
In some gas supply connections to prevent dangerous misconnections, for example in gas welding the flammable gas supply uses left-handed threads.
In a situation where neither threaded pipe end can be rotated to tighten/loosen the joint, e.g. in traditional heating pipes running through multiple rooms in a building. In such a case, the coupling will have one right-handed and one left-handed thread
In some instances, for example early ballpoint pens, to provide a "secret" method of disassembly.
In mechanisms to give a more intuitive action as: The leadscrew of the cross slide of a lathe to cause the cross slide to move away from the operator when the leadscrew is turned clockwise.
The depth of cut screw of a “Stanley” type metal plane (tool) for the blade to move in the direction of a regulating right hand finger.

Some Edison base lamps and fittings (such as formerly on the New York City Subway) have a left-hand thread to deter theft, since they cannot be used in other light fixtures.
 
Last edited: 15:44

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