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Smartbolt shows you when it's tight enough
This world is getting so techno-advanced, now even the lowly bolt is getting into the act. Behold the Smartbolt, fitted with a tiny indicator disk on top that shows you just how tight it is. There's nothing electronic about it — it's a visual tension indicator that starts out red and turns more black as you tighten it. There's a more-precise version that goes from yellow to green when 90% tight, turning black at 100%.
This is a useful invention, showing you the actual tightness of a bolt rather than relying on a torque wrench's measurements, which can be off by as much as 30%. Plus, you can tell if you're just too much of a wimp to tighten that bolt the whole way. Reassuring stuff. Now we need Phillips-head screws that can do this trick, too.
Smartbolts, via Red Ferret
By Nick Post at 4:16 PM ON 12/05/08
Besides these would be crazy expensive and having less metal would make the bolt weaker, what if the sun was shining on the LED?
By courtney2018 at 4:41 PM ON 12/05/08
I don't know what torque wrenches you've been using, but I don't have any trouble with mine. I get them calibrated once a year and they're dead on. This whole thing with the color disc on top of the bolt is stupid. Cute concept though. Buy a quality torque wrench instead and dump the one you bought at Harbor Frieght.
By murc at 6:37 PM ON 12/05/08
I gave this a one star...because its just plain dumb.
By Boneless at 11:03 PM ON 12/05/08
@Nick - there is no LED. No electronics. They said so in the article.
@Murc - I could see this being quite useful on larger bolts, like they use on bridges and large structures. It would make it easy for the inspectors to come along later and make sure all the bolts were torqued properly.
By VeryLiberating.com at 11:44 AM ON 12/06/08
Philips head...? Clearly the Robertson is a superior product. :)
By Yogurt at 2:44 PM ON 12/06/08
I love how we can bolts that have indicators to show us how to tighten them but don't bother to show us what size wrench they take.
If we have the technology to make color changing bolts for those who need a tightening guide, shouldn't we make those same bolts have a size guide?
Is it really that difficult to stamp the head with 1/2 if it's standard or 12 if it's metric? Awesome product otherwise but I hope the price stays fairly reasonable, otherwise a good torque wrench may be well worth it.
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Yogurt:
I love how we can bolts that have indicators to show us how to tighten them but don't bother to show us what size w...More »