Some many years ago, our Society of Mechanical Engineers decided they wanted to stop all the cross talk with their Japanese counterparts, so, they manufactured a super tiny hex head, taper shank machine screw, so small, it looked like a sliver of metal to the naked eye. They sent to to the Japanese, with a sarcastic note, "THIS is the level of our technology, gleaned from decades of excellence".
They were quite surprised when, in just three days, their sliver came back, with a note to use a microscope and view the threaded end of the screw they sent. Also included was a bent piece of stainless steel.
Under the microscope, the Americans found, threaded into the shank of their screw, an Allen head, wasted shank, rolled thread bolt. Just then, a communication was received from their Japanese friends.
There were specifications on the sheet, along with stress specs, and other interesting things about the bolt.
The main thing was, the text that was included.
It went very close to this:
"Dear Sirs,
Please find that we have counter bored the threaded end of your screw, and inserted an Allen bolt. Our bolt conforms to these specifications.
(It then gave the specs for the tensile strength, threads, torque it was installed with, all the particulars. The rest of the text goes something like this):
Please note, we have also included the correct Allen wrench for easy removal and installation. THIS IS THE LEVEL OF OUR TECHNOLOGY".
As I said, the Japanese bolt was so small, it took a microscope to find it inserted into the threaded end of the screw.
Not much more was ever said about the Japanese not being able to make stuff for themselves, not make good quality stuff.
BTW, anyone ever see a Conley V8 up close and in person, RUNNING?
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