There should be a special place in hell................

There should be a special place in hell reserved for whoever it was invented
the cotter pin ( a Mr. Cotter probably). Right alongside that one should be
a series of additional places reserved for engineers and designers who use
them in particularly hard-to-get-to locations. Also there should be even
more places for the people who re-use them until they are so deformed they
are impossible to remove without hammering and pulling with pliers - which
is impossible because of those bastards who put them in those hard-to-get-to
locations in the first place.

 

So what's your solution then? You've obviously got one or you wouldn't
be complaining.

 

A thread on the end of the shaft and locknut would be a better replacement
for most of these nasty little things. A realisation that sooner or later
someone is going to have to disamantle it for every designer/engineer and a
nice mixed bag of different sized new pins for the people who have no choice
but to work with them.

 

Do you mean split pins?

 

Are you referring to the humble split pin, perchance? Cotter pins are an
entirely different animal.
--
Dave

GS850x2 XS650

On UKRM you're just a **** with opinions.

 

He's prolly a Septic:
http://www.bartleby.com/61/imagepages/A4cotpin.html

 

Here's another Yank who knows what a cotter pin is:
http://sheldonbrown.com/cotters.html

Split pins can be replaced by R clips.

Cotter pins only come in one size - the wrong size.

 

The Greatest Invention Known To Man, is your humble R clip.

AOL. From the very first day I could wield a hammer, I knew the devilish
device that is the cotter pin.
--
Dave

GS850x2 XS650

On UKRM you're just a **** with opinions.

 

Sheldon is fucking cool, a rarity amongst Septics.

 

I am referring to nasty horrible bastard split pins, also commonly referred
to these days as cotter pins (maybe "wrongly" but language is constantly
eveolving). I was a bit doubtful about referring to split pins as cotter
pins. I have recently seen split pins on sale described as cotter pins
However, I seemed vaguely to remember cotter pins being those half tapered
bolts such as those used to keep the pedal cranks of pedal cycles in
place(?). So to make sure, I googled for it. When I googled for "cotter
pin" (google images) I got loads of pictures of split pins.
e.g. http://www.engineersedge.com/cotter_pin.htm
Even if I restrict it to uk sites I still get pictures of split pins. The
third hit for cotter pin uk (normal google) is
http://www.roymech.co.uk/Useful_Tables/Circlips/Split_Cotter_Pins.html
Whilst among the hits for cotter pin uk (google images) is
http://makeashorterlink.com/?Y5EF62B4C

On the other hand, If I google for "split pin", the very first hit says
"Cotter Pins - In stock" (try it).
It looks like the term is now quite widely used for split pins.

 

Good thinking - I will go and buy a good assortment.

 

Concise Oxford Dictionary is about as English as it gets - NB definition 2:
Cotter pin:
noun
1. a metal pin used to fasten two parts of a mechanism together.
2. a split pin that is opened out after being passed through a hole.

 

On Sun, 11 Dec 2005 19:01:28 -0000, "TMack"

[cotter pins]

Bollocks is it. Not by any engineer or motor factor I know. However,
you refer to the term 'split cotter pin' which is probably the full
name for the humble split pin - there arises the confusion. The Yanks
prolly have a completely different term for yer actual cotter pin and
therefore do not need to differentiate.

The thing is, a cotter pin AIUI is a tapered or parallel retaining
pin, manufactured to fit in a (frequently sliding or pivoting) joint.
A split pin retains the cotter pin and is protected from rotational or
shear stress by placement of a washer between it and the joint.

Hell of a difference between a split pin and a cotter pin, therefore.
I'd agree that a cotter pin can be an absolute twat to remove - but
split pins are a piece of piss to a bodgineer like me, equipped as I
am with an enormous variety of pliers, old screwdrivers, hooky things
and bent drifts.

A better-filled, battered toolbox is what you need. And patience,
that's useful too. Studying the problem while having a fag helps.
Lots.

 

R pin.

 

The higgerant public at large and the rampant diy culture are
responsible for that. Cotter pins and split pins are, and remain,
different, and glad I am of it.
--
Dave

GS850x2 XS650

On UKRM you're just a **** with opinions.

 

The good people of the Hoxford Henglish Dickshunary are not Hengineers.
We do not need them telling us what is and isn't a Cotter Pin. We
already know.
--
Dave

GS850x2 XS650

On UKRM you're just a **** with opinions.

 

But unfortunately it is NOW thus used by many who you are not aquainted with
and also by the Concise Oxford dictionary . Language is evolving and not
always in directions we like.

SNIP!

Which is all very well if there is any space to wield said pliers etc.
However, the sodding thing I was working on was embeddded in rust in a
recess that would allow almost no intrusion of tools of any kind and
required a position that would be the envy of many yoga practitioners just
to get at it. I eventually removed it by liberal use of plusgas and a
masonry nail. Having managed to more or less straighten the very bent and
contorted ends and after applying the plusgas I hammered the masonory nail
through the eye and then levered it out at about 0.01mm a go. A worthy
bodge in the circumstances but I have many more enjoyable half hours.

 

The good people of the OED didn't need telling.
The problem is with the current tossers who think their job is to record
and legitimize usage, no matter how inaccurate.
Hence my old Shorter OED doesn't call a splitpin a cotter but does
mention that a cotter is wedge shaped.

 

It must be quite old then - my Concise Oxford is 10 years old and has the
above definition. I am sure that the original cotter was the wedge-shaped
pin but language changes. For example, "sprocket" was originally a term for
a piece of timber in a frame. I'm sure many purists objected when it was
used to describe the toothed wheel that engages with a chain. "Gay" has an
entirely different meaning now than it did 20 years ago. "Nice" has changed
its meaning more than once over time i.e. stupid > fastidious > pleasant.
You can't stand in the way of progress.....................

 

Right.
To settle it once and for all.
According to Machinery's Handbook - Twentieth Edition :
On Page 1141 there are dimensions for "American Standard Cotter Pins"
which are yer basic, common or garden split pin.

Dave
(Design Engineer)