Rant: A lead inspector called my torque staking 'sloppy' and I had to rethink my whole method

I used to just hit the stake with a center punch and call it good. Been doing that for like 8 years at this shop near DFW. But this new lead guy came over last month and pointed out that my staking was too deep on a set of flap track bolts. He said over-staking can crack the bolt head or mess up the torque reading if someone ever needs to re-torque it. At first I was annoyed because I thought it looked fine. But then he showed me his trick where you only tap the edge with a ball peen hammer just enough to dimple the surface. I tried it on a few practice bolts and the stake held just as good without gouging the metal. Now I feel dumb for doing it wrong for so long but also glad someone finally called me out. Has anyone else gotten a simple criticism that made you change a habit you thought was solid?

3 comments

3 Comments

smith.nancy9d ago

Learned that same lesson the hard way on a set of landing gear bolts last year.

shanef349d ago

Yeah I feel you there, man. Those landing gear bolts are no joke when you mess them up, and just that extra bit of force can turn a simple job into a nightmare real quick. I still catch myself second-guessing my stake depth every time now, especially on anything critical like that.

park.miles9d ago

You mentioned flap track bolts specifically. I gotta ask - how deep were you going before? Like were you hitting it hard enough to mushroom the edge or just leaving a decent divot? I see guys at my shop that go way too deep and it makes me cringe now. I used to be the same way though, center punch and just wail on it. The new guy actually measured his stake depth for me with a caliper one time. Like 0.015 to 0.020 inches max. That really opened my eyes because I was probably going twice that easy.