Screwed

When I was in junior high, I carried around a screw in the front pocket of my corduroys. I’d occasionally pull it out, open my hand to display it to an attractive person, and ask, “Wanna screw?” I’ll leave it up to you to decide whether this behavior made me a comedic prodigy or signaled that I had a screw loose. But one thing is for sure. I was selling the wrong screw. Ironically, the one I should have focused on is called a precision ball screw. And not just because that name offers even more comedic potential. “It’s a spiral carved into metal, attached to a mechanism that might not look out of place in a junk drawer. Almost no one outside a small, obsessive community of machinists and engineers has ever heard of it. But this humble component, called a precision ball screw, is essential to producing Patriot missiles, airplanes and humanoid robots … [and they] are in short supply, adding months or even years to the time it takes to make a missile.” NYT (Gift Article): This Screw Is Needed for Missiles and Planes. Buying One Can Take Years. “Ball screws, which contain recirculating balls that reduce friction, turn rotary motion into linear motion, like a corkscrew. Those made for common industrial purposes, such as those used in electric power-steering systems in cars, don’t need to be as precise. They are relatively easy to get. But the ones that go into missiles often take a year to produce and can cost more than $1,000 apiece.” (If I had used precision ball screws in my offer, someone may have actually said yes…)