Parts database4 sub-libraries

Parts

Anything you can buy and fit. A part is identified by a standard and a size — M6 × 30 socket head cap screw, 6205-2RS bearing — so the table that defines it is the thing to store, and every entry here quotes one.

Sub-librariestwo with data, two still being built

2,538 specification pages · 41 standardsFastenersscrews, bolts, nuts, washers and rivets, every dimension taken from its own published standard, in metric and inch series.Open →14 families · 764 bearing sizes · 369 O-ring sizesMechanical PartsBearings, gears, springs, chain and belt drives, shafts, couplings and seals. Bearings are tabulated designation by designation against ISO 15; AS568 O-rings are tabulated dash number by dash number, against two manufacturer tables compared cell by cell. The rest are mapped as a taxonomy, with a dimensioned schematic of one representative designation per family.Open →
PlannedHardwareHinges, brackets and handles are specified by load rating and hole pattern rather than by a dimension table, and that data is not collected yet. No entries are shown rather than shown empty.
PlannedElectrical PartsReserved for the same treatment later. Listed here so the shape of the database is visible, not to imply anything is behind it yet.

Why Parts and Materials are separatethe split this database is built on

A part is specified: it has a standard number, a size and a published dimension table, so a page can list every dimension and be checked against the standard. A material is described: density, strength, corrosion behaviour and typical applications, with no equivalent single table. Filing both under one list — which is what a flat "categories" menu does — means a bush made of bronze sits next to the bronze it is machined from, and neither page can carry the fields the other needs.

So the two modules answer different questions. Materials answers "what should this be made of"; Parts answers "what do I buy to hold it together". Applications is where the two get joined, because that is the only place the question "which of these do I need" is answerable.

Other modules

MaterialsStandardsApplicationsToolsKnowledge