What do washers do?
 

I'm sure you guys see enough silly questions but my dad (who is a contractor) never educated me in the area of tools and mechanics. So what do washers do?

I think they distribute the torque of fasteners mostly....keeps the heads of bolts and stuff from "chewing" into the items they're attached to.

They probably have other uses as well..

Different washers have different purposes. Some, as already posted, are mainly there to protect the underlying surface against the turning nut/bolt. Some are used mainly to distribute the load over a wider surface when working with a compressible material. Then there's a family of locking washers whose job it is to prevent the nut/bolt from unscrewing itself due to vibraation and whatnot. For IG hubs there are anti-rotation washers whose task is to prevent the axle from turning as the gears brace against it. For some pedals, hubs and certain threaded forks there are tabbed washers to isolate the movement of one nut/cone against a locknut. I thing I've seen an Ashtabula crank in that design too. When you get into the outer reaches of the washer territory you can come up against odd beasts as spring washers calibrated to keep a certain tension on the bolt/screw, thin washers doubling as shims, thick washers doubling as spacers and non-metallic washers for electrical insulation or to prevent corrosion between dissimilar metals.

That's what I call a comprehensive reply... in a nutshell, the purpose of a washer depends on the application.

You can often get away without em, but they make life better. Some are crucial.

Thought somebody was going to answer... "the purpose of washers is To Wash"

Bumper sticker 1:
"Not all who wander are lost."

Bumper sticker 2:
"Not all who launder are washed."

So there. Nyahh...

I thought the purpose of washers was to clean.

Next question......why are they even called "washers"?

haha thanks for the replies guys. now i feel a tad bit smarter.

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=washer

...Not very enlightening

and all this time I thought they were only good for cleaning my clothes LOL

That's what the eunuchs are for, Cleopatra.


(I think I want a bumper sticker: "WDWD: What Do Washers Do?". That'll keep 'em guessing!)