When teaching beginner beekeepers, I suggest that they try to buy all hive components from the same source. Although different manufacturers follow the important basic dimensions of their hive bodies (the boxes we’re all familiar with), any variances can have a significant effect on how bees react and build their pathways when we stack the bodies in a hive. So, as drillers, why does it not matter from which reputable drill string manufacturer we buy and be confident the connections on my drill pipe, subs, and hammers are all compatible?
First, the solution to the compatibility issue was developed (and is continually tweaked) by the American Petroleum Institute, better known as the API. The group maintains standards for Regular (REG), Internal Flush (IF), Full Hole (FH) and Numbered Connections (NC) threads. They set the design of the individual connections and monitor the thread gauges used to verify that the connections are good once they pass the dimensional requirements. Once a thread is machined, it is gauged as a final test.