5 Jan
2006
5 Jan
'06
8:42 a.m.
On 1/4/06, Tony Duell <ard at p850ug1.demon.co.uk> wrote:
3 items from the Xcellite 99 range (the TX15 bit, the X5 extension and
the 99-1 handle) is not a huge collection of tools. Nor are they
particularly expensive. And others have posted that in the States it's
easy to get a long-shafted TX15 driver (they are very uncommon in the
UK), specifically for opening such machines. I have no idea how much they
cost, but I'll bet it's a lot less than I'd charge for getting those
screws out without damaging the rest of the machine if you did chew up
the heads.
I had always heard that saying refers to a workman with sub-par skills
who is unable to face up to his own deficiencies and finds an external
target on which to lay blame. And the version I heard was, "It's a
poor musician who blames his instrument."
- Mike
On Wed, 4 Jan 2006 00:51:56 +0000 (GMT)
ard at p850ug1.demon.co.uk (Tony Duell) wrote:
I've never had this problem. I don't 'bull' the screw out with
brute force. A common flat-blade screwdriver tip nests tightly
into the torque head and the screws are easily backed out. You
determine 'proper fit' by trying the screwdriver blade in the
easily accessable case-back screws.
Sure, that probabbly is fine 99.999% of the time. But the one time it
doesn't work, and you do mangle the deeply recessed screws is the time
you have real problems trying to get them out.
I have, alas, seen far too many jobs made a lot more difficult by people
using the wrong tool on fasteners. Drilling out screws is not fun at the
best of times, hidden inside the handle of a compact Mac is probably one
of the worst places they could be.
>
I'll say again that I have never had difficulty using an ordinary
long-handle flatblade screwdriver wedged into the TORX screwhead
If you do this and mangle the heads of the screws sufficiently that you
can't turn them with the right tool either, you are going to have one
hell of a job drilling them out.
I never bought a specail tool to open Macs. I
just used the Xcellite
System 99 Torx drivers with the X5 extension. Fits perfectly, and it's in
my normal toolkit.
My point in making my first comment was that not everybody has a
huge collection of tools, and the thread was starting to develop in a way that somebody was going to have to head
out and buy
expensive new tools. It was a 'common sense' post, to make sure
people knew they did NOT have to view their lack of an unusually
long T15 torx screwdriver as a barrier.
'The exact tool' is a nice thing to have, but not all people here
also collect tools.
I don't collect tools (well, not really, although I have been known to
buy some really odd second-hand stuff becuase it looks interesting...), I
do like to use the right tool if it's available.
It is claimed that 'the bad workman blames his tools'. I have always
thoguht that this comes from the fact that the good workman buys good
tools, looks after them, and uses the right tool for the job.
-tony