30 May
2005
30 May
'05
12:23 p.m.
But those
modifications were useful in that they improved the machine.
Extra drives, extra connectors, etc sound to be useful. But to replace
a screw just becasue you can't be bothered to get the right tool is not a
useful or nexessary modification.
But in this case the need for the uncommon types of screw has gone away,
you say the required tool is expensive, and it seems that it's hardly used on any machines (although it would probably be
justified if the
person was an IBM collector)
THen please let an IBM collector restore this machine. Don't make it less
original than it has to be.
Given that it's also a common machine, it'd
seem more sensible to me to
spend the money that would have gone on buying the tool on other aspects
of preservation instead. If I were coming across a flood of machines
needing this particular tool then it'd be a different matter, of course.
Well, you never know when you might need it again (and surely there's at
least one Flexowriter at BP that will need repair sometime?). I never
object to spending money on tools (even though I have little money
now...). And I never object to buying good tools, they will hopefully
outlast me.
Luckily computers don't seem to make much use of
the type of bolt that
has the splines on the outside of the head... (I've got a set for car
work, but those weren't at all cheap when I got them)
I just pray you never get to work on a Feret. That thing is full of
System Zero screws which are similar to the reverse-torx, but not
compatible (and, indeed, designed to be difficult to remove with things
like Mole Grips). Yes I do have the right tools -- I bought them to work
on my Feret.
-tony