Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!iuvax!silver!commgrp
From: commgrp@silver.bacs.indiana.edu
Newsgroups: sci.electronics
Subject: Re: What is this tool called?
Message-ID: <7200041@silver>
Date: 13 Nov 89 15:12:00 GMT
References: <6434@merlin.usc.edu>
Organization: Indiana University CSCI, Bloomington
Lines: 27
Nf-ID: #R:merlin.usc.edu:-643400:silver:7200041:000:1166
Nf-From: silver.bacs.indiana.edu!commgrp    Nov 13 10:12:00 1989




>Does anyone know what "screw driver" is used to remove screws that 
>have a six pointed star in the head?  I'm running across these funny 
>screws in equipment lately (like a Compaq I was working on).  Some 
>just have the "star" while others have a "star" with a small 
>protrusion in the middle.

>Cliff Yamamoto

TORX tools with the hole in the end are called "Security Torx."  They 
are needed for the "tamperproof" screws found, for example, in Compaqs 
and IBM PC power supplies.  I have a set bought at a non-chain 
hardware store, made by Vermont American Tool Co./P.O. Box 
340/Lincolnton NC 28093-0340  ph: (704) 735-7464.  They are also 
available from J.C. Whitney Auto Parts of Chicago, and I've found good 
selections of them at flea markets for 50 cents each.  They are 
specified by a number which increases with the size of the wrench: T-
20 is larger than T-10.  Most of the ones found in computers are T-15; 
the tiny T-7's needed for some hard-disk drives are hard to find.  
BTW, the center tits in small tamperproof Torx screws are brittle and 
easily broken off with a small punch.

--

Frank Reid     W9MKV     reid@gold.bacs.indiana.edu