Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!wuarchive!gem.mps.ohio-state.edu!samsung!aplcen!haven!adm!cmcl2!phri!roy From: roy@phri.UUCP (Roy Smith) Newsgroups: sci.electronics Subject: Re: What is this tool called? Keywords: screws, star pattern, tools Message-ID: <4119@phri.UUCP> Date: 14 Nov 89 04:08:50 GMT References: <6434@merlin.usc.edu> Reply-To: roy@phri.UUCP (Roy Smith) Distribution: usa Organization: Public Health Research Institute, NYC, NY Lines: 36 In <6434@merlin.usc.edu> cyamamot@girtab.usc.edu (Cliff Yamamoto) writes: > Does anyone know what "screw driver" is used to remove screws that have > a six pointed star in the head? [...] These screws look like you can > torx them up pretty well considering the way the "star" pattern is made. Either this guy is pulling our collective leg or he inadvertantly stumbled onto a pun. The odds are that what you have is indeed a "TORX" (trademark of TEXTRON) head screw. These are used, for example, to hold the Mac Plus and SE cases together. They are fairly common in the automotive industry; they were designed to be machine driven, whch means that not only can they take quite a bit of torque before deforming, but also that an automated driver will tend to center and seat itself without skipping all over the place. The first place I saw them was holding the bezel onto a Tektronix o'scope. Any serious hardware store should have TORX drivers, although your average place on the corner may not. I got a set of four (sizes T15, T20, T25, and T30) which should fit most screws you're likely to find, Stanley part number 64-557. Unfortunately, the shafts are not long enough to reach the top 2 screws on a Mac case! In the unlikely event that it turns out not to be TORX, you could have either plain Allen-head screws (not likely since you said you see a star patten; Allens are just hexagonal insets) or rather rare Bristol head screws. I'd be stunned, however, if Compaq was using Bristols. I think I've seen one Bristol screw in a piece of equipment in my life. Bristols look sort of like TORX, but I think the points on the star stick out more. In an emergency (i.e. you don't care what you do to either the screw or the tool, and are willing to risk angering the Tool Gods) you can usually manage to get either a TORX or a Bristol off with one or another size of Allen wrench. -- Roy Smith, Public Health Research Institute 455 First Avenue, New York, NY 10016 {att,philabs,cmcl2,rutgers,hombre}!phri!roy -or- roy@alanine.phri.nyu.edu "The connector is the network"