Adequacy front page
Stories Diaries Polls Users
Google

Web Adequacy.org
Home About Topics Rejects Abortions
This is an archive site only. It is no longer maintained. You can not post comments. You can not make an account. Your email will not be read. Please read this page if you have questions.
 Hey jin

 Author:  Topic:  Posted:
Sep 23, 2001
 Comments:
'Sup?


       
Tweet

Not much... (5.00 / 1) (#1)
by jin wicked on Sun Sep 23rd, 2001 at 09:33:06 PM PST
Just looking over the instructions on how to dis/reassemble my computer. You?


"Ars longa, vita brevis...Art is long, life is short."

Namuch (5.00 / 1) (#2)
by fluffy grue on Sun Sep 23rd, 2001 at 09:53:16 PM PST
Just being bored.

Sounds like you are too. I recommend you start with a philips-head screwdriver (the kind which looks like a plus sign from the end). You can completely strip it down to a raw case with just that one tool, assuming your computer isn't a Compaq (in which case you'll need one of those godless 6-point Torx bits) or really old (i.e. 386-era or earlier, since many of those actually use flathead screws).

For reassembling, I recommend that you use a 2# ball-peen hammer. Also, get an arc welder (they're very good for making overpriced abstract "art" which you can sell for lots of money).

One "art" idea I've had is to go to Crazy Roger's back alley (Crazy Roger is this guy in town who has a huge warehouse full of old computer crap, and he's always got so much that he's constantly throwing out piles of computers into the back alley) and pick up a bunch of computer cases, then weld them together. I would call it "Repressing the Oppressor," as some sort of nuveau statement about how computers are oppressing us and blah blah blah.

So obviously, nothing terribly exciting is going on in my life right now.
--
meep

I use Philips screwdrivers all the time. (5.00 / 1) (#3)
by jin wicked on Sun Sep 23rd, 2001 at 10:05:06 PM PST
I don't tend to like them much, though, because I greatly prefer electric drills with a Philips bit. At least the drill makes loud noise and can do some actual damage. I've accidentally drilled into my fingertip on multiple occasions... it's esp. fun when you hit a nerve and lose the feeling in your finger for awhile. Plain old screwdrivers aren't good for much, because of the turning motion and the lack of speed, they don't cause much more than a small puncture wound (I guess if you were running with one it might be more dangerous.) I also like band saws, but I'd have to say my favourite is the electric drill.

Anyway, I'm mostly concerned with dying from electrical shock while trying to take this thing apart.


"Ars longa, vita brevis...Art is long, life is short."

I concur (5.00 / 1) (#4)
by fluffy grue on Sun Sep 23rd, 2001 at 10:25:52 PM PST
My favorite screwdriver is that Black and Decker rechargeable-cordless "pivot grip" kind. My dad got me one for Hanukkah last year. (He prefers giving useful, functional gifts.)

I don't like electric drills for anything but drilling. For screwing they tend to end up stripping things, which is Not Good.

I can honestly say I've never hit a nerve while screwing.

Oh, but don't underestimate the damage which can be done by a regular screwdriver. A couple years ago in Albuquerque there was this one kid who fell off a chair while holding a screwdriver and it punctured his heart and killed him. Of course, there was this big long drawn-out trial because the police insisted that his father murdered him in an act of child abuse, blah blah blah, and nobody could believe that it could have possibly been an accident, and I think the father ended up going to jail for child abuse resulting in murder. (I vaguely followed it, since I was visiting my parents while the first part of the trial was going on. Obviously, I believe the father, not the police "experts.")

Band saws scare me.
--
meep

stripping screws (5.00 / 1) (#5)
by jin wicked on Sun Sep 23rd, 2001 at 10:33:33 PM PST
I find it works best if you drill into it until the very, very last bit, and then use the regular hand screwdriver to tighten it. That way the screw head doesn't get stripped. Though I use the electric drill so often, stripping screws isn't really an issue any more. I don't know which one you're talking about; the one I use is one of the big gun-shaped, heavy blue ones with the gigantic battery pack on the bottom. I'm pretty sure it isn't Black & Decker.


"Ars longa, vita brevis...Art is long, life is short."

B&D (5.00 / 1) (#6)
by fluffy grue on Sun Sep 23rd, 2001 at 10:41:56 PM PST
Black and Decker make a number of cordless screwdrivers these days. They used to just make straight ones (which looked like a really thick regular screwdriver), but now they also make them with a "pivot grip" where you can pull a lever and it transmogrifies into a banana shape. They spin slower than a drill, and they're self-locking so you can use them as a regular screwdriver as well (for that last bit). Plus, if you keep it straight and then hold on loosely to it with the same hand that's pushing the 'screw in' button, it'll be self-stopping when it gets to the 'just right' bit between being tight and strippy.

Interesting factoid: Philips heads were originally designed specifically so that the head would strip during machine assembly (the head's metal was supposed to be just soft enough that the bit would gouge it out and turn it into an unremovable bolt). Somewhere along the line, though, people discovered that they were a hell of a lot easier to work with than flatheads, and so they started making the philips heads more durable so they wouldn't strip as easily. (I've managed to accidentally strip plenty of heads in that way, though.)
--
meep

 
Tip (none / 0) (#7)
by Logical Analysis on Mon Sep 24th, 2001 at 09:34:59 PM PST
Anyway, I'm mostly concerned with dying from electrical shock while trying to take this thing apart.

You're supposed to turn it off first.

 
Working' (none / 0) (#8)
by egg troll on Sat Oct 13th, 2001 at 08:04:25 PM PST
Not much. Just at work. Here until 10pm. The joys of tech support.


Posting for the love of the baby Jesus....

 

All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective companies. Comments are owned by the Poster. The Rest ® 2001, 2002, 2003 Adequacy.org. The Adequacy.org name, logo, symbol, and taglines "News for Grown-Ups", "Most Controversial Site on the Internet", "Linux Zealot", and "He just loves Open Source Software", and the RGB color value: D7D7D7 are trademarks of Adequacy.org. No part of this site may be republished or reproduced in whatever form without prior written permission by Adequacy.org and, if and when applicable, prior written permission by the contributing author(s), artist(s), or user(s). Any inquiries are directed to legal@adequacy.org.