Comments on: The lowly allen wrench

By: John C. Randolph

John C. Randolph — Sun, 03 Jul 2005 03:56:37 +0000

I’ve got an Anthro Console desk myself, because when I went to MacWorld in 1997, it was the coolest thing I saw on the show floor. After six moves between various homes and offices, I’ve only managed to lose one screw, and crack two of the plastic shelf couplers. (BTW, Anthro was great about sending me replacements. They didn’t even charge me.)

One thing I thought I’d mention… There are two common screw types that look very similar, Phillips-head and Pozidriv. If you use a Pozidriv bit to drive a Phillips screw or vice versa, you’re much more likely to ruin the screw head, since the angle of the bit and the slots it engages won’t match.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screw

-jcr

By: bjh

bjh — Sat, 02 Jul 2005 22:38:49 +0000

Thought the TiBooks used Torx, not Allen; I’m a huge fan of both, though I think Torx is a bit of an improvement, albiet less common. The good Allen wrenches have a ball on the long part of the L that you can use to quickly spin it down, then you can use the solid end and longer lever to tighten it; no ball-end Torx wrenches, though…

By: bbum

bbum — Fri, 01 Jul 2005 15:51:01 +0000

Scott: I have run across a handful of Robertson screws in the US. Mostly on toys. There is also some wonky triangle shaped screw often used in similar contexts (usually, throwawy electronic toys).

SSP: Yeah — my TiBook was a pre-production unit from the first run of TiBooks. It seems that Apple switched between the two a few times throughout the cycle. Maybe it was production vs. refurb? Or different cycles in production? Manufacturing location? Who knows….

Chris: OOOhh…. those desks look awesome. I might have to go for one of the small ones (both for price and size) for the corner of my work room. That is, if I ever get around to cleaning the silly place out (it was the staging area for our move).

By: Chris Ryland

Chris Ryland — Fri, 01 Jul 2005 14:58:27 +0000

Anthro desks are great (used them for years), but I’ve been a recent convert to the Biomorph (www.biomorphdesk.com) line, the Personal desk in particulat. A bit pricey, but the ability to adjust heights dynamically is a real godsend, and the maple plywood finish is the bee’s knees.

By: ssp

ssp — Fri, 01 Jul 2005 12:13:52 +0000

I guess that the biggest user of those screws (called Inbus over here) must be Ikea. Lots of their furniture are assembled using Inbus screws. Probably they aren’t as popular (or around for as long) over in the US as they are in Europe.

My TiBook has philips (which I had to look up, they’re just called ‘cross’ screws over here) holding the bottom plate and most of the inside stuff. Torx screws are only used at the side of the screen and, somewhat strangely at the screws holding the hard drive. So either this wasn’t for demo units only or for some reason I got one of those.

By: Zachery Bir

Zachery Bir — Fri, 01 Jul 2005 11:49:44 +0000

All the new PowerBooks use phillips as well. And we also use Robertson down here. At least, we used them to install the Hardi-backer board beneath the tile in the bathroom. Not terribly common, though, as they include a bit in a box of 100 screws.

By: Scott Anguish

Scott Anguish — Fri, 01 Jul 2005 10:47:38 +0000

hey, in Canada we have three kinds of screwdrivers… flat head, phillips and Robertson (the square drive).. Robertson have been in use in Canada for years..

grips like an allen wrench.. awesome