Arachne at FreeLists---The Arachne Fan Club!
Hi L.D.,
I used a similar technique for removing
the back plate of my waterproof Seiko watch....only
I used a self-curing acrylic plastic applied to the
screw-off back plate to make a plastic spanner
wrench. I applied some lubricant to the back plate,
maybe silicon spray, so that the plastic wrench
wouldn't be permanently attached. The wrench has
worked for the last 20+ years and it doesn't scratch
the watch. I need to remove the back plate periodically
to replace the battery.
Eric
On Wed, 02 Nov 2005 14:02:23 -0500 "L.D. Best" <l.d.best@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
writes:
> Arachne at FreeLists---The Arachne Fan Club!
>
> We've all been there ... a 'most probably very fixable' appliance or
>
> other electronic gadget we want to repair rather than spending $$$$$
> to
> replace, but it requires a screwdriver tip we simply do not have in
> our
> 'previously more than adequate' tool kit.
>
> My youngest shared with me the way to solve this dilema free, or at
> next
> to no cost.
>
> 1. Find a Bic ballpoint pen, the kind with the clear plastic barrel
> and
> nothing fancy about it. (Even if you have to buy one, it should be
> less
> than a buck.)
> 2. Using something other than your teeth, pull the point and
> ink-stick
> out, being careful to preserve the tip of the barrel in pristine
> condition.
> 3. Go to where the 'impossible screw' is, bringing the plastic pen
> barrel and a cigaret lighter (butane is best but other will do) with
> you.
> 4. Gently heat the tip of the pen barrel using the lighter, until
> it
> becomes maliable, quickly but carefully center the pen tip on the
> screw
> head, press the softened plastic into the head and hold in place a
> few
> seconds. If you've done it right, when you pull the pen out you
> will
> have a custom screw driver, even when the tip needs that hollow
> center
> to allow for a pin.
>
> l.d.
>
> P.S. Two other things you should consider collecting and keeping in
>
> that electronics/household toolkit: a butane cigaret lighter, and a
>
> "saphire surface" fingernail file.
>
> I've used one of those fingernail files for everything from cleaning
>
> corroded battery terminals on a military jeep to cleaning sparkplug
> gaps, resurfacing the inside of tweezers, and removing burrs from
> punched holes in computer cases.
Arachne at FreeLists
-- Arachne, The Web Browser/Suite for DOS and Linux --