[ nitpick clarification mode ]
The tool in the pic above actually is an allen wrench, sized to fit the torx screws and it works just fine. I have one that was included with the four 1MB SIMMs for my SE from Memory Plus(?) which came in a clever kit, packaged in a long zip-loc bag, with an antistatic wrist strap, along with the retractor in the picture. The tool in the pic very likely is a clamp, but retractor is the correct terminology for a surgical instrument that acts exactly as this tool does when employed as a Mac cracker. IIRC, a retractor has the same sort of widget as a hemostat, but to hold it open while spreading an incision, as opposed to clamping off a bleeder.
So the Mac Cracking Kit, had a great manual, a nice, single use, grounding strap and a pair of tools that were less than perfectly specified, but worked perfectly well for the procedures in which they were employed. The allen wrench was a very clever design, fitting into the twelve sided torx socket, as a twelve sided socket wrench works perfectly to drive a six sided nut.
Torx stock would be much more expensive and difficult (impossible?) to manufacture inexpensively in that bent T-handle configuration. The inexpensive, malleable "allen" stock (sized to fit the T-15 socket) gives a nice, twisting, cushioning, over-torque protecting action to the tool. Rounded vs. sharp edges notwithstanding, it is a very elegant engineering solution as the replacement for a real T-15 tool.
[ /nitpick clarification mode ]
:beige:
The tool in the pic above actually is an allen wrench, sized to fit the torx screws and it works just fine. I have one that was included with the four 1MB SIMMs for my SE from Memory Plus(?) which came in a clever kit, packaged in a long zip-loc bag, with an antistatic wrist strap, along with the retractor in the picture. The tool in the pic very likely is a clamp, but retractor is the correct terminology for a surgical instrument that acts exactly as this tool does when employed as a Mac cracker. IIRC, a retractor has the same sort of widget as a hemostat, but to hold it open while spreading an incision, as opposed to clamping off a bleeder.
So the Mac Cracking Kit, had a great manual, a nice, single use, grounding strap and a pair of tools that were less than perfectly specified, but worked perfectly well for the procedures in which they were employed. The allen wrench was a very clever design, fitting into the twelve sided torx socket, as a twelve sided socket wrench works perfectly to drive a six sided nut.
Torx stock would be much more expensive and difficult (impossible?) to manufacture inexpensively in that bent T-handle configuration. The inexpensive, malleable "allen" stock (sized to fit the T-15 socket) gives a nice, twisting, cushioning, over-torque protecting action to the tool. Rounded vs. sharp edges notwithstanding, it is a very elegant engineering solution as the replacement for a real T-15 tool.
[ /nitpick clarification mode ]
:beige: