What’s the most unusual tool or fixture you ever made?

Many years ago, I was “tasked” with opening up a handheld Nintendo Gameboy.

Bill Schweber, Editor, Planet Analog Designline -- Test & Measurement World, 2/17/2012 5:06:39 PM

Reading the recent column (sorry, blog) from DesignCon about the special type of screwdriver needed to open the latest iPhone (“iFixit blasts Apple for tiny torx screws”) reminded me of a similar incident from my distant past. Many years ago, I was “tasked” with opening up a handheld Nintendo Gameboy.

No big deal, I figured, until I looked closely at the Phillips-like tiny screws used. I say “Phillips-like” because the screw-head had the same conical flare, but with three flutes instead of the four of a conventional Philips screw. I assumed this was done to prevent casual hackers from getting into the box.

What to do? We could have purchased the required screwdriver by mail (I found out later that it was called a TriWing), but that would take a few days to arrive, and we were impatient (and maybe a little cheap, too). Plus, a “real” engineer doesn’t let lack of tools stop him or her, but instead views this as a challenge.

Read the rest of the story on Planet Analog Designlines.