Warning: I was using the wrong size screwdriver on tiny shutter springs for years

I was working on a Minolta X-700 last Tuesday, trying to reset a sticky shutter. I kept using a 1.4mm flathead on the tiny tension spring, but it kept slipping and scratching the plate. My mentor, who runs a shop in Portland, watched me for a minute and just said, 'You're fighting it. That's a job for a 1.0mm.' I switched tools and the spring settled right in without a mark. Has anyone else stuck with a 'close enough' tool way longer than they should have?

3 comments

3 Comments

rileym942mo ago

My old man used to say a tool that almost fits is still the wrong tool. I see it all the time with people trying to use a Torx T6 when they really need the T5 for laptop screws. They'll strip the head completely, then you're drilling it out. That quarter millimeter makes all the difference between a clean fix and a new part.

coleman.gray2mo ago

Saw my buddy strip a MacBook hinge that way.

rowan6582mo ago

Totally, @rileym94 is right, that tiny size difference ruins everything.