Derek_Stewart wrote:Should the screws not be tightened in balanced an oposite direction i.e.
1-8-4-5-2-7-3-6
Is a torque wrench required to get the equal torque on each screw.
5 and 8 then 1 and 4, because the back row screws have 4x the thread area than the front row screws. The back end screws snug the case down first then the front screws make it square. 5 and 1 came before 8 and 4 because the long metal backing plate behind the keyboard has less give and more weight than the microdrive end, so again is less liekly to strip out.
The middle four screws are just done as an X, bottom right, top left, bottom left, top right.
When we had this discussion at Sandy, it wasn't decided due to my stripping out that thread but when I did strip that thread, Arnie explained Sinclair's order used at the factory. Arnie had designed plastic moldings before (he designed the Pot Noodle pot) so he was something the expert.
Honestly, I only think I remember it because his pot noodle design was something real world I could relate to.
Or he was totally winding me up. But I thought he was winding me up on racing motorbikes, and it turned out he wasn't.