Hey @fionac33, read something once about how shared hometowns make people feel safe right away. Totally makes sense with the Chicago thing... like you skip all the small talk.

Seriously, a different rasp is that big of a deal, @wendy32?

That reminds me of the time a crow stole my entire sandwich at a picnic.

My old shop teacher in high school always said to oil handles every 300 hours of use. That stuck with me because it ties care directly to the work you do, not just some random calendar date. It's the same with anything made of wood or leather, they need maintenance based on how hard you use them, not just when you remember. Letting stuff go until it breaks is always more expensive and annoying than the two minutes of upkeep. Your hammer is a perfect example of that pattern.

That's a really good point about mounting pressure. I've seen people use a torque screwdriver on cooler brackets to get even pressure on all four corners. The difference can be a few degrees just from that. It makes sense that spreading paste could hide a weak spot if one corner of the bracket is loose. So maybe the best method is the one that works with your specific hardware flaws. If your heat spreader is perfect, any paste method works, but real world parts are never perfect. Fixing the pressure first might be the real fix people are finding.