"The only other thing I still wonder about is the propensity for the media to be affected from being in direct contact with the locking screw."
I've puzzled over that too, but at least from what I can tell it does not. I just very gently pull the media under the screw head and tighten it. I've never noticed it get over tensioned at all. I suspect that due to the smoothness of the surface of the media that it has little proclivity to be grabbed by the bottom of the screw head. Or, maybe the side against the fixture grabs enough to cancel out the influence of the screw head. However, I don't think a washer could hurt in the slightest, and may even preclude the possibility of additional tensioning due to tightening the screw.
I've spoken with Mr. EOU about how tension influences the readings and was informed that unless it is excessive tension should have little effect. That said, optimal tension is 100g.
"I bet no one would pull the media around the other side of the screw and expect it to stay tensioned, right? It seems like the same thing to me."
Well, start watching this @ 3:30:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUasWd9mUUQ
"Since I couldn't get all my thumbs to fit around the media and the anchor screw of the TMF, I was using a hemostat to hold the media."
! Wow! That sounds like a pain the the butt.
The 45° angle of screw works great! Super easy to grab onto and just as easy to slip the media under after only unscrewing the screw by 1/4 of a turn or so. I can literally do it in a second or two. It's super fast. You could probably do it with only stumps for hands. With the screw at the angle, you can see how the media does not have to be pressed against the fixture at all to get it under the screw. Just pull the end of the media down at an angle away from the fixture and tighten the screw. Like I said, I suspect my cat could do it and he has paws for hands.
If you want to do it, look carefully at the pics I posted. The screw must be just to the side of the top mortise, and the head of the screw must be wide enough to go over corner the mortise. I flattened the edge just a bit so the media presses against a flat surface rather than a sharp corner.
Just make sure the fixture is very securely positioned in a vice to drill the 45° hole for the stud.
If you use a screw rather than a stud with a threaded head as I did, when the screw is tightened the media is grabbed by the threads of the screw and sucked into the hole. This causes problems. If you go the screw route, bore a slightly larger hole at the top of the hole for the screw. If you check out your current fixture you will see that oversized bore at the top of the hole for the screw. If you use a stud with a nut rather than a screw that step is not necessary.
While this simple mod worked extremely well for me, I'm not recommending anyone do it without carefully reading and understanding the possible contraindications mentioned previously in this thread.
I've puzzled over that too, but at least from what I can tell it does not. I just very gently pull the media under the screw head and tighten it. I've never noticed it get over tensioned at all. I suspect that due to the smoothness of the surface of the media that it has little proclivity to be grabbed by the bottom of the screw head. Or, maybe the side against the fixture grabs enough to cancel out the influence of the screw head. However, I don't think a washer could hurt in the slightest, and may even preclude the possibility of additional tensioning due to tightening the screw.
I've spoken with Mr. EOU about how tension influences the readings and was informed that unless it is excessive tension should have little effect. That said, optimal tension is 100g.
"I bet no one would pull the media around the other side of the screw and expect it to stay tensioned, right? It seems like the same thing to me."
Well, start watching this @ 3:30:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUasWd9mUUQ
"Since I couldn't get all my thumbs to fit around the media and the anchor screw of the TMF, I was using a hemostat to hold the media."
! Wow! That sounds like a pain the the butt. The 45° angle of screw works great! Super easy to grab onto and just as easy to slip the media under after only unscrewing the screw by 1/4 of a turn or so. I can literally do it in a second or two. It's super fast. You could probably do it with only stumps for hands. With the screw at the angle, you can see how the media does not have to be pressed against the fixture at all to get it under the screw. Just pull the end of the media down at an angle away from the fixture and tighten the screw. Like I said, I suspect my cat could do it and he has paws for hands.
If you want to do it, look carefully at the pics I posted. The screw must be just to the side of the top mortise, and the head of the screw must be wide enough to go over corner the mortise. I flattened the edge just a bit so the media presses against a flat surface rather than a sharp corner.
Just make sure the fixture is very securely positioned in a vice to drill the 45° hole for the stud.
If you use a screw rather than a stud with a threaded head as I did, when the screw is tightened the media is grabbed by the threads of the screw and sucked into the hole. This causes problems. If you go the screw route, bore a slightly larger hole at the top of the hole for the screw. If you check out your current fixture you will see that oversized bore at the top of the hole for the screw. If you use a stud with a nut rather than a screw that step is not necessary.
While this simple mod worked extremely well for me, I'm not recommending anyone do it without carefully reading and understanding the possible contraindications mentioned previously in this thread.