Another Static Electricity Question...

[Daedalus]

Static is a quite legitimate issue alright! Though I often don't use a wrist strap. When you say the components are the same potential as the casing, I take it you understand we're talking about the metal casing, and that clipping yourself to the plastic case of an Amiga 500 or 1200 won't do any good at all. The amount of static present on your body is down to a wide variety of factors - the clothes you wear, the climate you live in, your shoes, the floor and desk materials, and so on. Such high voltages exist that they can easily damage components by flowing through them to ground. Strapping yourself to the casing whether it's connected to ground or not will decrease the risk of damage as you and the case are both then at the same potential, meaning very little charge can move through your parts. But really you should be grounded to a proper ground as well, whether through the mains lead of the computer or through a special grounding plug.

[Daedalus]

Static is serious...but..only if you are handling devices that are not "buffered", since tri-state buffering 99% of IC's arent "that" static sensitive.

Just make sure you keep the IC's in tin foil wrapped polystyrene or proper anti-static bags or conductive foam. Handle with care and ground the chip on the case or keep it in-socket and all will be well.

There is really, No need for straps or other crazy mats or stuff. Your more likely to break the pins or bend them the wrong way, because your wrist strap snags on a case

If you ground the chip on the case, then touch the pins with your fingers you can still destroy it. What good is grounding the chip? The chip isn't where the static is, you are! And tri-state outputs are still semiconductor driven, and can still break down very quickly when their maximum voltage is exceeded. And static is well beyond their rated maximum.

To answer the other question, if you and the case are at the same potential, i.e. you're connected to the case with a strap, then the static is not going to be a problem unless the chip or whatever comes near to contact with an actual ground while you're touching it - which is probably unlikely. It greatly reduces the risk, but to be sure you're still better off having the case and yourself grounded.