Ah... well that's a completely different story! Gears are an art form.... I'm sure your friend checked the torque based on his years of experience by way of "feel". The torque method is there for guys like us who don't do gears all the time.

Its kind of like re-packing hub bearings on a vehicle... it takes some experience to learn the proper "feel" when tightening up the assembly.

I wouldn't ever advise an inexperienced person to set pinion bearing preload by feel. But someone who's very experienced is a different story.