Kitchen Table Gunsmithing Hazards

I have done some work on the kitchen table. Only took 1 scratch on an heirloom table before the wife demanded I get a real workbench.

That has the look of a piece of a spring that was trimmed off during a "tuning" session (except that's a LOT of turns). I have done such things to get an AR to eject brass to where I wanted it to go.

Tim

To me, that looks like a spring broken off at both ends, or something from one of those Indian "gunmakers".

have one not unlike that I'm still looking for ... wish I were so lucky ... lol

Worked on a Ford lately? Those seem to go back together well enough with spare parts remaining on the bench.

On a more serious note, we all move around and potentially bring in debris like tiny springs on our shoes. How sure are you that the spring came out of a gun you have recently worked on?

Probably not a bad idea. A gunsmith I worked for said you aren't a real gunsmith unless you spend at least half the time you spend smithing on your knees with a flashlight and magnet.......

Once you find which spring is missing, don't replace it with that one. Order the right one.

wiscoaster said:

"... is when you mop the kitchen floor..."

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Spring-schming!

You started a thread on THR essentially about mopping your kitchen floor.

Todd.

wiscoaster said:

did i get away with it????

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Clearly you did.

Most of us are focussed on not wanting that particular spin in ANY gun. Those ends are a nightmare.

Todd.

The important part is you found the quarter. It will buy you another primer. The spring's absence from a firearm will make itself known at just the wrong time. Happened to me too.

Im still missing a 1911 recoil spring plug. Fingered i would find it when i rearranged my gun room.

When my wife sees me looking for something she usually picks the part up and asks if I'm looking for this.

If I can remember and am not to lazy, I try to work in a large clear plastic bag for the small stuff! Had a lot of stuff go flying and try to heard where it hits. Alas I have small springs and such that have flown into another dimension, never to be found.

My hack would be to get in the shower and close the drain, much smaller area and the parts will stand out better.

wiscoaster said:

One hazard of "kitchen table gunsmithing" is when you mop the kitchen floor and find one of these tiny little guys left on the clean floor:

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OOOPS!!

Now where the heck did THAT come from!?!? None of my guns are non-functional after cleaning!?!?

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herrwalther said:

I have done some work on the kitchen table. Only took 1 scratch on an heirloom table before the wife demanded I get a real workbench.

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i'd rather be working on the kitchen table myself. but the Mrs., will not allow that. so i am relegated to the basement, with old tongue and groove wooden floors, that the joints have shrunk, due to the floors being over 160 years old.

talk about being super careful NOT to let something fall on those floors!!!!!!!!

buddyd157 said:

i'd rather be working on the kitchen table myself. but the Mrs., will not allow that. so i am relegated to the basement, with old tongue and groove wooden floors, that the joints have shrunk, due to the floors being over 160 years old.

talk about being super careful NOT to let something fall on those floors!!!!!!!!

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Seal the floor and let the sealer fill the cracks. Problem solved... and it’s easier to clean.

ApacheCoTodd said:

Spring-schming!

You started a thread on THR essentially about mopping your kitchen floor.

Todd.

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Don’t let Gunny know...

It did not take me long to move into my garage, out of my wife’s house. Then I built my shop. I enjoy harmony in my home life.
I also bought one of those wheeled, rolling magnets to sweep my shop floor. Works great to find steel that you want and do not want.

Decades ago, when I was repairing copiers and fax machines, we called those bush parts. As in, if the machine is working without the part, then throw it in the bushes when you leave.

Bronco72 said:

If I can remember and am not to lazy, I try to work in a large clear plastic bag for the small stuff! Had a lot of stuff go flying and try to heard where it hits. Alas I have small springs and such that have flown into another dimension, never to be found.

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Unbagged some parts this afternoon enclosed in a large, clear plastic bag. I saved the bag against just such a need. My house is *way* too cluttered to easily find those danged wild springs!

In all the armorer classes I've gone to for work they call it the "armorer's crawl" when you look for springs. The Colt class instructor would tell you don't bother looking for the detent and spring for the front takedown pin, just come and get a new one from the parts bin.

WestKentucky said:

Seal the floor and let the sealer fill the cracks. Problem solved... and it’s easier to clean.

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these are not ordinary wooden floor cracks, these are rather wide spaces between the floor boards (tongue and groove boards) of a 160 year old house. it would be too expensive for crack fill liquid, and well over the moon expensive for new flooring.