Shop tips

[pumpguy]

I tumble lube all my boolits. I got tired of smelling like LLA for 3 days after I stood the boolits up to dry. I tried using some cheap latex gloves, but, the LLA and mineral spirits I use to thin it turned the gloves to mush. I went to the rx department at Sams and bought a box of nitrile gloves for less than $10.00. Now I wear them for everything from cleaning guns to changing oil. It wasn't too long ago that these gloves were about $2.00 a pair and only available at industrial supply houses.

[Ricochet]

I quit standing the bullets up to dry. Works just as well to spread 'em out on a sheet as they fall.

[Cayoot]

Works just as well to spread 'em out on a sheet as they fall.

I think that this is especially true if you apply LLA twice (as in two coats).

Still, they do look cool standing up

[Calamity Jake]

I use tweezers and stand them up on wax paper.

[Molly]

...I went to the rx department at Sams and bought a box of nitrile gloves for less than $10.00. Now I wear them for everything from cleaning guns to changing oil. ...

I'll double this in spades, and add that the nitrile (no other kind) gloves are also great protection from solvents, like lighter fluid, paint thinner,gasoline and a host of other unpleasant chemicals like caustic bluing tanks and easy-off oven cleaner. As a chemist, I KNOW. I keep them on hand at all times.

Molly

[missionary5155]

Another handy item is a magnifier visor... several companies make them... about 3-5 power is great for those little parts..places..special honing jobs... I used mine today for a solder and honing job on a indexing pawl on a Colt

[Crash_Corrigan]

They work for me....keep the data on a piece of tape attached to the lid. After lubing and sizing I roll 'em in a bath of corn starch to keep them clean and non sticky.

Was having a problem with lubed boolits in hot weather getting sticky and messing up my dies. Not to mention my hands got messed up while running the Dillon press....that red lube sticks to everything. Corn starch works....cheap and availlable....keep a sifter made from a hardwood frame with plastic screening tacked on bottom to sift excess media from dusted boolits and save excess starch for next time. Did I mention I was cheap?

Then they go back into a CB can until assembly into a round. The CB cans stack well and when full of boolits weigh upwards of 30 pounds. As a result one side of my reloading area has a wooden rack that is tilted a mite to the rear to hold the cans. The rack is on the floor with a 2x4 on the bottom which maintains the required angle away from the wall. I have 10 cans in a tower and 8 cans across.

I keep my brass cleaned and uncleaned, boolits lubed and just cast, recovered range lead and loaded rounds all in CB cans. There they are kept clean and ready when needed for further processing or shooting.

I just got some (3) 40 MM Grenade ammo cans from Midway on sale. Eight bucks apiece (did I mention I was cheap?) and they will be used for long term storage for molds and Dillon tooheads and dies and such when not actually being used for reloading. I am tired of having to spend so much time trying to locate stuff when I need it.

[Molly]

Here's one you guys might want to bookmark: It's an industrial site, but it looks like they have the equipment and expertese to handle bad jobs. Take a look.
Molly

www.brokentap.com/

[mister gizmo]

Pliers - I never knew I needed these until I started replacing front cross-pinned sights ... parallel faced pliers. Great for a no-mar job. www.contenti.com is a good place to start. Most of their tools are made for the jewelry industry.

Lubrication, part A - Precision or needle oilers.

Lubrication, part B - When I brought my very expensive shotgun to the factory for a tune-up and such, I watched with amazement as the tech lubricated all the metal-to-metal contact parts (and choke tube threads) with STP, dispensed from a small plastic veterinarian syringe. STP, blue plastic bottle, inexpensive, and the choke tubes don't seize anymore.

gizmo

[Owens]

What a great thread! Had to read it all. Saw that someone mentioned the use of 'engine break-in lube' a few pages back, and it reminded me of camshaft lube. This is an assembly lube with a 'tacky' feature to it. It also has moly-disulfide and/or phosphorus added for a bit more lubricity until the parts settle in to each other. I do believe that would have a few applications in the gunny's world.

[Rico1950]

Hello all, hope this is the appropriate thread.
Great deal @ Enco now. Pin gage set .251-.500" +.0000 -.0002" 250pc set on sale $59.49.
Use Free shipping promo code: WEBPA9 and you only pay for the pin gage set.
Great for measuring cylinder throats, checking for bore constrictions etc.

[MT Gianni]

When using the STP as 44 man directs as a lube for so many uses in shooting I use a plastic oil can. I bought the NAPA brand. Take the cap off and leave the foil as is, then make one small hole 1/8" or less. You get plenty of lube with out making a mess.
Uses are: cylinder base pins, Turrets on press's think Lee, hinge pins, slides and many others. I don't get it near a trigger but a small hole works well.

[89diesel]

File handles-Use 4" foam paint roller refills. They have a plastic core that grips the tang perfectly, no slip-grip for oily hands and at a couple bucks for 3, makes them fairly disposable.

[Big Dave]

Hate Dremel tools. Can't think how many of the cheap shoddy junks I have burned out over 30 odd years in tool rooms. Fortunatly the company was always buying them not me.If you use one a lot, grit your teeth and spring for an industrial Du-More, They last forever and have a lot more torque. For jobs where delicasy is not an issue a Roto-Zip from Lowes or home Depot is a world beater. Be sure to get all three collets. 1/8, 1/4, and 5/32.
Files, when fileing gummy material like copper and aluminum, a quick stroke across a stick of chalk every few strokes will keep the file from loading up and being dang near impossible to clean.
Spot annealing for a screw hole use an 80 to 100 watt soldering iron and apply a drop of solder to location and hold tip of iron in solder drop for a minute or two. 700 degrees will usually pull the hardness down to a workable level.

[jbunny]

hilti gun nails and fasteners. i keep lots of these on hand for making fireing pins,
little punches and other things. they are tough but not brittle. a file will just barely
work on them. another trick is grade 5 bolts has just the right amount or carbon
in them to make chisles and center punches. grind ,forge shape ect and heat the
just the very tip red and dunk in water. no annealing needed.
jb

[SantaFe66]

For storing brass, boolits, bead/oxide blasting media, anything I need to store in my dusty garage..........I use those containers that Nonni's Biscotti come in at Sam's Club or Costco. After you peel the label off, they're clear, tough, plastic with screw-on tops. I've saved a bunch, since I'm addicted to the biscotti, and use them all over the house and garage.

[Garbo]

if your hammer heads come loose (wooden shaft) or maybe mould handles it maybe cos they have dried out, soak them in a bucket of water overnight wel it works for me (just dry of the water from the moulds before use or you might get a nasty supprise)

[jbunny]

for the remington and martini and some models of the norinco pistols
that use the flat springs and need 2 fingers to pull the trigger, i wasp waist
the springs. this is a pic of a martini trigger spring. just make sure that u
polish the grind and file marks completely off. finnish sanding lenghtwise
with 320 grit . u can change the angle of spring contacon the trigger by
very carefuly fileing a differant angle on the base of the spring. in the bottom
right of the pic is the trigger. notice the radius notch below the trigger spring shelf.
thats for the trigger overtravel adjust screw as can be seen in the bottom left part
of the pic.
jb

[Electron Don]

I usually ask my dentist for any dental picks and instruments that he is taking out of service. Excellent steel and a variety of points. I orginally got them to use when work with fish fossils but find them useful everywhere.

[dudel]

I'd like to see this thread keep growing with great ideas.

Here's one that works for me. I was always looking for a clean surface to mix Epoxy or JB Weld. I would tear a scrap of cardboard, but it wasn't always handy.

Now I use the lid from a plastic container (butter, cool whip, etc). When the epoxy's dry, I flex the lid and it pops off. The lid is ready for another use. The lip keeps the stuff from spreading off the table (like it woulld with the cardboard).

The container makes a good place to store tubes of the stuff as well.