The Trouble With Plastic

I spend a lot of time dissecting all sorts of mechanisms for one reason or another. It's been both a blessing and a curse at times. I enjoy "seeing" how things work. How they function,  how they are assembled, and inevitably, how they come apart. Hopefully, I pay close enough attention at disassembly, to remember how the blessed thing goes back together. That, is the reason for this entry.

A very large majority of our everyday possessions are constructed of some type of thermo-plastic. In fact, more and more items that once were solely made from metals, are now produced out of reinforced plastic, or composite materials.

One of the most important factors to remember when reassembling a device after you have successfully repaired it, (we will assume you are successful, otherwise the item might become fodder for the trash heap), is the proper reinsertion and tightening of the self-tapping fasteners.

When the item of interest is taken apart, the fasteners are usually metal screws with aggressive threading, that when originally assembled at the factory, cut spiral threads into the undersized hole in the mating component. When reassembling the device (properly), it is very important to "feel" for those precut threads to be sure the screw does not cut new threads, thereby weakening the fastener's hole.

To be sure I return the screw/s into the original threads, I simply start the screw into the hole and carefully rotate it in reverse (left-hand direction) with VERY little downward pressure. As the screw turns around counter-clockwise, I feel for the exact point in the rotation where the screw drops slightly into the original precut thread. Then, I simply reverse direction slowly and the screw should go into the threaded hole with very little effort, and tighten without threat of stripping the plastic receiving hole.

Sounds pretty trivial I guess, but if you plan on reassembling something for future use, and the screws do not tighten properly, that will prove to be a difficult problem to solve in a "professional" manner. I guess the duct tape, and hot glue gun people would not be phased by such a development. I however, tend to want to return the item in as close to factory specifications as I possibly can.

There you have it, turn left, feel for the drop, before you turn right to tighten. It will make a much better job of your fix-it attempt.


Thanks for taking the time to peruse this entry.  I hope it may help in some small way.

Gaff

How Do You Spell Pressure? R-E-L-I-E-F

Now that everyone has learned all they care to learn about an encoder... Yes, sorry, I should never have attempted to make that subject amusing in any way, shape, or form. Mea Culpa!

How about we turn to another of my hobbies for a little levity, and a bit of concentration on craftsmanship. That would be, Hobby Gunsmithing. OK, OK, maybe there won't be much levity...

I think this hobby was one of the reasons I gave up drinking. You can't have shaking hands or clouded thoughts when dealing with firearms. Whether working on their innards, or attempting to use them for the purpose for which they were designed. Clear heads MUST prevail.

What does a hobby gunsmith do? Very astute question. Answer; whatever his or her ability and or training and knowledge allow him or her to do competently. Nothing more, nothing less.

This is not like working on a toaster that only toasts one side of the bread. If you stick a screwdriver into that thing with the juice plugged in, the sparks and smoke will immediately tell you you did something wrong. You might even get tactile feedback with a shock, and, when the AC voltage drops midway through  the sine wave, you can let go of the toaster, onto your foot.

No, working with and on firearms is very serious business. Every, and I mean every, firearm is different. Despite the appearance that two seemingly identical model firearms sit side by side, they are not identical. Even in this modern age of precision CNC (Computer Numerical Control) machining centers, able to produce parts with incredible accuracy and tolerances, when precision firearms are assembled (by the hand of man or woman), they inevitably will not be identical in one way or another. They will be very close to the same, but not identical.

Each firearm is unique, the fit of the parts, the quality and rarity of the wood in the stock/s. The crispness of the trigger pull, the uniformity of the finish can all contribute to this uniqueness. Considerable consideration must given to each firearm, because the possibility of ruination looms mightily with each tool that is touched to its surface.

I have personally experienced dread and fear as I plunged a Pfeil D7/10 gouge into the walnut of my M1A Springfield rifle to begin a relief carving. There was no going back, that cut could not be repaired. The reason for the dread was, this happened after completing 40+ hours of checkering to this formally plain, military stock. The checkering came out really well, and I did not want to ruin this thing after all that work. I had never attempted something like this before. Yes, I had carved a few things in the past, but a cedar sign is not a 1990's era M1A National Match, with a "perfect" walnut stock. Besides, this was MY rifle, what if it was a friend's one-of-a-kind?...holy heartburn.

So, after completely carving the "test" shamrock in some scrap walnut first, and being satisfied I could pull it off, I plunged that razor sharp gouge into the stock. "God help me, I'm committed now." Well,  the first shamrock came out very well, and I'm knee deep into its mirror image on the other side of the stock. Here is what it looks like before application of six coats of finish...

I reckon I have more than succeeded in making this unique rifle even more unique.

More to follow...thanks for reading.

Do the right thing.

Gaff