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Engineering Problems
Jul. 4th, 2007 01:11 pmI am often amused by complaints about the troubles of disassembling/reassembling electronic devices. Yeah, I know they can be rough, and a mistake can ruin something important/expensive. But I go through worse than most of the electronics stories I've read/heard when cleaning guns, and you're _required_ to take them apart for some cleaning. (Not every time, no, but it does have to be done eventually.)
You can lose an eye (literally) cleaning an M1911. It and several other models of pistol have recoil springs under compression. Let the slide slip, or fail to maintain proper control of the recoil spring, and parts (machined pieces of hard steel, many with sharp edges) are launched at great velocity. Getting H&K pistols back together is frequently likened to working a Chinese puzzle, due in part to the piston from the gas-retarded action. A Chinese puzzle where you have to use force against considerable resistance in a carefully controlled manner. Just putting the grips back onto a H&K P7 is difficult, and you _have_ to do it right or the gun jams (the slide rides across the tops of the grips).
I've done some work on electronic devices, and seen more done by experts. I'm not downplaying the difficulty. Just keep in mind there are similar tasks in other fields.
You can lose an eye (literally) cleaning an M1911. It and several other models of pistol have recoil springs under compression. Let the slide slip, or fail to maintain proper control of the recoil spring, and parts (machined pieces of hard steel, many with sharp edges) are launched at great velocity. Getting H&K pistols back together is frequently likened to working a Chinese puzzle, due in part to the piston from the gas-retarded action. A Chinese puzzle where you have to use force against considerable resistance in a carefully controlled manner. Just putting the grips back onto a H&K P7 is difficult, and you _have_ to do it right or the gun jams (the slide rides across the tops of the grips).
I've done some work on electronic devices, and seen more done by experts. I'm not downplaying the difficulty. Just keep in mind there are similar tasks in other fields.
