Bench cleaning

[Questor]

My loading bench has been in use for about 8 years and I store my components elevated with bricks on a sheet of plywood beneath the bench. Thought I'd take everything apart and clean it up. This was worthwhile. I wiped away a lot of residue on the bench itself and then found old pieces of brass and shot and primers under the board. I also found some things I forgot that I had, and some things I just want to get rid of. It was also a chronacle of how my interests have changed over time.

In the end everything was tidier and I'm ready for another few years before I clean it so thoroughly again.

[Graybeard]

Now why in the world would ya wanna clean up your bench Rudy? Yer just gonna make a mess of it again all over so look at the wasted effort cleaning when the end result of using it is that it will just get dirty again? Us retired folks have to think about such things and conserve what little energy we have left so we can't be wasting it on bench cleaning. 

[Questor]

I didn't tell the whole story. The motivator for the project was to reorganize things so I had a permanent place on the bench for my 12 gauge loader, and room for 12 gauge components below. This is analogous to my recently selling some youth guns and unused pistols so I could make room in the safe for a couple of new shotguns. 

[huntswithdogs]

The last time I started clening up around mine, I found stuff that I'd gotten for some "project" and forgotten about. I stopped cleaning up and went to work on the project. The wife came looking for me 2 hrs later! Never finished the clean up, the "project" wouldn't work like I thought, we were late for a dinner with friends and my wife stayed pissed at me for about a week.
No more clean up for me! I'll wipe off the loose powder and clean out the old primers, but I leave the rest alone. I might just find something else to get me in trouble, if I go digging to deep!


HWD

[woodchukhntr]

It pays to have a smooth bench since the loose powder always finds nooks and crannies to fall into.  Some day you could get a spark and quite a surprise.  Also, never use a vacuum cleaner to pick up the loose powder!  The surprise will come sooner than you think!