1911 COLT MAINSPRING HOUSING TOOL

Hello, first off I will never claim to be a machinist or a gunsmith. I enjoy making things myself. A thanks to all who post homemade tools and projects. Some of the tools are way beyond my skill level. I do most of my own work on my 1911 pistols. This tool is for holding the mainspring housing while replacing the spring or simply polishing the spring bore for a smoother action. The old school way was to just pound a nail in the workbench and while depressing the spring and push the retaining pin out. I did that for years. Works great when you are young. Now I'm an old geezer and it's a royal pain to change. There are tools like this one out there, but I didn't like them. One of the issues is the spring bore is on a 5-deg. angle. The tools I looked at the depressor was parallel to the tool. When using it the spring housing would bow up and you still had to hold it down. When I made this tool the depressor is the same angle as the spring and its hands free to use. I can shake the tool any direction and the part does not budge. I made this with all scrap stock, an old nut driver, threaded rod and a broken drill bit for a pin to push the spring cap. When using this tool it forces the part to the rear and actually clamps it in place. One of the pictures shows a gauge pin in place to see the angle its actually on. Thanks. Mr Mikey. Attachment 44709 Attachment 44710 Attachment 44711 Attachment 44712 Attachment 44713 Attachment 44714 Attachment 44715 Attachment 44716 Attachment 44717