Have you noticed how much leftover epoxy affects the thermal expansion of those brass helicoids? I had a old Pentax 50mm where dried epoxy cracked because the brass and the glue expanded differently in the cold. The old timer was probably saving you from that too, not just the thread issue. A tiny dab keeps the metal parts moving together naturally instead of fighting each other. What temperature swings do you guys deal with in your gear?

Hate when someone just drops something on you like that without context. Makes your brain go in circles trying to figure out what you did wrong. Bet it took a second to realize they were just being a snob about some tiny thing nobody else cares about. People need to remember we all started somewhere and no one's born knowing everything about knife care. Glad you took a minute to process it instead of just letting it get to you right away.

Honestly, I read something once about how some of those persistent trails matched the specs for certain dispersant tests the Air Force was running in the 90s. Not saying it was anything wild, but it wasn't standard commercial flight stuff either.

My buddy Jake spent 3 hours sanding and filling a chunk out of his 2010 Civic bumper and just spray painted over bare plastic. Looked great for about 4 months until a hot July day turned it into a peeling mess that looked like a sunburnt lizard. Primer is like 8 bucks a can and takes 10 minutes to dry, skipping it is basically throwing your whole afternoon in the trash. I swear half the "my paint job failed" posts on here are just people who thought primer was optional.

Gotta admit, I used to be one of those people who thought you could just scrape off the burnt parts and it'd be fine. Then my sister made a loaf for a family dinner that was so black on the bottom it looked like a fossil. She tried to serve it anyway and my dad just sat there holding a slice like it was a museum piece. @hannahcraig you're totally right about that whole layer of awkward silence, it was deafening. Nobody wanted to be the one to take the first bite but everyone was waiting for someone else to do it. Changed my whole view on burnt food, now I just toss it and start over.