Guess I should have been a little more straightforward with my masking tape comment. The lowly masking tape has a lot of uses, good for holding things together for instance in the right environment; thicknesses thereof can be used for crude measurements etc.
I used to go over to a shop where they built firearms; twas old world. I was allowed to sit and watch, and if I was quiet, some little tidbits of knowledge flowed down.
One guy was a fitter. He would use blacking off a candle or a funky lamp to coat surfaces and then work them down to a hair line fit or better. He said you had to kinda keep track of things, and visual aids were always helpful.
Good enough was never in his conversation, I don't think he meant it as a browbeating, but just he just never could accept that in his own work.
So one day he was fitting parts, and the funky lamp for blackening was on the other side of the shop. He flicked up his lighter and lit a small piece of masking tape.............it marked(smoked) the parts just like the little funky lamp. Nothing was said, but I saved that off. Today the memory was refreshed..............
