Comment by exe34

> Take things apart, and try to figure out how they work. Don't worry too much about getting them back together. But then, trying to reassemble it is good practice too.

For some reason I got my hands on a lot of old clocks as a child, and after getting the springs out, I never could get them back in. Turns out there's a special lathe you need to use to coil them up tightly enough. Only learnt that when I was about 20.