What are the must-have tools for gunsmithing?

I worked for years with about every available type of container around my shop for parts, patches, tools, and probably even ate a screw or two out of the old aspirin bottle on the back of the bench. Harbor freight sells those magnetic trays in different sizes and I have come to really appreciate them. A screw has a way of disappearing off your bench and you invariably end up on your knees with a flashlight using a language that you probably shouldn't even know. I'm getting too old and the knees too bad to be doing that anymore and hopefully I have learned a little along the way, so those trays get regular use with me nowdays.
How many guys have lost screws in their recliner working on guns while you are watching TV? You get them in the carpet and they can really be a bugger.
 
The biggest thing I was always apt to lose was springs, and especially the followers. I ended up making a plywood box, with a top made of Plexiglas, and two arm holes, similar to a blast cabinet. If a spring gets loose, it falls to the drawer at the bottom of the box. I made it light enough to be easily portable, and I sit it off the bench when not in use.

The best thing I've found to retrieve screws and pins, are those magnets on the end of a rod, unless they're stainless or non magnetic. I have a high nose on the bench front, similar to a kitchen counter, and it keeps the parts from rolling off, but I still drop one occasionally. The back of the bench has a box built along its length, and houses electrical outlets, and two air hose connections, but that keeps the parts from rolling off the back.
 
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