I did something similar when i was about 18, undoing the spring compressor with a rattle gun, i held the rattlegun firmly as i was undoing it and the spring shot off the end of the clamp and went almost all the way across the road. I did it when the traffic was clear, i was hoping it would just spring away from me.
Why didn't I think of using a board?!! My young-and-inexperienced spring misadventure was a truck air brake. The screw to compress the spring was missing or otherwise defunct, so I simply undid the clamp that holds the 2 halves together. I was bodily in line with the end cap until about 1 turn before it separated and fired the cap some distance! When I say bodily, mostly just my face. Be warned.
Agree but a few of the sentiments were appropriate.. normally for me "Bikers" has connotations of Hardly's
Oh, wait. Are you supposed to start at the top left of the diagram? That's where I have been going wrong: I start at the top right...