Need advice please . losing parts to carpet . Maybe chair mat

Any dropped small parts will sometime drop and bounce far beyond the chair mat. I've even had small parts fly upwards and over/sideways on a few occasions too. I usually have a good small LED flashlight on hand to search for shadows of the parts on the floor. 

Or or paint your floor black. LOL!

An old bed sheet works fine, placed under the work area. It's soft enough to absorb the amount of bounce plastic parts inherently seem to possess, and large enough to cover a wide area.

I have a large old throwrug with a tight weave on top of the carpet under my desk. No bounce and easier to find parts and I get to "enjoy" looking for them quite often.

I keep an old tshirt in my lap when at the bench. It helps catch parts (and paint, etc.). Also, a white sheet under the chair and work area helps most of the time. Carpet Monster is clever though. Occasionally, I find parts all the way across the room!

Work apron, with velcro/magnets on bottom edge to atatch to edge of workbench

just dont stand up tpp quickly

Try not to drop anything.

I have found that once parts hit the floor, no kind of surface is ideal.  If heavily textured, these surfaces hide small parts.  If a flat rigid surface the parts have obtained enough velocity to bounce quite far, as someone above mentioned.

My belief is to catch them near the surface of the desk.  I have been using an apron connected to the bench and draping over my lap.  This has not proved ideal.  Parts do still bounce off of the apron, though I would estimate it stops about half of the dropped parts.

I am in the process of designing a tray that will fit below the bench top one or two inches down.  The frame will be flexible so I can lean forward without damaging it.  The flat surface will be a thin sheet of flexible foam that will prevent bouncing, yet smooth enough to not hide things too badly.  I will post after I complete this tray and try it out.

Use a hair lint roller .It picks up well.

Jon_a_its

Work apron, with velcro/magnets on bottom edge to atatch to edge of workbench

just dont stand up tpp quickly

LOL I can just see me jumping up and pulling the entire work station et. al. to the floor!

I haven't lost any (knock on wood) since I laid a dark maroon bath towel under my chair/workbench. Its soft enuf to stop further bounce and/or ricochet and the darker color makes the droppped parts show up easier.

I did this after spending a lotta time on hands and knees groping the mauve, multi-color (read camouflage!) carpeting!

I tried the mat and it only made the parts bounce farther than on the rug.  Switched to the apron with velcro on the edge of the bench. Works great except for the ones that go "ping" and fly off into the unknown.  I've found parts on shelves on the other side of the room when looking for something else.

Jim  

Use a vac and don't worry about the part.Just get another model.This will keep the model companies rich.

During a recent shop shuffle, I started using a drafting board with a pencil tray at the bottom for my hobby table. When the board is level, the rail is about 2-1/2" proud of the surface at about a 60 degree angle. At first it was annoying but I soon realized that it was a really good handrest and it has stopped several fly-aways. When I get done with the shop redo, I'm thinking I'll want to make something similar, only hinged with stopped cabinet hinges or similar so it can be out of the way when not in use.

Happy modeling!

Mike 

You didn't say what you where losing ...is it small plastic parts or was it PE parts ? If it's PE.parts you can place the the parts in a glad bag then cut them off the frit ..same with plastic parts ...or try to be more careful when cutting. .cheers 

I cut my PE on the back of tape.

I have taught myself to put sub assemblies in little tubs or bowls.

Decals remain a problem- don't run off with them to research stuff.

There's a million ways to lose stuff.

Once a part flies off, it's the devils game.

It's the dreaded rug monster that gets me every time . I to taught my self that one also GM...

Its usually the smaller parts that get eaten. I try never to use tweezers on small parts, try flat head pliers and when I'm into smaller parts, I'll use a white lunch tray to work on. These are two things that should help a bit but theres nothing like good luck....

Terry

I also have stopped using tweezers on PE. I make a simple parts placing tool by putting a small BB sized ball of poster tack on the end of a toothpick.

Look for product called Micro-Stix. I found mine on ebay (I paid less then $20 for 60 of them.  Some are showing up in hobby shops but are very expenive.  Made of plastic, they resemble a wooden match but has a nice adhesive top to it.  Actually they are something dentist use to place crowns, etc.  Work great and last quite awhile before they lose their grip.    

Hi Rick,

Check out my post "search and recovery of small parts" in this forum.

Good luck,

Doc.

Jon_a_its

Work apron, with velcro/magnets on bottom edge to atatch to edge of workbench

just dont stand up tpp quickly

 

i would stand up too quickly. i wear a regular cooking apron. falling parts do not obey the laws of physics.

waynec

 

Jon_a_its

Work apron, with velcro/magnets on bottom edge to atatch to edge of workbench

just dont stand up tpp quickly

 

i would stand up too quickly. i wear a regular cooking apron. falling parts do not obey the laws of physics.

This is something I discovered a long time ago from a jeweler friend of mine... it's called the Jeweler's Friend... it's basically what they say above... an apron... a BBQ apron works just as well.  Then take the bottom edge and sew some velcro on it and attach the bottom edge just under the lip of the table you're working at.  Put the apron on and every time you drop a part, it is caught by the apron and you'll never lose a part again to the carpet monsters!  I use mine with pride.  Takes a little while to get use to putting it on and taking it off everytime you stand up/sit down, but trust me... it's worth it and it's easy to make yourself!