Lost part saver

lhatch5 wrote:

Another thing you can try is a small flashlight. Turn it on and put it on the floor and slowly rotate it while looking along the beam. A small part will sometimes cast a larger shadow or you may notice a glint. It also has the effect of concentrating your attention to just the beam and forces you to be more thorough in your search. If all else fails you can throw the flashlight acroos the room in disgust. ;) LarryH

AHHH....the flash light. I keep mine near my workbench for the parts that miss the sheet and get lost in the carpet....usually works, but still have parts lost in the abiss...maybe when we move all those little parts will show up in the same spot !!

Jerry

Another thing you can try is a small flashlight.

Turn it on and put it on the floor and slowly rotate it while looking along the beam. A small part will sometimes cast a larger shadow or you may notice a glint. It also has the effect of concentrating your attention to just the beam and forces you to be more thorough in your search. If all else fails you can throw the flashlight acroos the room in disgust. ;)

LarryH

the Baron wrote:

The apron, the jeweler's bench, the sheet, are all good ideas, but the really hard part, when something has fallen on the floor, is not stepping on it or rolling it over, if you have an office chair.  When something hits the floor, the first thing I do is freeze.

Step one, carefully look without moving to see if I can spot it under foot or chair. Step two, very slowly push back enough to be able to get out of the chair.  Step three, start crawling around. 

I like the idea of the lint roller, as I can't get a sheet under my space.  Only problem is the dogs - I think the lint roller will quickly clog with dog hair before finding the part.

The apron, the jeweler's bench, the sheet, are all good ideas, but the really hard part, when something has fallen on the floor, is not stepping on it or rolling it over, if you have an office chair.  When something hits the floor, the first thing I do is freeze.

And sometimes, it's not the small stuff, but the larger pieces.  I have a rattail file, about four inches long, that launched itself into space.  It's in the basement, within a six-foot area behind my seat at the bench, and I'll be darned but I haven't found it yet.

Someone else mentioned the gray painted cement, and that makes me think of a variation on the sheet idea-if your bench is on a slab, paint the slab white under the floor.

Regards,

Brad

I read today in the new FSM someone wrote in a letter about using lint roller sheets

http://www.usjesco.com/mr-sticky-lint-roller.aspx?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1

This was the best $20 I ever spent.

The giant mr sticky is perfect for finding those small parts lost in the carpet. Reusable and it is big enough to cover a good area.

I lost a 1/48 bg109 wing weight, found it in about 30 seconds with mr sticky.

Thanks for all the responses guys ! Hope this one saved at least a few of you from A LOT of frustration.

I guess there's not a lot you can do to help those tiny parts from flying over your shoulder and being sucked into the great abiss never to be seen again....."TINK".......short of working in a large bubble....HEY !!!!!

 Most of my modeling is in custom HOn3 (1/87) work and most of those parts can only be assembled using tweezers.....so, needless to say, I've had more than my fair share of missing parts. I came up with the sheet idea after spending what seemed like 25% of my time searching for parts. It's really been a big help.

Does anyone know of any soft tipped tweezers that will hold almost anything without damaging plastic parts ??

Panzer_Blitz wrote:

The apron idea is good too, but wouldn't it tie you to the workbench also ??

Hmmm, that might be a good thing..."Sorry honey, I can't do the dishes right now, I am tied to my workbench."

smeagol the vile wrote:

Thats a good tip, on that line, I know micromark sells an apron that attaches to under your desk by velcro.  I have been wanting to get one

The apron idea is good too, but wouldn't it tie you to the workbench also ??

Lord-Dogbert wrote:

I have a second vacuum bag that is used in the vacuum for part retrieval :-) Will try the sheet method as this would be easier.

Try attaching a piece of nylon stocking with tape or rubber band to the end of the vacuum hose.  I will trap small parts.

The best part of that is going to the cash register by yourself to pay for the nylons.

Airth wrote:

Personally, I usually have to make up several sets of fiddly bits, since some of them "poof" from between tweezers or a hobby knife.  You know, its there, then you hear a click and a distant "tink" somewhere across the room..."Well I guess I'm writing that one off".

I think that is hilarious... Untill I realize a part for the kit  is missing..   >_<

If you've seen a jeweler's workbench, the work area is a semi-circular cutout, so the jeweler only has to turn to reach different areas of the bench.  They keep a piece of leather or thick cloth draped across the semi-circle (attached to the underside of the desk) to catch metal bits for recycling, as it is probably harder to write off all those bits of gold that go flying when something is cut or filed.  I've been thinking of incorporating something like this into my next bench, and this sounds closer to Smeagol's post of a velcro apron.

Personally, I usually have to make up several sets of fiddly bits, since some of them "poof" from between tweezers or a hobby knife.  You know, its there, then you hear a click and a distant "tink" somewhere across the room..."Well I guess I'm writing that one off".

firesmacker wrote:

The ones that fall straight down aint the problem. It's the ones that fly over my shoulder that give me fits... GOD BLESS IT! I FOLLOWED YOUR TRAVEL AND SAW YOU HIT THE FLOOR!!!! I SAW IT WITH MY OWN EYES!!!! NOW WHERE IN THE HELL ARE YOU!?!?!?!? ARRGHHGHG BLARGHGHGHG.... /rant regards, Jeff Edit: I do like the white sheet idea.

I second that! The Carpet Monster is evil!

I have a second vacuum bag that is used in the vacuum for part retrieval :-)

Will try the sheet method as this would be easier.

The ones that fall straight down aint the problem. It's the ones that fly over my shoulder that give me fits...

GOD BLESS IT! I FOLLOWED YOUR TRAVEL AND SAW YOU HIT THE FLOOR!!!! I SAW IT WITH MY OWN EYES!!!! NOW WHERE IN THE HELL ARE YOU!?!?!?!? ARRGHHGHG BLARGHGHGHG....

/rant

regards,

Jeff

Edit: I do like the white sheet idea.