On Jul 29, 11:27*pm, (David Combs) wrote:
I use tin cans (eg goya beans) for storing pencils and pens of
one kind or another. *But sometimes it wall fall off the shelf
it sits on (or I knock it off), and the pencils end up all over
the floor.

So, I decided to screw-down the cans:

I drilled a hoile in the bottom of each one, and then
drilled a starter-hole in the (cheap) wood shelf, one
per hole.

Now I get the proper wood screw, reach inside the can,
stick it through the bottom hole, and into the starter
hole, and screw down the can. *SIMPLE!

Not so simple!

1: My hand is too big to reach into the can.
2: With needle-nose pliers, I manage to get
the screw through the hole (can held up in the air),
but am unable to line up the screw with the starter-hole.

Also, when sliding the can around, to find starter hole,
the screw will flip out of the hole in the can.

Question: how should I proceed?

Would be nice to have a maagnetic screwdriver -- but
I don't.

Or, unbend a paper-clip, stick it through the hole,
then with the can held an inch or two above the
wood (so I can see the starter-hole), stick the
protruding end into the hole, then try to set the
can down, and then someohow stick the screw into
the double-hole -- but when I try the screwdriver
on it, it flips out of the hole.

What to do? *Epoxy it to the screwdriver (joke)?

What would YOU do?

Thanks!

David

Oops...hit send by accident.

Drill the hole in the bottom of the can a bit smaller than the screw,
screw the screw into the can, then twist the can into the pilot hole
in the shelf to get it started, finish off with a screwdriver.

R