I have and use 3 calipers. One is a Starrett 120-6. The other day I noticed it
has two little gib screws on top, and one wasn't in it's hole but was lying in
the case. No problem, I grabbed my reading glasses and jeweler's screwdriver,
and, carefully holding it over the open case, started trying to put this thing
-- a really really tiny little set screw, *maybe* an eighth of an inch long and
maybe 4-40 but probably more like No. 2 -- and dropped it onto the case. I heard
a faint "click" and then - VAPOR. I mean that sucker was GONE. I ran the
caliper up and down and sure enough the gib started slipping out. Oh, well, I
have some people coming over so I figured I'd sweep up and it would show up.

It took SIX HOURS over four days to find it! It was about twelve feet away
hiding under my lathe. I cannot imagine how it got the sideways momentum to get
all the way over there. Today was round 2. This time I brought it upstairs on a
soft clean carpet, and layed down a soft thick towel and lay down on my stomach
with the Opti-Visor on. It never got more than 2" above the towel and wouldn't
have gone anywhere this time had I dropped it. Tough little bugger to start, I
felt like I was handling it with three foot summer sausages instead of fingers.
Finally got it in, though.

Whew.

Sometimes you just have to find it, you know? I mean, hands and knees at
midnight with a paintbrush sweeping under your rollaway toolbox? Aarghh ..

GWE

In article , Grant Erwin says...

hiding under my lathe. I cannot imagine how it got the sideways momentum to get
all the way over there.

I've been known to disassemble things like dial gages and whatnot
inside of a large flat cardboard box. With all the inside
seams taped shut....

Jim


--
==================================================
please reply to:
JRR(zero) at pkmfgvm4 (dot) vnet (dot) ibm (dot) com
==================================================

On Sat, 27 Aug 2005 17:00:38 -0700, Grant Erwin
wrote:

I have and use 3 calipers. One is a Starrett 120-6. The other day I noticed it
has two little gib screws on top, and one wasn't in it's hole but was lying in
the case. No problem, I grabbed my reading glasses and jeweler's screwdriver,
and, carefully holding it over the open case, started trying to put this thing
-- a really really tiny little set screw, *maybe* an eighth of an inch long and
maybe 4-40 but probably more like No. 2 -- and dropped it onto the case. I heard
a faint "click" and then - VAPOR. I mean that sucker was GONE. I ran the
caliper up and down and sure enough the gib started slipping out. Oh, well, I
have some people coming over so I figured I'd sweep up and it would show up.

It took SIX HOURS over four days to find it! It was about twelve feet away
hiding under my lathe. I cannot imagine how it got the sideways momentum to get
all the way over there. Today was round 2. This time I brought it upstairs on a
soft clean carpet, and layed down a soft thick towel and lay down on my stomach
with the Opti-Visor on. It never got more than 2" above the towel and wouldn't
have gone anywhere this time had I dropped it. Tough little bugger to start, I
felt like I was handling it with three foot summer sausages instead of fingers.
Finally got it in, though.

Whew.

Sometimes you just have to find it, you know? I mean, hands and knees at
midnight with a paintbrush sweeping under your rollaway toolbox? Aarghh ..

GWE

Suggested training: place and solder some surfacemount electronic
parts to a board. Skills learned: tweezer, dental pick, not
sneezing and having plenty of spares. A screw like that will then
seem like a stovebolt.

With visual augmentation of your choice, a jeweller's screwdriver,
Dumont #7 tweezer (thanks, Ted Edwards) and a small drillpress vise
to hold the work I bet you'd find it much easier.

Trick: work in a shallow baking tin (as for sheet cakes) that
keeps getaways more or less captive.

Don Foreman wrote:
On Sat, 27 Aug 2005 17:00:38 -0700, Grant Erwin
wrote:


I have and use 3 calipers. One is a Starrett 120-6. The other day I noticed it
has two little gib screws on top, and one wasn't in it's hole but was lying in
the case. No problem, I grabbed my reading glasses and jeweler's screwdriver,
and, carefully holding it over the open case, started trying to put this thing
-- a really really tiny little set screw, *maybe* an eighth of an inch long and
maybe 4-40 but probably more like No. 2 -- and dropped it onto the case. I heard
a faint "click" and then - VAPOR. I mean that sucker was GONE. I ran the
caliper up and down and sure enough the gib started slipping out. Oh, well, I
have some people coming over so I figured I'd sweep up and it would show up.

It took SIX HOURS over four days to find it! It was about twelve feet away
hiding under my lathe. I cannot imagine how it got the sideways momentum to get
all the way over there. Today was round 2. This time I brought it upstairs on a
soft clean carpet, and layed down a soft thick towel and lay down on my stomach
with the Opti-Visor on. It never got more than 2" above the towel and wouldn't
have gone anywhere this time had I dropped it. Tough little bugger to start, I
felt like I was handling it with three foot summer sausages instead of fingers.
Finally got it in, though.

Whew.

Sometimes you just have to find it, you know? I mean, hands and knees at
midnight with a paintbrush sweeping under your rollaway toolbox? Aarghh ..

GWE


Suggested training: place and solder some surfacemount electronic
parts to a board. Skills learned: tweezer, dental pick, not
sneezing and having plenty of spares. A screw like that will then
seem like a stovebolt.

With visual augmentation of your choice, a jeweller's screwdriver,
Dumont #7 tweezer (thanks, Ted Edwards) and a small drillpress vise
to hold the work I bet you'd find it much easier.

I've done far more of that than I'd like to admit.

I won't even sit down at a bench anymore unless there's
a stereomicroscope and a hot-air rework tool. Even
more fun is debugging the board. Try having to use
a microscope to get your oscilloscope probe in the
right place.

Still, the disassembled choose your mechanical victim
is worse. When I do electronics, I can always get another
part from the stockroom. Not so when it's a mechanical
repair job.

Trick: work in a shallow baking tin (as for sheet cakes) that
keeps getaways more or less captive.

Grant Erwin wrote:


Sometimes you just have to find it, you know? I mean, hands and knees at
midnight with a paintbrush sweeping under your rollaway toolbox? Aarghh ..

GWE

If it was steel.....

I've mentioned this before, but as the years take their toll on my body*
I try and avoid having to crawl around on the floor because it seems
like it's getting harder to get myself back up these days. G

I've mentioned this before, but one of the handiest tools I've made
myself is a five foot long stick with a little high energy magnet
attached to one end. When I drop something that's magnetic I run that
stick around under benches and stuff and pretty often find what I'm
looking for stuck to the magnet, amidst a bunch of steel shavings and a
few dropped common sized screws that weren't worth looking for at the
time they jumped away.

Jeff

* As you age, everything on your body starts breaking, leaking or drying
up. G

--
Jeffry Wisnia

(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)

"Truth exists; only falsehood has to be invented."

Grant Erwin wrote:
....
Sometimes you just have to find it, you know? I mean, hands and knees at
midnight with a paintbrush sweeping under your rollaway toolbox? Aarghh ..

I feel your pain! I once lost a tiny piece that I couldn't find even
after running a magnet over the entire shop floor (and under the
baseboard radiators). I now have a collection of baking pans for
disassembly. The 10 x 15 x 3/4 is a handy one. Bob

Jeff Wisnia wrote in
:


I've mentioned this before, but one of the handiest tools I've made
myself is a five foot long stick with a little high energy magnet
attached to one end. When I drop something that's magnetic I run that
stick around under benches and stuff and pretty often find what I'm
looking for stuck to the magnet, amidst a bunch of steel shavings and
a few dropped common sized screws that weren't worth looking for at
the time they jumped away.


We took a 2" piece of 2"x4" and attached, what is basically two
overlapping rows of round, steel backed magnets, then put a small wheel
at each end that holds the magnets about 3/16" off the floor, and put a
broom handle on it. Works great.

--
Anthony

You can't 'idiot proof' anything....every time you try, they just make
better idiots.

Remove sp to reply via email

http://www.machines-cnc.net:81/

And line the pan with a piece of cloth, ideally something soft and white (a
cloth diaper works real good... don't ask...).

As far as chasing small screws with a magnet, a lot of them are non-magnetic
stainless...

Jerry

"Don Foreman" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 27 Aug 2005 17:00:38 -0700, Grant Erwin
wrote:

I have and use 3 calipers. One is a Starrett 120-6. The other day I
noticed it
has two little gib screws on top, and one wasn't in it's hole but was
lying in
the case. No problem, I grabbed my reading glasses and jeweler's
screwdriver,
and, carefully holding it over the open case, started trying to put this
thing
-- a really really tiny little set screw, *maybe* an eighth of an inch
long and
maybe 4-40 but probably more like No. 2 -- and dropped it onto the case.
I heard
a faint "click" and then - VAPOR. I mean that sucker was GONE. I ran
the
caliper up and down and sure enough the gib started slipping out. Oh,
well, I
have some people coming over so I figured I'd sweep up and it would show
up.

It took SIX HOURS over four days to find it! It was about twelve feet
away
hiding under my lathe. I cannot imagine how it got the sideways momentum
to get
all the way over there. Today was round 2. This time I brought it
upstairs on a
soft clean carpet, and layed down a soft thick towel and lay down on my
stomach
with the Opti-Visor on. It never got more than 2" above the towel and
wouldn't
have gone anywhere this time had I dropped it. Tough little bugger to
start, I
felt like I was handling it with three foot summer sausages instead of
fingers.
Finally got it in, though.

Whew.

Sometimes you just have to find it, you know? I mean, hands and knees at
midnight with a paintbrush sweeping under your rollaway toolbox? Aarghh
...

GWE

Suggested training: place and solder some surfacemount electronic
parts to a board. Skills learned: tweezer, dental pick, not
sneezing and having plenty of spares. A screw like that will then
seem like a stovebolt.

With visual augmentation of your choice, a jeweller's screwdriver,
Dumont #7 tweezer (thanks, Ted Edwards) and a small drillpress vise
to hold the work I bet you'd find it much easier.

Trick: work in a shallow baking tin (as for sheet cakes) that
keeps getaways more or less captive.

Good final method.

I used to find screws and nuts - whatever in my pant cuffs.
Seems they bounce that high or just drop directly.
Martin
Martin Eastburn
@ home at Lions' Lair with our computer lionslair at consolidated dot net
NRA LOH, NRA Life
NRA Second Amendment Task Force Charter Founder



Grant Erwin wrote:
I have and use 3 calipers. One is a Starrett 120-6. The other day I
noticed it has two little gib screws on top, and one wasn't in it's hole
but was lying in the case. No problem, I grabbed my reading glasses and
jeweler's screwdriver, and, carefully holding it over the open case,
started trying to put this thing -- a really really tiny little set
screw, *maybe* an eighth of an inch long and maybe 4-40 but probably
more like No. 2 -- and dropped it onto the case. I heard a faint
"click" and then - VAPOR. I mean that sucker was GONE. I ran the caliper
up and down and sure enough the gib started slipping out. Oh, well, I
have some people coming over so I figured I'd sweep up and it would show
up.

It took SIX HOURS over four days to find it! It was about twelve feet
away hiding under my lathe. I cannot imagine how it got the sideways
momentum to get all the way over there. Today was round 2. This time I
brought it upstairs on a soft clean carpet, and layed down a soft thick
towel and lay down on my stomach with the Opti-Visor on. It never got
more than 2" above the towel and wouldn't have gone anywhere this time
had I dropped it. Tough little bugger to start, I felt like I was
handling it with three foot summer sausages instead of fingers. Finally
got it in, though.

Whew.

Sometimes you just have to find it, you know? I mean, hands and knees at
midnight with a paintbrush sweeping under your rollaway toolbox? Aarghh ..

GWE

----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Uncensored-Secure Usenet News==----
http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+ Newsgroups
----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =----

The best way is to use what God gave you, a booger, to temporarily hold the
screw to the driver. (sorry, but it works)



"Grant Erwin" wrote in message
...
I have and use 3 calipers. One is a Starrett 120-6. The other day I noticed
it has two little gib screws on top, and one wasn't in it's hole but was
lying in the case. No problem, I grabbed my reading glasses and jeweler's
screwdriver, and, carefully holding it over the open case, started trying
to put this thing -- a really really tiny little set screw, *maybe* an
eighth of an inch long and maybe 4-40 but probably more like No. 2 -- and
dropped it onto the case. I heard a faint "click" and then - VAPOR. I mean
that sucker was GONE. I ran the caliper up and down and sure enough the gib
started slipping out. Oh, well, I have some people coming over so I figured
I'd sweep up and it would show up.

It took SIX HOURS over four days to find it! It was about twelve feet away
hiding under my lathe. I cannot imagine how it got the sideways momentum
to get all the way over there. Today was round 2. This time I brought it
upstairs on a soft clean carpet, and layed down a soft thick towel and lay
down on my stomach with the Opti-Visor on. It never got more than 2" above
the towel and wouldn't have gone anywhere this time had I dropped it.
Tough little bugger to start, I felt like I was handling it with three
foot summer sausages instead of fingers. Finally got it in, though.

Whew.

Sometimes you just have to find it, you know? I mean, hands and knees at
midnight with a paintbrush sweeping under your rollaway toolbox? Aarghh ..

GWE

"Martin H. Eastburn" wrote in message
...
snip----
I used to find screws and nuts - whatever in my pant cuffs.
Seems they bounce that high or just drop directly.
Martin

I was but a young lad learning the trade when I quit having cuffs put on my
pants when they were hemmed. Until then, I'd haul home a generous supply
of chips daily until I figured out you don't really need them to be happy.
I've never worn a cuff since. And to think that was only 48 years ago!

Harold

"Tom Gardner" wrote in message
t...
The best way is to use what God gave you, a booger, to temporarily hold
the
screw to the driver. (sorry, but it works)

Yuk! g

Harold

Tom Gardner wrote:
The best way is to use what God gave you, a booger, to temporarily hold the
screw to the driver. (sorry, but it works)


Tom, Remind me to never borrow your screwdriver


Greg

Jeff Wisnia wrote:


I've mentioned this before, but one of the handiest tools I've made
myself is a five foot long stick with a little high energy magnet
attached to one end. When I drop something that's magnetic I run that
stick around under benches and stuff and pretty often find what I'm
looking for stuck to the magnet, amidst a bunch of steel shavings and a
few dropped common sized screws that weren't worth looking for at the
time they jumped away.

I didn't mention I'd already gone over the whole likely area with a 20" bar
magnet (knife rack type) wrapped in plastic, and spent an hour or so poring over
the resultant muck in a shoebox top. Magnet bars have saved my bacon before but
not this time.

GWE

"Greg Postma" wrote: Tom, Remind me to never borrow your screwdriver
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Or ask you to fix anything for me.

In article ,
Grant Erwin wrote:

I have and use 3 calipers. One is a Starrett 120-6. The other day I noticed
it
has two little gib screws on top, and one wasn't in it's hole but was lying
in
the case. No problem, I grabbed my reading glasses and jeweler's screwdriver,
and, carefully holding it over the open case, started trying to put this
thing
-- a really really tiny little set screw, *maybe* an eighth of an inch long
and
maybe 4-40 but probably more like No. 2 -- and dropped it onto the case. I
heard
a faint "click" and then - VAPOR. I mean that sucker was GONE. I ran the
caliper up and down and sure enough the gib started slipping out. Oh, well, I
have some people coming over so I figured I'd sweep up and it would show up.

It took SIX HOURS over four days to find it! It was about twelve feet away
hiding under my lathe. I cannot imagine how it got the sideways momentum to
get
all the way over there. Today was round 2. This time I brought it upstairs on
a
soft clean carpet, and layed down a soft thick towel and lay down on my
stomach
with the Opti-Visor on. It never got more than 2" above the towel and
wouldn't
have gone anywhere this time had I dropped it. Tough little bugger to start,
I
felt like I was handling it with three foot summer sausages instead of
fingers.
Finally got it in, though.

Whew.

Sometimes you just have to find it, you know? I mean, hands and knees at
midnight with a paintbrush sweeping under your rollaway toolbox? Aarghh ..

GWE

At gunsmithing school we referred to that as "springout".
You are working on a gun, remove a major section, and all you hear is
the teensy sound of a tiny spring bouncing off the wall somewhere behind
you.

Marlin rifles always did that.
Damn those things are hard to find.

--
"I love deadlines, especially the wooshing sound they make as
they fly by" - Douglas Adams

On Sun, 28 Aug 2005 02:51:25 GMT, "Tom Gardner"
wrote:

The best way is to use what God gave you, a booger, to temporarily hold the
screw to the driver. (sorry, but it works)

What's the difference between broccoli and boogers?

Kids won't eat broccoli....

On Sat, 27 Aug 2005 18:10:21 -0700, Jim Stewart
wrote:



I won't even sit down at a bench anymore unless there's
a stereomicroscope and a hot-air rework tool. Even
more fun is debugging the board. Try having to use
a microscope to get your oscilloscope probe in the
right place.

Still, the disassembled choose your mechanical victim
is worse. When I do electronics, I can always get another
part from the stockroom. Not so when it's a mechanical
repair job.

Hot air rework tool? Stockroom? You'll need some guidance and
cousel to enter retirement! Check EBay for stereo microscopes when
the time comes.

On Sun, 28 Aug 2005 07:49:52 GMT, Ernie Leimkuhler
wrote:

In article ,
Grant Erwin wrote:

I have and use 3 calipers. One is a Starrett 120-6. The other day I noticed
it
has two little gib screws on top, and one wasn't in it's hole but was lying
in
the case. No problem, I grabbed my reading glasses and jeweler's screwdriver,
and, carefully holding it over the open case, started trying to put this
thing
-- a really really tiny little set screw, *maybe* an eighth of an inch long
and
maybe 4-40 but probably more like No. 2 -- and dropped it onto the case. I
heard
a faint "click" and then - VAPOR. I mean that sucker was GONE. I ran the
caliper up and down and sure enough the gib started slipping out. Oh, well, I
have some people coming over so I figured I'd sweep up and it would show up.

It took SIX HOURS over four days to find it! It was about twelve feet away
hiding under my lathe. I cannot imagine how it got the sideways momentum to
get
all the way over there. Today was round 2. This time I brought it upstairs on
a
soft clean carpet, and layed down a soft thick towel and lay down on my
stomach
with the Opti-Visor on. It never got more than 2" above the towel and
wouldn't
have gone anywhere this time had I dropped it. Tough little bugger to start,
I
felt like I was handling it with three foot summer sausages instead of
fingers.
Finally got it in, though.

Whew.

Sometimes you just have to find it, you know? I mean, hands and knees at
midnight with a paintbrush sweeping under your rollaway toolbox? Aarghh ..

GWE

At gunsmithing school we referred to that as "springout".
You are working on a gun, remove a major section, and all you hear is
the teensy sound of a tiny spring bouncing off the wall somewhere behind
you.

Marlin rifles always did that.
Damn those things are hard to find.

Nearly as bad as having the recoil spring or tube magazine spring get
away from you and bust the florescent light tube directly overhead...

Gunner

"Pax Americana is a philosophy. Hardly an empire.
Making sure other people play nice and dont kill each other (and us)
off in job lots is hardly empire building, particularly when you give
them self determination under "play nice" rules.

Think of it as having your older brother knock the **** out of you
for torturing the cat." Gunner

On Sun, 28 Aug 2005 03:52:38 -0500, Don Foreman
wrote:

On Sun, 28 Aug 2005 02:51:25 GMT, "Tom Gardner"
wrote:

The best way is to use what God gave you, a booger, to temporarily hold the
screw to the driver. (sorry, but it works)

What's the difference between broccoli and boogers?

Kids won't eat broccoli....


I thought it was parsley and pussy.
Nobody eats parsley.

We have an old garage here and a mechanic there who worked on older
land rovers was about 80 years old and sits on the garage floor with a
soda box bottom when he does carburettor work. He claims it's so
nothing can't fall off and roll away.
I have taken the glove box route and have disassembled some things with
my hands and the assembly in a big clear poly bag.
It seems you never have the right eyeglasses on for a butt in the air
floor search under all the equipment.

Grant,

Small parts, in general, seem to have homing devices in them. The
intentionally zero in on a small space under something and go there
(regardless of distance).

We have a raised tile (computer mainfaim type) floor at work. My area has a
small, 2" x 1", triangular hole under my bench behind my desk. Every six
months I remove the ajacent tile to clean out all the screws, allen
wrenches, small parts, etc., that have accumulated under it. It's a pain to
remove the tile because one of the bench legs, and it's a very heavy bench,
sits on it. I swear, 95% of all the things I've dropped in the previous six
months, that have "gone away", are there.

We have a Levine micro lathe with a microscope for doing really small parts.
Most of these vaporize in the atmosphere on their way to the floor

Regards

Mark
"Grant Erwin" wrote in message
...
I have and use 3 calipers. One is a Starrett 120-6. The other day I
noticed it
has two little gib screws on top, and one wasn't in it's hole but was
lying in
the case. No problem, I grabbed my reading glasses and jeweler's
screwdriver,
and, carefully holding it over the open case, started trying to put this
thing
-- a really really tiny little set screw, *maybe* an eighth of an inch
long and
maybe 4-40 but probably more like No. 2 -- and dropped it onto the case. I
heard
a faint "click" and then - VAPOR. I mean that sucker was GONE. I ran the
caliper up and down and sure enough the gib started slipping out. Oh,
well, I
have some people coming over so I figured I'd sweep up and it would show
up.

It took SIX HOURS over four days to find it! It was about twelve feet away
hiding under my lathe. I cannot imagine how it got the sideways momentum
to get
all the way over there. Today was round 2. This time I brought it upstairs
on a
soft clean carpet, and layed down a soft thick towel and lay down on my
stomach
with the Opti-Visor on. It never got more than 2" above the towel and
wouldn't
have gone anywhere this time had I dropped it. Tough little bugger to
start, I
felt like I was handling it with three foot summer sausages instead of
fingers.
Finally got it in, though.

Whew.

Sometimes you just have to find it, you know? I mean, hands and knees at
midnight with a paintbrush sweeping under your rollaway toolbox? Aarghh ..

GWE

"Grant Erwin" wrote in message
...

Sometimes you just have to find it, you know? I mean, hands and knees at
midnight with a paintbrush sweeping under your rollaway toolbox? Aarghh ..

My wife works in a dental lab (think of a very tiny machine shop/foundry)
where they cast tiny foundations for dental caps and bridges. She comes home
with at least one "lost case" story every week where everybody spends extended
amounts of time on hands and knees trying to find a tiny gold casting that tries
to "escape" by falling off the bench and taking a wierd bounce into oblivion.

Vaughn



GWE

We used to call it the "sproing coefficient". As in "Be careful taking that
thing apart, it has a very high sproing coefficient." Many complex
mechanical assemblies have a high sproing coefficient. As some time during
disassembly, there is a "sproiiiiiing" sound and irreplacable small parts
depart into the black holes scattered around the workshop that lead to
alternate universes.

--
Bob (Chief Pilot, White Knuckle Airways)


"Ernie Leimkuhler" wrote in message
...
snip
At gunsmithing school we referred to that as "springout".
You are working on a gun, remove a major section, and all you hear is
the teensy sound of a tiny spring bouncing off the wall somewhere behind
you.

Marlin rifles always did that.
Damn those things are hard to find.

--
"I love deadlines, especially the wooshing sound they make as
they fly by" - Douglas Adams

On Sun, 28 Aug 2005 02:51:25 GMT, "Tom Gardner"
wrote:

The best way is to use what God gave you, a booger, to temporarily hold the
screw to the driver. (sorry, but it works)

I use ear wax. Dig deep, make a circular motion and withdraw and the
screwdriver has a fair temporay screw glue, without the hairs found in
the usual booger.

Gunner



"Grant Erwin" wrote in message
...
I have and use 3 calipers. One is a Starrett 120-6. The other day I noticed
it has two little gib screws on top, and one wasn't in it's hole but was
lying in the case. No problem, I grabbed my reading glasses and jeweler's
screwdriver, and, carefully holding it over the open case, started trying
to put this thing -- a really really tiny little set screw, *maybe* an
eighth of an inch long and maybe 4-40 but probably more like No. 2 -- and
dropped it onto the case. I heard a faint "click" and then - VAPOR. I mean
that sucker was GONE. I ran the caliper up and down and sure enough the gib
started slipping out. Oh, well, I have some people coming over so I figured
I'd sweep up and it would show up.

It took SIX HOURS over four days to find it! It was about twelve feet away
hiding under my lathe. I cannot imagine how it got the sideways momentum
to get all the way over there. Today was round 2. This time I brought it
upstairs on a soft clean carpet, and layed down a soft thick towel and lay
down on my stomach with the Opti-Visor on. It never got more than 2" above
the towel and wouldn't have gone anywhere this time had I dropped it.
Tough little bugger to start, I felt like I was handling it with three
foot summer sausages instead of fingers. Finally got it in, though.

Whew.

Sometimes you just have to find it, you know? I mean, hands and knees at
midnight with a paintbrush sweeping under your rollaway toolbox? Aarghh ..

GWE


"Pax Americana is a philosophy. Hardly an empire.
Making sure other people play nice and dont kill each other (and us)
off in job lots is hardly empire building, particularly when you give
them self determination under "play nice" rules.

Think of it as having your older brother knock the **** out of you
for torturing the cat." Gunner

Yes, but we called it an Oh Jesus spring. Everytime you took it apart and
the spring would let loose to who knows where, you would mutter under your
breath Oh Jesus!


"Bob Chilcoat" wrote in message
...
We used to call it the "sproing coefficient". As in "Be careful taking
that thing apart, it has a very high sproing coefficient." Many complex
mechanical assemblies have a high sproing coefficient. As some time
during disassembly, there is a "sproiiiiiing" sound and irreplacable small
parts depart into the black holes scattered around the workshop that lead
to alternate universes.

--
Bob (Chief Pilot, White Knuckle Airways)


"Ernie Leimkuhler" wrote in message
...
snip
At gunsmithing school we referred to that as "springout".
You are working on a gun, remove a major section, and all you hear is
the teensy sound of a tiny spring bouncing off the wall somewhere behind
you.

Marlin rifles always did that.
Damn those things are hard to find.

--
"I love deadlines, especially the wooshing sound they make as
they fly by" - Douglas Adams

On Sun, 28 Aug 2005 13:14:29 -0400, the renowned "Bob Chilcoat"
wrote:

We used to call it the "sproing coefficient". As in "Be careful taking that
thing apart, it has a very high sproing coefficient." Many complex
mechanical assemblies have a high sproing coefficient. As some time during
disassembly, there is a "sproiiiiiing" sound and irreplacable small parts
depart into the black holes scattered around the workshop that lead to
alternate universes.

I'm just getting used to soldering and placing (and losing) 0402
components (0.02" x 0.04" x thin) and I hear (in addition to the
diabolically small 0201) they've come up with *metric* 0402 (0.2mm x
0.4mm x even thinner). Eyes are not something that gets better with
age.. and anything smaller than about 0603 can get sucked into a
solder blob by surface tension. Parts with 100 or more 0.5mm pitch
pins almost seem routine now.


Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany
--
"it's the network..." "The Journey is the reward"
Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com
Embedded software/hardware/analog Info for designers: http://www.speff.com

In article ,
Bob Chilcoat wrote:
We used to call it the "sproing coefficient". As in "Be careful taking that
thing apart, it has a very high sproing coefficient." Many complex
mechanical assemblies have a high sproing coefficient. As some time during
disassembly, there is a "sproiiiiiing" sound and irreplacable small parts
depart into the black holes scattered around the workshop that lead to
alternate universes.

I remember the shop manual for the MGA, when covering
disassembly of the transmission said:

"Withdraw the three sliding rods and forks. Note the balls and
springs released in consequence."

Since where I was typically doing such work was outdoors, with weeds
surrounding me, just "noting" them was not sufficient. Luckily, I
wrapped the area with a cloth before removing them the first time.

Had I not done so, they would have been irretrievably lost. :-)

With a proper examination of the disassembled parts, I was able
to figure out how to control the release on future work.

Enjoy,
DoN.

--
Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

On Sat, 27 Aug 2005 17:00:38 -0700, Grant Erwin
wrote:

snip
It took SIX HOURS over four days to find it! It was about twelve feet away
hiding under my lathe.
snip

Maybe this is the main reason to grout the machine tools onto the floor. I
know for a fact that whenever I've had cause to hunt for a screw or small part
under the lathe, cupboards, shaper etc., I've always come up with vast
quantities of chips stuck to the magnet, but rarely the 1.6mm x 3mm screw I
was looking for :-(.

I _want_ all my machines grouted to the floor and a dead smooth, semi-gloss
epoxy painted, spotlessly clean floor. I bet that when I get it, I'll still
loose stuff on it.


Mark Rand
RTFM

actually, what you need is a highly motivated shop assistant whose only
desire is to clean up after you and put everything back in the exact place
where you will look for it (regardless whether that location makes any sense
or not), and who is never injured by flying metal, and is immune to cursing

"Mark Rand" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 27 Aug 2005 17:00:38 -0700, Grant Erwin
wrote:

snip
It took SIX HOURS over four days to find it! It was about twelve feet away
hiding under my lathe.
snip

Maybe this is the main reason to grout the machine tools onto the floor. I
know for a fact that whenever I've had cause to hunt for a screw or small
part
under the lathe, cupboards, shaper etc., I've always come up with vast
quantities of chips stuck to the magnet, but rarely the 1.6mm x 3mm screw
I
was looking for :-(.

I _want_ all my machines grouted to the floor and a dead smooth,
semi-gloss
epoxy painted, spotlessly clean floor. I bet that when I get it, I'll
still
loose stuff on it.


Mark Rand
RTFM

May I suggest the application of a small piece of duct tape over the
hole?



On Sun, 28 Aug 2005 16:46:30 GMT, "Mark Mossberg"
wrote:

Grant,

Small parts, in general, seem to have homing devices in them. The
intentionally zero in on a small space under something and go there
(regardless of distance).

We have a raised tile (computer mainfaim type) floor at work. My area has a
small, 2" x 1", triangular hole under my bench behind my desk. Every six
months I remove the ajacent tile to clean out all the screws, allen
wrenches, small parts, etc., that have accumulated under it. It's a pain to
remove the tile because one of the bench legs, and it's a very heavy bench,
sits on it. I swear, 95% of all the things I've dropped in the previous six
months, that have "gone away", are there.

We have a Levine micro lathe with a microscope for doing really small parts.
Most of these vaporize in the atmosphere on their way to the floor

Regards

Mark
snip
Mike Patterson
Please remove the spamtrap to email me.
"I always wanted to be somebody...I should have been more specific..." - Lily Tomlin

jim rozen wrote:
In article , Grant Erwin says...

hiding under my lathe. I cannot imagine how it got the sideways momentum to get
all the way over there.

I've been known to disassemble things like dial gages and whatnot
inside of a large flat cardboard box. With all the inside
seams taped shut....

Jim


--
==================================================
please reply to:
JRR(zero) at pkmfgvm4 (dot) vnet (dot) ibm (dot) com
==================================================

I keep a few shallow boxes to store the parts of any item I have to
repair. Start disassembly, putting parts in a box until it's full.
This is especially handy when there is an array of parts which must be
kept in order -- lay them out like an exploded view drawing and set the
box aside. Then start another box. Clean and inspect as you go.
Repair or replace parts as necessary. Reassembly is easy -- no lost
parts and no leftovers when the last screw goes in. The cardboard
"pallets" that you get when you buy your six-packs four at a time are
perfect -- no seams in the bottom as when you cut down an ordinary
cardboard box.

Hopefully you'll never have a repeat, but.....

For those really tiny things; get a good flashlight , turn the lights out
and close doors, blinds, etc, then get real close to floor
and shine the flashlight around: every little speck throws a very long
shadow, shiny things show up real well, etc.

Ace


"Grant Erwin" wrote in message
...
I have and use 3 calipers. One is a Starrett 120-6. The other day I noticed
it has two little gib screws on top, and one wasn't in it's hole but was
lying in the case. No problem, I grabbed my reading glasses and jeweler's
screwdriver, and, carefully holding it over the open case, started trying
to put this thing -- a really really tiny little set screw, *maybe* an
eighth of an inch long and maybe 4-40 but probably more like No. 2 -- and
dropped it onto the case. I heard a faint "click" and then - VAPOR. I mean
that sucker was GONE. I ran the caliper up and down and sure enough the gib
started slipping out. Oh, well, I have some people coming over so I figured
I'd sweep up and it would show up.

It took SIX HOURS over four days to find it! It was about twelve feet away
hiding under my lathe. I cannot imagine how it got the sideways momentum
to get all the way over there. Today was round 2. This time I brought it
upstairs on a soft clean carpet, and layed down a soft thick towel and lay
down on my stomach with the Opti-Visor on. It never got more than 2" above
the towel and wouldn't have gone anywhere this time had I dropped it.
Tough little bugger to start, I felt like I was handling it with three
foot summer sausages instead of fingers. Finally got it in, though.

Whew.

Sometimes you just have to find it, you know? I mean, hands and knees at
midnight with a paintbrush sweeping under your rollaway toolbox? Aarghh ..

GWE

"Gunner Asch" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 28 Aug 2005 02:51:25 GMT, "Tom Gardner"
wrote:

The best way is to use what God gave you, a booger, to temporarily hold
the
screw to the driver. (sorry, but it works)

I use ear wax. Dig deep, make a circular motion and withdraw and the
screwdriver has a fair temporay screw glue, without the hairs found in
the usual booger.

Gunner

Stupid me! I use grease.

Harold

"Grady" wrote in message
news:XxmQe.9295$Sj1.4046@okepread04...
Yes, but we called it an Oh Jesus spring. Everytime you took it apart and
the spring would let loose to who knows where, you would mutter under your
breath Oh Jesus!

Yep! Jesus clip, Jesus spring, Jesus ball.

Harold

"Ace" wrote in message
...
Hopefully you'll never have a repeat, but.....

For those really tiny things; get a good flashlight , turn the lights out
and close doors, blinds, etc, then get real close to floor
and shine the flashlight around: every little speck throws a very long
shadow, shiny things show up real well, etc.

Ace

Placing your head on the floor, sideways, works well, too. The smallest
object stands out, and adding light could only help.

Harold

"Harold and Susan Vordos" wrote in message news:43127e06
Stupid me! I use grease.

Harold


So Harold, from what orifice do you get your grease? ...or do we NOT want
to know.

"Tom Gardner" wrote in message
.. .

"Harold and Susan Vordos" wrote in message news:43127e06
Stupid me! I use grease.

Harold


So Harold, from what orifice do you get your grease? ...or do we NOT want
to know.


Chuckle! Generally, the one at the top of the can. You know, the
can-------- the one with grease in it.

Harold

On Sun, 28 Aug 2005 20:25:57 -0700, the opaque "Harold and Susan
Vordos" clearly wrote:


"Grady" wrote in message
news:XxmQe.9295$Sj1.4046@okepread04...
Yes, but we called it an Oh Jesus spring. Everytime you took it apart and
the spring would let loose to who knows where, you would mutter under your
breath Oh Jesus!

Yep! Jesus clip, Jesus spring, Jesus ball.

I have a Jesus Clip Holder I bought from the Mac man many moons ago.
It's for those little clips holding the actuating rods onto the
brackets and throttles on those old things called "carburetors".

Silly me, I use a new tip in my magnetic screwdriver when screws
fall off. The new tip grasps brass screws well when a magnet won't.


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