OK I Know

[montmill]

Ok, I know when opening a pen kit you should be over the table, have a little container to drop them in and have a rug underneath. Yesterday I was in a hurry so you know what happened. The small ring from a Diamond Knurl pen kit dropped on the concrete floor. I wasn't too worried because i did have a carpet close and assumed it rolled into that. No, after getting my wife and tearing the shop apart we still couldn't find it. At last I thought, could it have bounced up 8-10 inches and landed in one of the boxes I store blanks in under my workbench. Yup, that's where it was. What's your crazy story about finding dropped pen kit parts?

 

[KenB259]

I have gremlins in my shop. Whenever I drop something, they scurry out grab it and retreat to their hiding place. I have not been able to beat them. Wherever they live, they have quite a collection of pen parts. The sneaky little buggers also take tools and wait to put them back after I have replaced the tool.

 

[Hartwell85]

Been there many times. Whenever I drop small parts in the shop, the gremlins always move them underneath the workbench or other work stands requiring me to get down on the floor to search for them.

 

[Darios]

I have gremlins in my shop. Whenever I drop something, they scurry out grab it and retreat to their hiding place. I have not been able to beat them. Wherever they live, they have quite a collection of pen parts. The sneaky little buggers also take tools and wait to put them back after I have replaced the tool.

Tape measures. At any given day I'll have between zero and five of them. Next month, I'll have between zero and six of them. Then seven. Then three. etc.

 

[jttheclockman]

Right now I am working on alot of watch part/ gizmo trinket pen blanks and you do not know how pieces I have lost and I am actually working on my desk. They just bounce off and never to found again. My eye sight is not what it use to be either so that does not help. Plus I am always forgetting where I put things down and that can be as little as 5 minutes ago. Don't get old is what I heard.

 

[carlmorrell]

Losing parts is one thing. I have dropped more than one pen during assembly. Now I have a rubber mat over the concrete floor. Dropping small parts on the floor is like a trampoline. Never ceases to amaze me how far a part can go after hitting the mat.

 

[Monty]

I'm currently working on a baseball laser inlay kit. I lightly coat the baseballs with CA glue to keep any black from bleeding into it when I to fill in around the outside area of the ball. Picked all 6 up, put them back in the plastic container the kit comes in walked into the house in the kitchen and sat down, open it up and I missing one baseball. I know all six were there when I left my shop Who knows what happened to it Had to call Ken and have him send me another ball.

 

[jttheclockman]

I'm currently working on a baseball laser inlay kit. I lightly coat the baseballs with CA glue to keep any black from bleeding into it when I to fill in around the outside area of the ball. Picked all 6 up, put them back in the plastic container the kit comes in walked into the house in the kitchen and sat down, open it up and I missing one baseball. I know all six were there when I left my shop Who knows what happened to it Had to call Ken and have him send me another ball.

It is stuck to something. Bet you will find it after the other one arrives. just happens that way.

 

[carlmorrell]

Back in the 80's I was building a metal 1/12 scale Ferrari. I "lost" one of the pieces, a tie-rod. I thought it fell to the floor, could not find it. I then went to a hobby store to buy a dremel tool (still use the heck out of that tool), and made a tie-rod. A while later, I was cleaning my bathroom, and found the original tie-rod between tiles in the grout. It was found 20 feet from where I dropped it. Must have been hiding in my shoe (or under it) and carried to my next destination!

 

[Marko50]

I'm pretty sure there's a black hole in my shop, sucking in everything that isn't nailed, screwed or welded in place. I kid you not.

 

[RunnerVince]

My shop is on my second-floor balcony, which sits above the concrete patio of my downstairs neighbor and of course the lawn, along with a drainage grate several feet away. If I'm not holding a finished project when I come in from the balcony, my wife automatically says "what'd you drop?"

 

[egnald]

At this stage in life when something comes up missing in my shop I usually look for a little while, then I text my son to see if he has it at his place. The answer is usually, "Yeah, I think so".

I bought a new staple gun this morning. - Cheaper than driving to my son's place to get mine, especially now. It costs me about $25 in gas for one round trip these days. Now, where did I leave that stepladder?

Dave

 

[sorcerertd]

Parts always go under my workbench. It's like a parts magnet. I keep a piece of bubble wrap on the bench to keep things from running away during assembly.

Back in the 80's I was building a metal 1/12 scale Ferrari. I "lost" one of the pieces, a tie-rod. I thought it fell to the floor, could not find it. I then went to a hobby store to buy a dremel tool (still use the heck out of that tool), and made a tie-rod. A while later, I was cleaning my bathroom, and found the original tie-rod between tiles in the grout. It was found 20 feet from where I dropped it. Must have been hiding in my shoe (or under it) and carried to my next destination!

At least you got a Dremel out of it. That's one of my favorite tools ever!

 

[wolf creek knives]

Sometimes my front pocket of my shop apron is the culprit. I've found all kinds of stuff in that big pocket, not just sawdust. Sometimes my hand is the culprit. I'll be looking for something just to find its right in my hand. Talk about feeling dumb.

 

[randyrls]

I have a set of earbuds. One dropped out and I could NOT find it. Ordered another set and then found the missing one hung up in some wires behind my computer??!!

 

[Rob H]

Now when I drop something on the floor I seriously ponder whether I need it in my life anymore.... Getting old sucks I don't recommend it.

 

[Darios]

Getting old sucks I don't recommend it.

Beats the alternative.

 

[Monty]

Sometimes my front pocket of my shop apron is the culprit. I've found all kinds of stuff in that big pocket, not just sawdust. Sometimes my hand is the culprit. I'll be looking for something just to find its right in my hand. Talk about feeling dumb.

Like looking for your glasses and finding them on top of your head.

 

[Mike]

A long time ago I could not find my romex cutters anywhere. 10 years or so later I found them on top of a shelving unit I built that is 7+ feet tall. Must have been wiring something in the garage and set them down and forgot where. And I wasn't even old yet! We have lived in this house for 35 years.
And I agree so far, getting old is better than the alternative. My great grandmother made it to 107 and she always said every day above the dirt is a good one.

Mike

 

[egnald]

I always remember -- that I had to look for it the last time I needed it, so I put it somewhere I would be able to find it -- but, I just can't seem to remember where that was right now. - Dave

 

[Woodchipper]

Lost a guide for a fly rod that I was building. Was grinding the foot flat; it caught and flew away. Got one from a friend. Six month found it in the workbench drawer.

 

[SteveG]

I really think gremlins are unjustly being given an undeserved bad rap! After all, it is US, the worker in the shop, who looses those small parts and misplaces the tools. It is our trusted friends, the gremlins, who find those same items, and put them in a secure place. Thus the gremlins insure that we will be able to find those important items in the future. Gremlins are our friends! Be sure to remember to put out plenty of gremlin food, and treat them nice.

 

[byounghusband]

I was working on a Dodge Dakota I had years ago. I had a socket set with about 20 sockets, SAE and Metric and a handle and extender. Got the job finished and put my tools away. Left for the weekend and our daughter threw a huge party while we were gone. Beer pong in my shop and everything. (whole 'nuther story on the fallout from that) When I went to do something I discovered that socket set missing. It has been a gift from Grandma, and it had some sentimental value. I tore the shop apart looking for it and all I could find was stuff from the party. I swore one of her friends(?) must have taken it. I made her buy me replacements after a bit of arguing. Fast forward a co0uple more years and I am replacing the radiator on that same Dakota. I dismantle everything and lo and behold, next to the fan was that socket set. It was left under the hood and slipped down and out of sight. As I walked back to the garage with it in hand, guess who comes out of the house?? Wife and Daughter. I couldn't hide fast enough to escape the lashing I had coming. Man, did they both wear me out over it...

 

[KMCloonan]

I keep a plastic tub directly beneath the lathe ways - The tub is wide and deep and most of the wood chips, drill worms, etc drop into the tub (except for whatever the vacuum picks up during turning). I have found this tub to be a portal into another dimension - it is a black hole for bushings. I will be removing a blank that I turned between centers, and one of the bushings will fall out of the blank and into the tub - and disappear. I have dredged the tub, dragged a large magnet through it, and never find the lost bushing.