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Krown Kustoms

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Im not sure if this fits in, but here goes.
I know that most people here are technical and organized especially with their current build.
A key thing im sure they do is keep up with their parts.
I made a spark plug .5 inch long .22 dia. (pretty small for me)
it took a while to build with milling the bottom then cutting and filing...
I lost it!!! :rant: I went upstairs for a minute, came down then the phone rang, answered it, then came back to it and couldnt remember where I layed it down. :wall:
I have looked for two days now and still no luck.
needless to say I have started a new one.
 
Been there - Done that...

When I built the Poppin I parted off the first brass bushing and set
it on the corner of the lathe bench. I finished the second bushing
and the first one was gone. After a short search effort I just made
a third bushing to replace the lost one. A few days later I did find
the missing one. It was embedded in the sole of my shop shoe.
At least I did get two good ones.
Poppin%20Valve%20Bushings.jpg


Rick


 
Krown Kustoms said:
I lost it!!!I went upstairs for a minute, came down then the phone rang, answered it, then came back to it and couldnt remember where I layed it down.

Don't worry. Don't worry. It'll show up...right when you don't need it anymore.

It's inevitable...it's like hanging onto something for years...you finally throw it out...then you need it the next day.

By the way...it doesn't help to 'pretend' you don't need it anymore. It know.
 
Yup ;D it'll turn up just as soon as you've finished the new one ::)

CC
 
It's when you lose the one that you made to replace the one you lost that things get a little out of hand. :eek: :eek: :eek:

Ask me how I know :-[ :'( :-[ :'(

Best Regards
Bob
 
A week or two ago, at work, I was oven-blackening the third set of railroad wheels I'd made (as spares, indending on using them on rolling stock), and I dropped one out of the shop rag I had them bundled in.

I felt it hit the rubber mat under my feet, and heard it hit something metal. That was the last I've seen or heard from it. :-\
Now I have three spare wheels, fairly useless without a fouth.
 
Some tricks I use to avoid the lost tiny part syndrome...

I keep a small clear plastic box on my workbench. Tiny parts go into it immediately after manufacture and remain there until they can be fitted. This works well but you need to develop the discipline to *always* put the part in the box - even if you're going to need it ten minutes from now.

Tiny parts with a hole (e.g., a bushing) are fitted with a bit of bright-red chenille (ask at the craft store - chenille is like colored pipe cleaners on steroids) before going in the box. If dropped, the chenille keeps them from bouncing and makes their location very visible.

Dip the tips of the forceps you use to handle small parts in liquid electrical insulation to make them slightly "gummy". Parts won't want to go "sproing" when you pick them up.

Before assembling or disassembling a small mechanism I cover the benchtop with a well-washed, white baby blanket. It, like me, is utterly unresilient. Drop a tiny screw on it from a height of 18" and the screw won't move more than a quarter inch from where it impacts.
 
I've found it only gets worse with age. :-[

Learn to laugh at it 'cause you are gonna do it again ;D

Like Marv said- learning a 'system' will help prevent the inevitable. <--- Is that even possible? ;)


Kermit
 
The metal munching shop gremlin has struck again ::) ::)
Tin :big:
 
Tin Falcon said:
The metal munching shop gremlin has struck again ::) ::)
Tin :big:

I find if I just keep them fed on 6BA cheesehead screws they leave everything else alone. I just need to drop one of those every few weeks and they are happy.
Bugs the hell out of me when it happens though as I have to import them from the UK to Australia.
Thankfully I bought them in bulk.
 
My version of that is that when I drop something it will go into a hidey hole where it cannot be found. I was working on an engine and had the carb off. I dropped a small part of the linkage and watched in horror as it disappeared down the intake manifold and then heard it keep traveling all the way to the intake valve. I could not get a magnet down to it, so the manifold had to come off. Ever since then I have always plugged holes with paper towels or shop cloths. Until the one time I missed the exhaust pipe disconnected from the header and had a nut make two or three bounces before it dropped into the one available unplugged hole and then slid all the way back to the catalytic converter. Had to drop the pipes to get it back.

I seem to be spending more and more time in that state of "Where did I put that?"
 
Since Marv has told us about his life's work, it is apparent that higher education has it's benefits. Who else among us has room on his workbench to spread a baby blanket? I don't have room to spread a shop rag. He has also found a fine technical use for the word 'sproing' ;D
 
Stan said:
Since Marv has told us about his life's work, it is apparent that higher education has it's benefits. Who else among us has room on his workbench to spread a baby blanket? I don't have room to spread a shop rag. He has also found a fine technical use for the word 'sproing' ;D

If you suffer from the "cluttered workbench surface" syndrome, you might want to think about some variant of what I've done.

I can't sit comfortably with my legs under the workbench due to a beam at the front of the bench. I built a small two-legged, folding table that attaches perpendicularly to the front of the bench with two quick-release pins. With it in place, I can sit comfortably at it to work and, when it's not in use, it folds flat and stores out of the way behind the mill.

Now the really nice thing about this table is that it sticks out far enough that it makes it impossible for my wife to park her car in the garage. [Yes, we still park two full size cars in Garaj Mahal.] This means that it's imperative, in the realest sense of the word, for me to remove the table when done using it. As a consequence, it's always available to provide a few square feet of uncluttered work surface when needed.

Bottom line: Motivating shop discipline with the SO's ire is a sure way to get yourself organized.

 
since the lost spark plug I have implemented a small plastic box between the lathe and mill and also came across a cabinet full of plastic slide out bins of all sizes.
Out of the 30 drawers ranging from 3in to 6in it took an hour to fill it up.
I too suffer from "cluttered workbench surface" I cant even spread out a red shop rag on the bench.
and yes the washer in the engine has happened to me as well, I wasn't so lucky I didn't know it was in there until I turned the key. :fan:
That one got bored .030 over and a new set of pistons. Thm:
 
My shop is in the basement and I have a handicapped wife who can't go downstairs, so I just build more work tables which are soon as cluttered as the first one. Would you suggest a mistress in the basement to motivate me, or even better to keep the tables organized?
 
Stan said:
Would you suggest a mistress in the basement to motivate me, or even better to keep the tables organized?

My wife suggests that you also add an escape hatch in the basement. ;D
 
My current experiment is to reduce my bench space to as little as possible, thus having a reduced area to pile junk on and an easier time cleaning it when needed. so much of the junk on the bench really needs to be stored elsewhere... as soon as I get an elsewhere defined.

Dropping little parts is a constant pain though-- I have foam rubber mats on the floor as cushioning, but it can really launch little parts. You have to listen "hmm.. sounds like it hit the aluminum sheets, then dropped into the steel bin..."
 
I have been using a one month method for junk collection.
It is pretty effective.
If I havent used it in a month, am not going to use it next month or havent seen it in over a month and didnt need it when I found it it gets trashed.
Thad of course dosent apply to stock materials.
The only problem I have now is, I find a need for something I threw away last month.
-B-
 
Krown Kustoms said:
The only problem I have now is, I find a need for something I threw away last month.

My problem is that even when I use the "one year method" I still end up needing something I threw out last week!

I have done better recently in the garage. I threw out 8 of the largest trash bags I could get all filled with stuff I no longer wanted to keep / store / hoard. Then I made 2 runs to the city dump with my pickup filled twice with larger "stuff". I now have everything up on shelves in the garage and have some empty shelf space, something I have not had since I moved here!
 
I was at work today so I had plenty of free time, I drew up a new garage floor plan.
I have a 7' x 4' x 3' powdercoat oven in the middle of the garage on casters. every time I need the room I roll it out of the way, that is getting old so this plan includes removing even more inventory from the garage.
I hope somehow this will minimize the clutter. With more room I shouldn't loose as many parts and maybe find my spark plug I lost in the first place.
-B-
 

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