Lost part

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Rof} Rof} Rof} Rof} Rof} Rof} Rof} Rof} Rof} Rof} Rof} Rof} Rof} Thm: th_wav I also needed a GOOD laugh !
 
I had cast the logo of my car, it is made of three shapes in alu.

I ground and polished the bigger piece, then the smaller piece and started to work on the smallest and last piece. It always is the last piece, isn't it.
On the belt sander, I lost grip and it went flying. I heard it fall, bounce off the car wheel and then a metallic tink. OK, so it is near the shelves.

I have spent an hour worshiping the floor, could not find it. I have since cleared out the garage completely and still have not found it. So I made a new one, knowing that I would find the original seconds after I finished it. The alternate Me most be happy because he now has two last pieces.
Belt sander, wheel and tink. Worship some more. Nope, gone.

So I modified the logo, now all I need is two pieces.

Lykle
 
mklotz said:
The concept of another me frightens me almost as much as it must frighten you.

Actually, it's funny because there is another me and he lives nearby here in southern California. Neither my surname nor my given name is very common so the existence of a nominative Doppelganger, especially one so close, is really surprising.

Shortly after I moved to SoCal, I was living in Westwood, quite close to the UCLA campus. I kept getting phone calls for "Professor Klotz" from students who wanted extensions to the due date of their semester projects. That's how I learned of the existence of my Doppelganger. It turns out he's a (spit) liberal arts, wine and cheese type who wouldn't know a micrometer from a C-clamp.

A few years ago, I stumbled across one of the books he co-edited at a library sale and snapped it up to put on my shelf next to the quantum mechanics text to impress the sort of people who are impressed by that sort of thing.

MYBOOK.jpg


Oh, and to close the story, after a while I got really annoyed by the phone calls and started granting the students generous extensions on their project deadlines. I may have even told a few that they were excused from submitting a project.

Marv---That is kinda scary!!! A couple of months ago, I was surprised to learn of my demise, on the internet. Apparently there was another Brian Rupnow living in USA somewhere, and the poor fellow passed away. Although Rupnow is a very rare name up here in Canada, it seems there is an entire tribe of Rupnows (non of whom I have ever met) living in Wisconsin.
 
I dropped a small gear wheel while standing by my bench a couple of years ago,I looked everywhere for it also a friend came round at that point and helped, I even tried dropping a similar sized piece on the floor but it just stayed exactly where it landed without rolling off somewhere! anyway ,after a couple of hours, could not find the cog. This was for the Liney RV2 and I had ordered the 2 cogs to come with the kit, this was infuriating as I was just about finished and it would take 2-3 weeks to have a new one sent over!

In the end I remembered that I had a small gear cutting wheel that I picked up somewhere so I decided to have a go at making one as I have an RT (never tried before!) after a lot of sweat I got a good one that meshed nearly perfectly, just needed a touch or two with a Swiss file.

Shortly afterwards I moved house and shop and one day, I had to pull right out the drawer under the bench to rummage for something and there in plain view ,right at the back, was the lost part!, I'm sure that I looked well in there and that it was closed at the time ??? ???

anyway, at least I learned how to make one!

Giles

 
lmao..... :big:

OK, last night I was thinking about just such a topic.

I was making some dimple dies for my jet engine burner cans, to go into my rivet squeezer. 1/2 inch stainless, about 7/8 inches long total. I started parting it off, and I was soooo pleased that my 9 x 20 lathe was parting it like a champ, ;D it just kept rolling the chip ribbon out, going deeper, and deeper, and deeper, until it broke smoothly free and rolled down into the lathe, ....headed that-a-way, into the ways, under the spindle. Perrrrrfect! Yeah, I LOVE my new parting tool! Life is awesome!

I turned the lathe off, and pulled the stock out, giving the hot part a few tics to cool off. I pulled the slides back and away, and went to grab the part, ...and it wasn't there. It wasn't under here either, it wasn't under that, and oddly, it wasn't even under this... There wasn't much swarf, but just to make sure, I pulled all of that out. Nope, I must be missing something here. It went right... down... here...

AHA! ...The Super Stinger flashlight and mirror to the rescue, ...but, alas, the mirror was empty too :-\.

So, I opened up the gear door, ...and nobody was home there either.

Not to worry, once I take the chip shroud off, there will be no place to hide. ::)

Awwww COME ON! (10 minutes has gone by now)

Behind the tray on the bench? Nope.

On the floor? Nope.

Under the bench? Nope.

It couldn't have gone into the motor's fan shroud! It won't even fit in there... will it? It HAS to be in there. It's only 3 screws, albeit hard to get at, besides, I don't want that thing ruining the fan. ....Well how can it ruin the fan if there is NOTHING IN HERE!

All I need is the step stool. I'm just too short to see it. Altitude enhancement, that's the ticket!

COME ON! This is STUPID! :mad:

(20 minutes has passed now, and the dog, sensing the moment, has now disappeared :eek:)

Chip brush bristles go around corners quite well. Nope.

Acid brushes can be bent around corners... Nope.

AIR! THAT WILL flush it out! Nope.

Sticks, dental picks, bar stock, shake the table, ...yell at it.... Nothing!

(27 minutes has gone by, and now I am calculating whether my 205 pound middle aged body can pick up a 275 pound lathe, and put it back on the bench, after I shove it on to the floor and roll it around angrily, and DUMP IT OUT of there!) (ONLY the fact that I recently spent many hours getting all my taper out of the spindle, and aligning the tail stock, prevents this from actually happening, there was no question that I could get it onto the floor at that point, and really, I didn't care so much about getting it back up there so much anymore anyway. lol)

(The dog is looooong gone now)

So, I slam the gear door shut, and decide that I am going to bed....

Plink...

You heard me.

Plink...

Out of the night sky, and into the tray, dead center, under the spindle, right where I knew it landed 34 minutes ago.

Kiss... my.... tail stock....


:big:

That just ain't right.

How quickly a blissful moment can become.... something else... lol

Cheers..

 
Much sympathies.

I normally wear some kind of pull-over or T-shirt at home. No pocket.
I couldn't find my glasses the other day. I spent a half hour looking and got pretty hot about it.
That's right. This shirt had a pocket.

And speaking of the "dog sensing the moment"...after I found my glasses I had a question for my wife. I couldn't find her.
 
A few years ago I once wrote just the thing for this thread . . . . A Case Study: PILAFBS

Although I've become much more aware of it and careful about it, I've always seemed to have occasional bouts of the "Dropsies" which come on when I least expect it. You know what the Dropsies are, that irritating practice of dropping little parts (or big ones for that matter) while you are filing, or transferring them from the vise, or in some other way have the darn things suspended in the air within your fingertips. But the Dropsies problem is one that in the end I have control over and can take steps to improve or eliminate if I choose. The more universal problem I am referring to is one that is quite beyond our control and comes into play only after the precious part has left your fingertips and lept to freedom. I've named the problem, and the object of my inquiry, PILAFBS, or the "Post-Impact Lateral Acceleration of Falling Bits Syndrome".
For the non-scientific this curious phenomenon is defined as follows: "The tendency, when dropped, and upon impact with the workshop floor, for a very small but crutical part to: A) accelerate laterally with several times the energy that it could ever possibly have developed during its fall, and B) and at an angle that is completely random and bears no relationship whatsoever to either the dropped object, it's dropping point, the floor surface, the obstructions thereupon, or position of your feet". A perplexing subtlety of the problem, not evident from this definition, is that the more time invested on the part, the faster it accelerates. The PILAFBS problem continues to perplex scientists and model engineers the world over and at the moment no preventative or cure is known.
The second part of the inquiry was to develop an equation for determining MCT, or "Maximum Crawl Time". This would be the maximum amount of time one is justified in spending crawling around on hands and knees in the chips on the workshop floor looking for the lost bit, often with a flashlight and/or magnifying glass, before coming to one's senses, regaining ones dignity, and beginning work on a replacement. From my own experience, the more times you have been struck with PILAFBS, the less likely you are to expend valuable time on a search which you inevitably will come to realize is a fruitless waste of energy. The only consolation you will have is the certain knowledge that years from now, when your heirs clean out the shop, they will find a treasure trove of tiny, beautifully crafted, but inexplicable bits behind and under this bench or that machine.
In closing I have to say that you may be comforted to know that there is an exception to the PILAFBS phenomenon which is of course summed up in the "Chuck Corollary", which states simply that "When dropped, the free-fall of a chuck will invariably be interrupted by ones foot, where it will come to rest thus neutralizing the effect of PILAFBS. Of course for the purposes of this inquiry "rotary table" or "dividing head" can be substituted for "chuck" in the equation with no loss of effect. Further reports of my inquiry will be posted as work progresses.

H. Wade, Professor Emeritus (© Harry Wade 2001)
Dept. of Unexplained Workshop Phenomenon
Wotsamatta U.
 
I subscribe to the 'Parallel Universe Theory'--If you have ever read any of "The Bachman Books" by Stephen King, you will know that just beyond the universe we all know and love there is a parallel world full of maniacal trains, unspeakable monsters, strange gunslinging cowboys, sheepherding werewolves, men who glow, along with compression springs, small gears, tiny pistons, and assorted small shop tools. None of you have ever seen it, but just as you are looking down, scratching your butt (Or anywhere else that itches, ---After all its your shop!!!) a vortex in the space-time continuum opens and sucks these things thru.---AND THEY NEVER COME BACK!!!
 
Brian
Sounds plausible.... the butt scratching thing is probably setting up a modulation in the harmonics of the portal and opening the gate by acting as some sort of triggering sequence. Gotta admit I'd be thinking twice about using any part that might have encountered a Glowing Cowboy.... but then come to think of it.... after the butt scratching admission, the same goes for the parts you are making. Now.... go wash those hands....this time with soap. (grin)

Steve
 
Steve---My secret it out.---I'm a total sci-fi and fantasy hound!!! Ever since I discovered Ray Bradbury back in '61 or '62 I have been a sucker for this stuff. I have complete collections of Bradbury, Heinlein, Arthur C Clarke,---even at one time had almost the complete set of "Conan the Barbarian" and the old "Doc Savage' stuff from back in the 1930's. I had all of the "Barsoom" collection by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the Tarzan creator.-Actually I had most of his Mars stuff . Steven King ain't no slouch either, but you have to read ALL his stuff to see how he ties all his books together. And Oh Yeah---Mans adventure does it for me too.---Allistair MacLean, Hammond Innes, Wilbur Smith, and yep, Dick Francis!!! I am currently reading Pat Conroys newest book "South of Broad". My favourite fantasy authors at the moment are Robin Hobb and Johny Ringo.---Yeah, I know---Where the heck do I find time to read, machine things, write magazine articles and even occasionally (Too Damn occasionally) do some real engineering work?-----Brian
 
Brian,
I do not agree that "things never come back". I firmly believe they "rotate" in and out of our universe on some unknown time frame, possibly influenced by thought waves. Witness the problem of finding a phillips screwdriver, all of the ones in the drawer are straight blade, and an indeterminate amout of time later when you go to the drawer for the straight screwdriver you JUST saw there it is gone and they have all been replaced by phillips. Honest I just set down a #2 phillips Now it's a 1/4" flatblade, really. Very strange, like those particles that fade in and out in a cloud chamber...No I'm fine, you can take the straps off...i'm harmless, no really...

:) MikeR C
 
Brian Rupnow said:
Steve---My secret it out.---I'm a total sci-fi and fantasy hound!!! Ever since I discovered Ray Bradbury back in '61 or '62 I have been a sucker for this stuff. I have complete collections of Bradbury, Heinlein, Arthur C Clarke,---even at one time had almost the complete set of "Conan the Barbarian" and the old "Doc Savage' stuff from back in the 1930's. I had all of the "Barsoom" collection by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the Tarzan creator.-Actually I had most of his Mars stuff . Steven King ain't no slouch either, but you have to read ALL his stuff to see how he ties all his books together.

This checklist of at least part of my book collection deserved a Karma point. ;D


rcplanebuilder said:

So did this story. ;D
 
Harry,

While I mostly agree with your PILAFBS theory, I disagree on one small point. Rathern than departing laterally in a random direction, my experience suggests that the tiny part will more often than not bounce under the nearest large object. Also attractive to the errant part would be an ever-so-slightly-open drawer and if there are multiple slightly open drawers, it will wind up in the deepest, fullest one, not necessarily the closest.

Chuck
 
Brian
I got hooked on Sci-Fi reading in the 1970's while doing long night shifts tending a huge AC&W Defense radar on a rather isolated mountain top. My first crew chief had a marvelous paperback and sci-fi magazine collection that must have numbered into the 1000's, running from the 1930's forward.

I know where you're coming from.... trust me...LOL. I might be the only living soul who ever read the entire Gor series by John Norman and one of only a handful of Spider Robinson fans..... author of the Callahan's Crosstime Saloon series.

Steve
 
I just remembered my best dropsy ever.
This one happened before I built my workshop.
I some times make silver jewellery for my wife.
I had made her a sterling silver reef knot bangle.
As they are only small items I used to set up a fire proof tile on the old table in the games room and solder on that.
Once it was finished it needed to be polished.
I didn't have a vibratory tumbler back then so I used to use my buffing machine.
Now remember I didn't have a workshop back then and another improtant fact is I live in the bush in the hills.
Buffing makes a lot of mess so there was no way I could do that in the house so the buffing machine used to get set up on my decking.
Hey I had great views whilst I worked, what more could you ask for.

Here are a couple of photos of my old 'workshop'

workshop2.jpg


workshop1.jpg


Now I'm sure you can all see what is coming now....

Finished silver bangle that is still flat and after polishing will get bent round as its an open bangle.
Bangle sat on wooden board with small peg in it to hold bangle still when polishing.

Almost finished polishing and peg pulls out of board.

Bangle shoots off board hits decking railing and goes skyward towards the natual bushland sloping down hill.
That was almost 5 years ago.
The bangle is still somewhere in my back yard. :big:
 
Brian Rupnow said:
Steve---My secret it out.---I'm a total sci-fi and fantasy hound!!! ---Brian ...

I am also a sci fi fan, Doc Savage is almost impossible to get here now although I Read lots in the 60's. Now a fan of Terry Prattchet & have a full set of hard backs - very ironic and funny.

Best book - Stranger in a strange land Heinline - have read several times and will do again.

 
Douglas Adams (sadly not with us anymore) of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy books describes a portal where odd socks, biros and teaspoons slip through to end up on a distant planet somewhere all together, Im sure that a lot of small parts end up there too!

Giles
 
I don't seem to have trouble with parts disappearing, though there are at least two wrist pin circlips from model airplane engines on the shop floor that will never be found. The trouble I have is when I'm in the middle of working on something while thinking about something else and I set a part or tool down. Occasionally, I find I spend 15-60 minutes looking for it and when I find it's exactly where I left it. However, something I took apart months ago I'll remember the exact details of where the parts are and what needed fixing, etc. My bench is a disaster right now. I'm completely out of storage space. I did add a machinist box this year so that helps with tools, and I'm much better about putting them away when finished.

Last week, I was looking for a lathe manual I purchased on CD last year. I need to get the lathe set up and the disc was nowhere. So I ordered another. A day after I got the disc, I was googling for more info about the lathe, and of course I run into a PDF of said manual for free. :redface2:
 
When I ran my clock repair business I was trying to put a small spring back into it's barrel for a clock that was about 100 years old it got a way from me and disappeared in my shop I had to find it because to order or make a new one you had to have the old one for the size. So after tearing my shop apart searching every where, getting mad, getting discusted, and waiting on customers and about a hour and a half later I finally found it but for the life of me I don't how it got where it was at. Cliff.
 

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