lost nuts!

[1Mech]

I hate it when you lose a nut or screw. It happened to me while adding a windshield wiper to my side by side last week. Indoors, clean concrete pad. Just dropped it a whoosh……it’s in cyberspace or a parallel dimension.

Happens with tools too! I just laid down the wrench, now I can't find it!!

 

[1Mech]

A few years ago I was building a rolling ladder for a library. It was a kit that had all the metal parts, I just had to cut the wood and put it together. After getting it all together, I took it apart to stain and seal the wood. I carefully put all the metal parts on my workbench is little piles so I wouldn't lose anything.

When I put it back together, I was missing a black crown nut. I looked for two days to try and find it. My mind was thinking up the craziest things that could of happened to it. Finally, I gave up and bought a new one from Lowes and painted it to match the others. I had to do some filing on it to get it perfect, but when I was done, nobody would ever know that it wasn't the original nut.

After installing it at my clients house, I started another project. This time, I decided to use my magnetic bowls to hold everything in. When I picked up the magnetic bowl, I found that missing nut underneath it. My guess is that a cat bumped it off the bench and it hit the magnetic bowl on the way down, and stuck to it where I couldn't see it.

The entire time I was looking for it, it was just a foot away from me and I never thought to look there!!!!

And you wondered why the cat was grinning like a Cheshire cat. That cat knew, it was no accident!

 

[newbury]

Well I've 2 comments to add to this thread:
1. Keep magnets around. I like to keep small "doughnut" shaped magnets around and "magnet bars". The doughnut magnets I'll tie to a piece of monofilament, great for fishing out small parts with Iron in them. Or stick one on any piece of metal then just drop small nuts, bolts, etc. to stick to it. The magnet bars (I've got probably a half dozen or more) are like what Harbor Freight used to give away or sell for $1. They are great for "sweeping" like TSA looking for metal before you board a plane.

2. On finding the really missing stuff. It turns up right after you've replaced it.
About two Saturdays ago our son (35yr old) who lives with us in Virginia came home from the local grocery store, laid his wallet down (he thought), couldn't find it the next day.
We about tore the house and his car apart. No wallet, he thought he might have left it at the grocery store and they couldn't find it. Cancelled his credit cards, went and got replacement badges, drivers license, ID's etc. last Monday.
Early Tuesday he found it underneath a desk lamp that has a slightly elevated base and it had just gotten pushed out of sight, BY HIM.
He had searched the room 5 times at least. It had been waiting for that magic karma signal all things have that tells the universe the lesson (in this case - be careful where you put valuable things) has been taught again.

 

[Camofurever1]

It never fails, you drop a metal fastener of some sort.......where does it go? It hits the toe of your boot and flys at warp speed right under that old, heavy metal shelving unit with the 3/4" gap under the bottom shelf, never to be seen, ever again. One of these days, I am gonna unload that shelving unit, move it and open up a hardware store with all the brand new fasteners that got launched under it for the past 30 years......

 

[kydick]

i know what you mean.....i have the same problem too.....but i have figured out what the problem is.... ITS GHOSTS.. i have at least 2-3 i think. i will be working on something and lay my tool down and get another one to use. when i need the original tool again i go to get it and its not there. i look where i laid it down and its not there i look and look and look and i just cant find it. i even look where i know i didnt lay it down. so i go back where i started from and there in plain sight there it is...it has to be ghosts. they pick it up when my back is to them and they pick it up and puts it into their pocket. ghosts being invisible i cant see what they have in their pockets and when they quit having fun with me they will just lay it right back in plain sight where i had laid it down. thats the only exclamation i have for it.

 

[TBob42]

I believe the phenomenon you describe has to do with short duration worm holes. It the same thing that causes socks to disappear from the dryer.

 

[square1]

This will be one of the themes in my "Things that happen, which you couldn't do if you tried" thread.

 

[DGZRT]

For the floor get a chunk of Egg Crate foam. Lay under project . Great for your knees and if washers and nuts fall the foam captures it and keeps from rolling. Inside engine try and place magnetic tray under nut in hope of catching it when it falls .

 

[Smokeydog]

Finding dropped stuff is now part of my exercise routine as I have gotten older. Some days I can really feel the burn.

 

[lman]

I lost a nut once and looked for some time. I finally gave up and was putting my tools away when I saw the nut attached to the magnet on the base of my light. Now when I lose something like that, I look under the light first.