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  1. #31
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
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    Berowra Waters
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    149

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    I know this is an old thread but it reminded me of a trick I was shown years ago by my friend who is a clock maker, and I’ve used it a few times when I worked in a tackle store repairing fishing reels. When you drop a small item and can’t find it, get a piece of SWMBO’s stockings and put it over the end of the vacuum cleaner hose nozzle, then just gently vacuum around and the lost piece will magically appear in the stocking, easy !

  2. #32
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Location
    Murray Bridge S Aust.
    Age
    71
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    5,945

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    That's a fantastic idea, THANKS. But it's no good to me, as it means I have to have a clean floor first.
    For metal bit that I loose, i put a large magnet in a placky bag and wave it over the area where I think it landed, then go in a larger circle till I find it. Usually about a metre away under something, or under the middle of the car, where it's hard to reach!!!!
    Kryn
    To grow old is mandatory, growing up is optional.

  3. #33
    Join Date
    Sep 2004
    Location
    Dardanup W.A.
    Age
    72
    Posts
    331

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    A good way to find small parts on a CLEAN floor is to shine a nice bright torch across the floor from just above ground height, and look for the long shadow that shouldn't be there.
    This has saved my bacon on more than one occasion.

  4. #34
    BobL is offline Member: Blue and white apron brigade
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    Perth
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    7,183

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    Quote Originally Posted by ptrott View Post
    A good way to find small parts on a CLEAN floor . . . .. . . . .
    That's pretty unlikely is my shed

  5. #35
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    Healesville
    Posts
    2,129

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    Some time ago I had a mower shop, I was cleaning a brush cutter carb out and the metering needle lever spring disappeared into thin air...... it was an odd one and I didn't have a spare so me and the 2 mechanics searched high and low for it for about an hour.
    No sign of it? So I drove to the supplier/importer of that machine and walked in the door and the bloke said g/day Shed are you after metering needle lever spring? and he was chuckling a bit....My first thought was that this guy is a psychic, then he reached over plucked it out of my beard.......

  6. #36
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Location
    Perth, Western Australia
    Age
    67
    Posts
    362

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    I have not found any parts in my beard but am often digging out lost bits of swarf.

    An 8mm ball and spring flew out of an electrical switch I was cleaning/repairing. Waved the magnet around, vacuumed the floor twice. Found the spring but the ball is hiding somewhere.

    Bonus is I found a 6" rule I lost a couple of months ago.

    Tony

  7. #37
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    Athelstone, SA 5076
    Posts
    4,255

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    yesterday I spent nearly 2 hours looking for battery operated dewalt grinder..2 bloody hours wasted...even checked my office and car to no avail...it was there on thursday..or was that wednesday or the day prior...any ways some time last week....

    then the thought passed me mind...did that stupid husky take it off the bench (like she has down with ....tape measure, calculator, new 12v solar power regulator, work gloves (many times), lead sinkers etc etc...looked in all her hiding spots..nup not there.

    ran extension cord and used 240v grinder and did what I had to do

    30mins later son comes into shed with ....you *&^%ing ...lol

  8. #38
    BobL is offline Member: Blue and white apron brigade
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    Perth
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    7,183

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    Last week I dismantled an old electric soldering iron that I'm using in my dispersed oil particulate (DOP) generator. The power cable is retained to the handle via a white 5/16' nylon grub screw which makes contact with a thick plastic sleeve over the cable. I thought I had only loosened the screw to remove the cable but when I turned the iron over it fell out and rolled across the bench down in the gap between my woodie bench a my table saw. Hands and knees and a torch allowed me to see it had rolled about 150mm under the bench. Whew!

    Later I needed to bring all the pieces up to the house for attachment to the DOP so to make sure I didn't lose the grub screw I par screwed it back in its hole. Seems like I didn't screw it far enough because when I got up to the house and into my electronics room (~50m) the screw was gone. Searching in the house was relatively easy - it's all polished floor boards but of course there's always the possibility it had rolled under something. So hands and knees and a torch - nothing. Then - time to look in the back yard. I always walk the same way to-from the shed which narrowed it down a lot, but the BIG problem was the 10m or so of pathway I walked was covered in leaves and seeds from the 4 Chinese tallow trees.

    I thought a quick look long the pathway, and if no luck then back to hands and knees - two steps and there it was sitting right in the middle of a leaf.

    Occasionally one does get lucky.

    Talking about people stealing stuff. I also kept losing my 150mm metal ruler I keep in my electronics room so kept buying new ones. A few weeks back I was rummaging around SWMBOs craft table and there stuffed in an old glass jar I spied, 3 x 150 mm rulers !

  9. #39
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Location
    sydney ( st marys )
    Age
    64
    Posts
    4,887

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    Sorry to hear such a boring description of what you were doing or trying to do but glad you found it.
    So the abridged version would be I found something I thought I lost.

  10. #40
    BobL is offline Member: Blue and white apron brigade
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    Feb 2006
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    Perth
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    Quote Originally Posted by pipeclay View Post
    Sorry to hear such a boring description of what you were doing or trying to do but glad you found it.
    So the abridged version would be I found something I thought I lost.
    Sorry it was boring, but Yes, lost and found twice within 5 minutes and the second time with a zillion to one chance of finding it. I think that used up my luck for the rest of my life.

  11. #41
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    Berowra Waters
    Posts
    149

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    Shedhappens beard story wins the prize, no doubt.

  12. #42
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    Berowra Waters
    Posts
    149

    Default Shed wins

    The beard story wins the prize for sure still laughing about it.

  13. #43
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
    Location
    Bungama SA
    Age
    52
    Posts
    960

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    This reminds me of something similar and funny that happened a few years ago...

    Was at a mates shed one day and he was complaining of loosing pencils all the time, a few weeks later we had a small show there you know a few brews between mates 44gal in half with a few smokey sticks in it... I remembered the pencil comment so brang a box of pencils with me.
    After a few to many sitting at the shed door facing the fire I opened the box of pencils and started hurling them one by one over the shoulder into the depths of his shed he said are you doing... fixin yer problem I said!

    Years later still no pencils have been found yet
    ....................................................................

  14. #44
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Location
    Perth, Western Australia
    Age
    67
    Posts
    362

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    I have a theory that lost shed pencils are conspire ring with lost socks from the washing machine to drive me nuts.

    Tony

  15. #45
    Join Date
    Sep 2012
    Location
    York, North Yorkshire UK
    Posts
    6,444

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    Hi Guys,

    Pencils ! Yes I have a few, light brown wood, mostly half size, soft black lead ones...

    After visiting Ikea I always seem to have one in my pocket
    Best Regards:
    Baron J.

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