To catch those mistakes

C

ceebeenq

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Jan 29, 2002
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This is probably not a new idea to many here but maybe somebody will benefit.
One night, while assembling a couple kits and seeing, (sometimes only hearing) some small part go flying away from my fingers or tweezers or whatever tool I had ..........and onto the floor where they would be swallowed by dust monsters :eek: :D
well anyway, this was for the birds, I says to meself, and I made a sort of assembly box.
Used 1/4" hardboard and some wood scraps. 24" wide, 12 " high, 12" deep with "walls" on sides and back. Made a slant on the back third of the side walls and can fit an undercounter flourescent fixture on a rack there. for light ;) Can also use an overhead desk lamp or similar if desired.

big enough to get hands and forearms in and keep the small parts in too. Also use some 1/8" thick hobby foam (dense stuff - I got at Hobby Lobby) as a base mat. It provides a soft and non-slick surface .....the hardboard by itself is too slippery.

That's about it. Maybe some others have tips on workbench practices or other similar idears.
;)
CbnQ
Oh yeah, I forgot to put these in where I was describing small parts flying into space:
:curse: :curse: :curse: :D
 
Are those dust monsters the same critters that live in the clothes dryer and steal my socks?

I bought an apron from Micro-Mark that does the trick. The top fastens around your neck and the bottom to the underside of your workbench. My problem now is to take the time to put it on. Murphy waits till I’m doing a rush job without the apron and then he sends a critical part out into the great void.

George
 
apron

George, I hope that apron isn't fastened too securely .......I would get up to answer the phone, forget to disengage and flip the workbench, put a kink in my neck and smash my shins all at once. :D I guess I watched the 3 stooges too much as a child. :D

does sound like a good idea if those little parts only fly downward.....mine seem to arc into low orbit :mad: :D
cbnQ
 
Not as a preventive measure, but to find parts.... Get a cheap shop vac and put a panty hose leg up the tube and fasten it with duct tape to form a filter. Now vacuum the floor and your part should be in the hose. You might even find them screws and dinker dorkers you lost 2 years ago. You also get brownie points with the wife if you convince her you are cleaning up after yourself. DASH
 
Another one you can do is cut a 3" PVC pipe lengthwise and sucure it the the bellyside of the bench to catch what rolls off. Won't catch da springsaflyin' but it will get dem partsarollin'

I often just work on the itty-bittys in the lid of a large "Tupperware" I so often use for storing parts, tools, and supplies.

Glossary:

Bellyside - the side of an object that normally faces your belly, or rubs again' it, depending on size of said belly.

Hostage - a small part of a model, usually a spring, or an item that was spring loaded.

Partsarollin' - parts rolling off the bellyside.

Springsaflyin' - micro UFOs, proven to exist by the fact that when they fly away, they always take a hostage. One has never been captured. On rare occasion, the hostage will be relaesed somewhere on the floor. Often the hostage is found smashed and dead.
 
I just gave up, my eyes can't handle it anymore, especially on the springs for Kadee HOn3 trucks. Ever try building those?

I buy that tiny stuff fully assembled any pay the premium to avoid frustration. Pretty much everything else I build myself.

DOG
 
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