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then its like ‘eh…3 screws is good enough’
Who needs all of the screws for their brake calipers anyways?
“It’s OK, they always add extra screws”
Pro tip: When you drop a small thing quickly look down. Takes practice because you have to do it so fast, has to be a reflex.
You’ll often catch it on the bounce, and in any case, your ears are also pointed the right way.
Quickly look down, but don’t look around, keep your vision still. Then the bouncing crew’s movement will be easier to catch and you’ll at least be able to get a sense of direction. It’s been working really well for me and makes me feel like a super hero when I can find the dropped screw
I use a yoga mat as silly as it sounds. I place it under my feet. When things drop on the yoga mat, which is neon green colored, three things:
- Yoga mats have no bounce in them.
- Tiny ridges on it prevent screws from rolling around into oblivion.
- High contrast with the screw - I instantly see the screw.
Alternate option, get on the floor and look across where it probably is.
That’s how I usually find it.
Apparently if you are smart or clean regularly, you can just like… go buy some pantyhose for a dollar, and put a leg over the vacuum tube and just suck all the shit into it, typically including any screws. If you don’t clean regularly, you’ll be disgusted, but you’ll probably find the dumb screw.
As a bonus if you really wanna be lazy, you can put the hoes in the tube somewhere upstream of the main intake, so you can vacuum as normal and still catch the thing you lost.
As an ex computer tech, this is the way.
Have carpet, can’t confirm.
What’s up with this title?? Dropping something small and not finding it again is probably as close to a universal experience as possible
Only few will understand what’s up with this title…
skill issue
lay a flashlight on the ground aimed to where the thing fell, look for a shadow
“Holy shit I really need to vacuum this room.”
Never seen again… Until you step on it barefoot.
I had never seen a comment that is as painful as your comment😢.
spoiler
the spoiler increased the humor so much, I was expecting a story of something incredibly painful lol
I got one of those powerful rare earth magnets, so my lost screw percentage is way down, from 99% lost to only about 95% lost now!
I have two, one on a telescoping stick and one on a chain
They are never on me when I need them
And once you get up to fetch it, the screw makes a run for it.
I got a magnetic dish which has been a game changer for fallen and potentially lost bits and pieces.
Yup! I’ve even found needles dropped in shag carpet, and I found a small metal screw dropped in the grass once.
This is why I always kept my cat around when I was working on stuff. He’d track the dropped screws for me. Of course he’d also occasionally jump onto the table and fuck up whatever I was working on but there’s pros and cons to anything.
Newton’s fourth law of motion states: “A small screw in an observed state will never dissappear.” So, just keep your eye on it when you drop it and you’ll be fine.
If you watch it then it will always continue to roll or bounce until it lands somewhere inaccessible.
I made the mistake of having those color chips on my epoxy garage floor. Looks nice. Can’t see anything. Perfect camouflage for small dropped parts.
Drop another in the same spot and watch where it goes.
Great, now I’ve lost two screws. Any more ideas?
Do you happen to have 3 screws?
Not anymore!
the one remaining screw, a long zip-tie, some electrical tape, and two new cuss words later…
“all done. good as new!”
Our feet evolved to provide the perfect angle for dropped objects to bounce in a quasi 90° angle and go hide themselves under whatever table/desk we were working in front of.
Lay a flashlight on the floor.
In the horizontal beam of the flashlight, every mote of dust will cast a long shadow. Something as large as a tiny screw becomes easily visible.
Anytime I’ve tried this I’ve ended up with the rim of the flashlight being larger than the item I’m looking for so I just end up going “wow this is a dirty floor” and turning it off to look with my eyes
If your floor is so dirty that you can’t use the flashlight technique, it’s time to pick up a broom…
Funnily enough it’s always happened in someone else’s space where it’s not my place to tell them to clean up
I shake my phone flashlight around when looking for things, so it’s easier to spot and recognize objects.
- If you have a magnet, use that to find the screw
- If you don’t have a magnet, buy one immediately for the future, and then proceed to step 3
- Look for it with your peripheral vision, which is better at spotting deviations to terrain and shapes than your primary vision. I don’t remember the exact reason, but it has something to do with being able to spot predators out of the corner of our eyes.
- Use a flashlight pointed parallel to the floor. The shadow cast by the screw will look bigger than the screw itself.
That’s a good idea on a flat floor.
Or put pantyhose over the end of a vacuum wand, then vacuum the area you dropped it on. The vacuum will find the screw and the pantyhose will prevent the vacuum from ingesting it.
i don’t even bother looking for those anymore. If i drop something tiny i just assume it slipped through the cracks in reality and will re-emerge at a random point in time, past or future
I recently dropped a bearing and it rolled under my oven. Yeah that thing is fuckin gone.
