Tools with legs

[jack]

1 hour ago, joe90 said:

Ha, I found my mixing paddle to mix some self levelling compound the other day and after a cup of coffee I spent nearly two hours trying to find it again, yes I was on site on my own, no one to blame AAAARRRRGGGGGHHHHH?

 

This is me every single time I do anything involving tools. I regularly lose things when I haven't actually moved from the spot, and it's getting worse as I get older! 

[Triassic]

I'm still missing a yellow fibreglass handled claw hammer, it's been missing for four months, no doubt it'll turn up, sometime!

[Barney12]

I lose my pencil more than anything. It's normally behind my ear  

[Jeremy Harris]

13 hours ago, Barney12 said:

I lose my pencil more than anything. It's normally behind my ear  

 

I solved this problem, and the mislaid tape measure problem.  I acquired loads of free 3m tapes from the company that supplied a lot of the pipe and fittings I used for the borehole; every time I ordered something they sent me a free tape measure.  Before Staples closed down here I went in and bought loads of pencils and sharpies in their sale, and have them liberally scattered around all over the place, along with the free tape measures.

 

The golden rule was to never put a tape measure, pencil or sharpie in your pocket, as before making that rule up they all used to migrate back to the old house, when I emptied out my pockets upon arriving home in the evening.  Before long I'd have accumulated a large collection if pencils, sharpies and tape measures on the shelf in the kitchen where I tend to leave the loose change, keys, etc from my pockets....................

[Construction Channel]

11 minutes ago, Barney12 said:

I loose my pencil more than anything. It's normally behind my ear  

I generally carry at least 5 pencils, gotta love howdens, free pencils and notepads  I won't list what else I generally carry as it will only start arguments...

[Crofter]

12 hours ago, JSHarris said:

 

I solved this problem, and the mislaid tape measure problem.  I acquired loads of free 3m tapes from the company that supplied a lot of the pipe and fittings I used for the borehole; every time I ordered something they sent me a free tape measure.  Before Staples closed down here I went in and bought loads of pencils and sharpies in their sale, and have them liberally scattered around all over the place, along with the free tape measures.

 

The golden rule was to never put a tape measure, pencil or sharpie in your pocket, as before making that rule up they all used to migrate back to the old house, when I emptied out my pockets upon arriving home in the evening.  Before long I'd have accumulated a large collection if pencils, sharpies and tape measures on the shelf in the kitchen where I tend to leave the loose change, keys, etc from my pockets....................

 

That's a good tip.

I know what you mean about things 'migrating'. For me it's jackets and fleeces. Usually pop one on for the short walk to the new house, then at some point whilst working I get too hot and dump it, and forget to pick it up again when I leave. I usually have at least four lying around the site at any one time.

 

I've found it a lot harder to organise tools as the house gets closer to completion- dwangs make great shelfs, so once the insulation was in everything ended up sitting on the floor. Fortunately a neighbour gave me their old sideboard as a house warming present and that's swallowed all my tools comfortably. Just need child locks on it now to keep wee sticky fingers out of there!

[Tennentslager]

Too much work but if you've ever been in a working RAF hangar...signs everywhere saying 'FOD kills' or 'FOD cost £50,000 last month' 

All tools have specialised boxes or containers which have an individual hook or slot for each tool. Usually with a silhouette painted inside to show where it goes.

Once the tech have finished working on an aircraft it's easy to see all the tools are completely accounted for and no one had left a screwdriver inside an engine.

Result, no lost tools and no FOD.

Foreign Object Damage.

Oh, and probably stops sticky fingered paras helping themselves to free tools in the dead of night when hanging about waiting for hours for the Herc to arrive??

Plus one to putting your name (or mark if it's a small tool) on all your stuff.

Still have my dad's tools all with his initials or mark. In his case it was .X.

They had a heavy duty engraving machine in his firm and everyone had a code or mark.

 

 

[daiking]

13 hours ago, Construction Channel said:

I generally carry at least 5 pencils, gotta love howdens, free pencils and notepads  I won't list what else I generally carry as it will only start arguments...

iPhone? A 9mm? Hip flask?

[Nickfromwales]

I won't even use tools that I gained inadvertently, and actively seek to get them back to who owns them. Working with other trades makes me realise that ethos is rare . 

Trades know their own tools well enough to realise it doesn't belong to them, so they know they're taking something that doesn't belong to them. 

Once had a pair of 8.4v B&D cordless drill-drivers, my first ever ones, and as I was using both drills I had the other two batteries and chargers out charging away from me. Went to refresh, and gone. Both chargers and both spare batteries. That got my blood boiling. 

 

[SteamyTea]

It can take me years to train people at work to put things back in the right place.

Had a student a couple of summers back, she insisted that she knew best.

Took me a while to break her, but I managed it.

 

There is an old joke about the forgetful secretary and her pencil.

 

Had the plug unwired from an extension lead once.

I am with Nick, don't nick others tools and if you find them, find the owner.

It is not the expense of them, it is the utility value.

Edited September 30, 2017 by SteamyTea

[Nickfromwales]

9 minutes ago, Tennentslager said:

Once the tech have finished working on an aircraft it's easy to see all the tools are completely accounted for and no one had left a screwdriver inside an engine.

Result, no lost tools and no FOD.

Foreign Object Damage.

When working on various RFA vessels i noticed those signs for FOD or FODDER. I asked and was told "Flying Object Debris" as they were on the helideck and inside the hangar. Didn't even register just how important it was to have a clear helideck TBH, but I guess it's drummed into the naval staff from birth. 

One of our jobs was to replace the roll out extension / earth leads that ground the helicopter. Wouldn't like to be the lucky guy who gets to plug that in . 

[ProDave]

16 hours ago, Dudda said:

I find some of my tools get legs and go missing when I'm working on my own in the house.

Yes. you would not believe the number of pencils I have lost carefully distributed around the house for use later.

 

I suffer just as much as anyone else with forgetting where I put a tool. Often I will walk off to get something, not realising something is already in my hand, and that something gets put down where I collect the item I have gone for, but of course I forget that.

 

What I find does help is to actually say to yourself (out loud if needed) "I am putting the tape measure on the window cill" etc. Then you have a slightly better chance of remembering where it is.

[joe90]

I actually have TEN tape measures, the builders laugh at me, but wherever I am there is bound to be a tape measure close by ?

[SteamyTea]

At least with ten tape measures, you can show that something really is the right length.

 

[daiking]

16 minutes ago, SteamyTea said:

At least with ten tape measures, you can show that something really is the right length.

 

Stop it. You’ll make the ladies blush.

[joe90]

Just now, daiking said:

Stop it. You’ll make the ladies blush.

 

It does not matter how many times I measure something it's not what I think it is ?

[Vijay]

for you pencil losers http://www.axminster.co.uk/c-h-hanson-retractable-pencil-pull-101888

[joe90]

Brilliant bit of kit, I made my own from a retractable ski pass cord ( before proximity passes were invented) and it worked well before wearing it out. Shame the Axminster one is out of stock.

[Barney12]

5 hours ago, joe90 said:

Brilliant bit of kit, I made my own from a retractable ski pass cord ( before proximity passes were invented) and it worked well before wearing it out. Shame the Axminster one is out of stock.

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HANSON-C-H-CO-Retractable-Pencil-Pull-/152623861822?_trksid=p2385738.m2548.l4275

[ProDave]

On the subject of pencils.

 

There was a time when the correct place to keep a pencil was behind ones ear. Sadly the onset of middle age, and the requirement to wear spectacles means the ear no longer works as a pencil storage location.

[PeterW]

6 minutes ago, ProDave said:

On the subject of pencils.

 

There was a time when the correct place to keep a pencil was behind ones ear. Sadly the onset of middle age, and the requirement to wear spectacles means the ear no longer works as a pencil storage location.

 

You need one of these @ProDave

 

http://gripclip.moonfruit.com/

[ToughButterCup]

On 29/09/2017 at 17:38, jack said:

[...] I regularly lose things when I haven't actually moved from the spot, and it's getting worse as I get older! 

 

Ditto.

To mitigate that little annoyance, I have taken to spraying half the tool with yellow marker paint. Now I have to remember to put it down yellow side  up; and to respray when the yellow wears off.

I don't like Stanley Fat Max tools (for no good reason: they are  OK) but I buy  some of them because they are yellow.

[SteamyTea]

How many of us that have worked 'on a bench', which is the same as a desk really, did not misplace things at work.

But do a few DIY jobs at home and things go missing.

I suspect it is the unfamiliar situation that is the problem.

It is similar to walking upstairs and forgetting why you went there, so have to take a trip downstairs to remember (and found you have wet yourself).

This is a 'boundary' problem and is innate.  It stops us getting killed when we get to junctions, or when we change from one environment to another i.e. forest to plain.

Now I suspect that those on here that work in many different places, on different jobs, are much better of keeping track of their tools, their work environment may well be centred around their tools, rather than the task.

But that is one for social studies rather than engineers.  And we all know that social studies is bollocks, and we all know that we loose tools.

[jack]

5 hours ago, SteamyTea said:

... did not misplace things at work.

 

Speak for yourself!

[curlewhouse]

On ‎28‎/‎09‎/‎2017 at 09:00, PeterStarck said:

I've never 'lost' any tools from site, but I have gained some and hundreds of nails and screws.

Yes, so far I've found one in my land rover tyre (luckily its a proper land rover with proper tyres, not one of the modern hairdressers cars land rover now produce, so the rubber is too deep for the nail to get through) -  about 80 of the 8 inch long screw things the SIPs people use, and then roofers apparently fitted the slates by throwing 1000 aluminium nails in the air in the hope 1 falls into a slate hole - or so it appears from  the many hundreds lying around the perimeter of the house now  (which as they won't rust will pose a hazard forever unless all found). I have a habit of spraying some of my tools with yellow paint - which identifies them as mine, though I do it  really so I can find them as I'm hopeless at putting things down and then wasting 10 minutes hunting for them - so bright yellow helps! 

Our cocker spaniel also pinches anything cylindrical or glove like - so screwdrivers, tins of expanding foam, mastic tubes and work gloves tend to disappear when my back is turned! 

Edited October 3, 2017 by curlewhouse