Tricks of the trade

[RichardG]

That has never happened to me, not even once,,,,,,,,,, in the past 11 days. Cleaned up the shop area a week and a half ago and put things in order which was a big mistake. Now that it is a bit of a mess again, I found what was missing and all is well.

I envy (hate) seeing those posted photos of an immaculate shop. I take solace in a comment from one of my old work partners that was responsible for the machining part of our own factory. He used to say that other than in an operating room if you go into a work area and there are no little bits and pieces and such laying around, they don't have many customers.

Allan

I've worked in two exceptions. A jewellery workshop where losing a diamond could cost you your job, and an organ pipe workshop where lead is used extensively and the whole place had to be cleaned every evening for H&S.

My own ship building area at home alternates between being incredibly tidy and incredibly messy

 

[Roger Pellett]

Tuna fish cans: FabricatIng tiny brass 1:96 scale parts, a week’s work can disappear in an instant to either never be found or discovered after you have spent another week building a replacement.

A simple solution is a tuna fish can kept on my workbench. These are wide relative to their depth so don’t knock over quite as easily as other containers. After spending way too much looking for lost parts, I have trained myself to keep needed parts in the can. When working on a part and say needing another tool, don’t put the part down on the workbench; put it in the can! It’s amazing how easy it is to flick a part laying on the bench into oblivion.

Roger

 

[RichardG]

Tuna fish cans: FabricatIng tiny brass 1:96 scale parts, a week’s work can disappear in an instant to either never be found or discovered after you have spent another week building a replacement.

A simple solution is a tuna fish can kept on my workbench. These are wide relative to their depth so don’t knock over quite as easily as other containers. After spending way too much looking for lost parts, I have trained myself to keep needed parts in the can. When working on a part and say needing another tool, don’t put the part down on the workbench; put it in the can! It’s amazing how easy it is to flick a part laying on the bench into oblivion.

Roger

Excellent.

 

[AllanKP69]

Tuna fish cans:

Sounds like a great idea. I will be having a tuna sandwich tomorrow and cleaning out the can then moving it to the work bench (the can, not the sandwich.) Thanks for the idea

 

[Namabiiru]

Sounds like a great idea. I will be having a tuna sandwich tomorrow and cleaning out the can then moving it to the work bench (the can, not the sandwich.) Thanks for the idea

With the added feature of being able to bring the smell of the ocean to your shipyard!

 

[RichardG]

With the added feature of being able to bring the smell of the ocean to your shipyard!

Which will soon become the smell of ammonia if not sufficiently cleaned out.

 

[Jim Fortnam]

Sounds like a great idea. I will be having a tuna sandwich tomorrow and cleaning out the can then moving it to the work bench (the can, not the sandwich.) Thanks for the idea

Here, tuna comes in ring pull cans. Beware the sharp edges all round. I run a scraper sharpener around to safe edge them, or just the shaft of a chunky screwdriver if in a rush. They make good paint pots too, because the sharp edge is good for wiping off excess paint from your brush.

J

 

[DAWarden-(Jaager)]

If you fix the can to a base - say a square of Sandeply or something similar in your scrap box - even it will not tip over.

 

[Pat H]

Need clips for small, hard to reach places ?
Sewing suppliers have small plastic clips used to hold cloth seams together until they can be sewed. (The clips don't mind being used to hold model parts together.)
Out of the package, the clips have small bumps on the jaws that grip fabric. The bumps can easily be removed using a flat needle file.
The lower jaw is flat while the upper jaw has an arch, giving the modeler choices on how best to grip parts.