Yesterday afternoon was not a great one

I was working on a small tiller motor and dropped a screw down in the crankcase. I could hear it rattling around but shaking it upside down wouldn't let it drop out of the crankcase oil fill hole. I thought to myself "If I was shaking this over tall grass I'll bet it would fall out". About 3 shakes over 12" tall weeds it fell out. It took me forever to find it.
 
While working in the machine trades in the the 70's, because the US declared they were going 100% metric (which they didn't), half of our customers wanted new machines manufactured in metric and the other half manufactured in English. It was a nightmare. Two sets of precision measuring devices (mics, calipers, etc.) in both metric and English. Half metric/half English hardware. Some of our CNC machines were English only. Some would convert English/metric. Some of our blueprints were English and some Metric. I did this for about 25 years. I can convert metric to English in my head. And I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not.
 
I use white plastic trays from long consumed microwave meals, plus a generous supply of magnets from the hardware store. Made a work surface as I call it from plywood coated with white Contact paper.
 
I have an R/C truck with some weird 2.5 mm metric screws that hold together an upgraded part that they sell a lot of. What they don't make clear is that you need some hard to find oddball screws and nuts, so you pay about 3X what a couple of hunks of plastic should cost to make the upgrade.. They make you buy twice the number you need for one truck or car, so that's annoying too.
 
Since metric fasteners (and the tools to work with them properly) are a concern. Here's a tip a buddy passed along to me recently. He's found that Allen wrenches coming from overseas are frequently not exactly to spec (usually a fraction on the small side, causing no end of trouble when in use and you have to set or un-set a given allen screw)... His advice for Allen wrenches- buy American and from reputable outfits.... And here I thought it was operator error whenever an allen item went south on me...
 
So metric and standard set screws and such are determined by feel. It's tough to teach feel.
Caps crews mostly have identification marks. One troubling exception is many drain plugs.
Nuts aren't marked.
Scope rings , action screws , ect. you can tell by FEEL.
Torx is far superior but at times they still require FEEL.
 
A good chum from high school took the course at Colorado School of Trades. They taught that getting down on all fours with a magnifier and flashlight was called assuming the gunsmith's position.

One time I had just finished polishing a floorplate button for a Mauser 98 and the blasted thing popped out of my fingers as I was reaching for the little bottle of cold blue. After a full hour of checking every possible hiding place around my bench, plus pulling up the floor mat and then the floor itself, I gave up and started over with another part from my Mauser spares box.

I never order one small part if I can afford two. One to use and one to lose.

BTW, In case you've ever wondered, here's a photo of the infamous engineer and lawgiver Edward A. Murphy, Jr.

MurphyTheLawyer.jpg
 
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The differences in threaded fasteners can be maddening !
The worst I ever encountered was a Brown-Bavari turbine/generator unit built in 1956…It had a random combination of SAE, metric, AND Whitworth.
Talk about confusion !
On the gun work side of things, my problem isn’t fasteners (I use magnets and ziplock bags…a lot!)
Springs are what gives me the heebies. Something too small to fit in a ballpoint pen tries for a low orbit, but failing that lands in a previously unexplored nook or cranny. I’ve taken to tying about a foot of white dental floss to them before removing or installing. With a kite-tail they can’t travel as far, and are much easier to find.
 
teerex.otw said:
The differences in threaded fasteners can be maddening !
The worst I ever encountered was a Brown-Bavari turbine/generator unit built in 1956…It had a random combination of SAE, metric, AND Whitworth.
Talk about confusion !
On the gun work side of things, my problem isn’t fasteners (I use magnets and ziplock bags…a lot!)
Springs are what gives me the heebies. Something too small to fit in a ballpoint pen tries for a low orbit, but failing that lands in a previously unexplored nook or cranny. I’ve taken to tying about a foot of white dental floss to them before removing or installing. With a kite-tail they can’t travel as far, and are much easier to find.
Click to expand...
British tractor , three cylinders were a compressor for blowing paving saw joints. Flood of 93 took it.
 
I feel your pain. Been there, done that. :oops:

I've used a Frankford Arsenal Media Magnet to locate small parts that disappeared from the top of the bench.
 
jmorris said:
Many threads on firearms are oddballs. The 10-32 is common but you won't find 6-48 at most hardware stores.

View attachment 1249786
Click to expand...

My local ACE hardware and the one in the town 22 miles south used to have a fair selection of gun screws. I guess they weren't profitable enough and have disappeared in both stores. I keep a strong magnet with a telescoping handle and a small but very bright flashlight handy and that works maybe 50% of the time. If not it it is time to call in my wife that most of the gremlins are scared of and will return what they absconded with but sometimes even she fails.

Back when vehicles were still repairable by someone without being a computer whiz but had started using some foreign parts it was a real PIA having to have both a SAE and metric tool set and not able to just look at something metric and know what size wrench to use. I guess full time mechanics learned how but we once in a whilers did not get enough practice to do that. As a welder in the oilfield I carried a thread guage on my truck to measure stuck and broken bolts I had to remove. No need on the old stuff unless it was large but a good idea to measure on the newer.
 
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doubleh said:
Back when vehicles were still repairable by someone without being a computer whiz but had started using some foreign parts it was a real PIA having to have both a SAE and metric tool set and not able to just look at something metric and know what size wrench to use.
Click to expand...

Back in those days you also had British Standard to deal with too, not only nut/bolt head size difference but pitch and thread count.

Enough of them still out there...

British Tools & Fasteners

britishfasteners.com britishfasteners.com
 
I have a bad back so bending over is a pain. I use a spring loaded claw to pick up dropped primers and other non ferrous metals and other small parts.
 
Those small snack sized ziploc baggies and a sharpie are a godsend. Even more so when you put a project in a box for an extended time.
I once got a pistol with a missing ball bearing that held the loading gate in place. Used a drill index to determine the size (1/8) and went to the bearing store. It only cost 4 cents and I reasoned it might go missing again so I purchased 10. It took 9 tries and hours of looking for the other 8 to get it working. At least I still have a spare. 😵‍💫
 
nettlle said:
While working in the machine trades in the the 70's, because the US declared they were going 100% metric (which they didn't), half of our customers wanted new machines manufactured in metric and the other half manufactured in English. It was a nightmare. Two sets of precision measuring devices (mics, calipers, etc.) in both metric and English. Half metric/half English hardware. Some of our CNC machines were English only. Some would convert English/metric. Some of our blueprints were English and some Metric. I did this for about 25 years. I can convert metric to English in my head. And I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not.
Click to expand...
We went through that at Caterpillar. Unreal angst and expense.
 
When comes to doing anything around here, my family has a saying for me: Grampster's Luck. It is Murphy's Law Squared. In addition, if I walk within two feet of any tool I will begin to bleed and the tool will magically fall down behind the closest object that is tall, wide, close to the wall and very heavy.
 
Doubleh - imagine what it's like when your right thumb and first 2 fingers can barely feel anything and your index finger is arthritically "locked" in a position that looks like it should be on a trigger. I can't even make a decent fist with my right hand any more. :fire:
 
At least you can see them, in my case if they fall more two feed away of my FOV I declared them KIA until a miracle bring close to me. BTW I bought in amazon two chains of screws male/female gauge Metric/SAE, I'm sure you can cheaper with another vendor.

 
Since most of my mechanical skills (the few I have...) are focused on keeping my fishing reels running properly I learned the hard way when ordering parts to buy more than one of any small parts needed when stocking up.. Every now and then some small part will turn up - after it was lost - months ago... but generally it does save much aggravation to be able to reach for another screw, spring, or washer that's gone south after a teardown, cleaning and trying to re-assemble a piece of hardware - ask me how I know...
 
Hello.
I always find the metric screws I want on Aliexpress.
Use electronic calipers set to metric to determine the diameter and length.
Example: M3x20 is a 3mm diameter screw, 20mm long. Threads are standard.
It is actually much easier to use metric hardware, but in the U.S. I understand the frustration dealing with both systems.
Gil.
 
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