Pencils,Tape Measures and Safety Glasses

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rdunn12

rdunn12

Member
Joined
Dec 2, 2007
Messages
1,098
Location
Gardendale, AL, USA.
Is it just my shop or does everyone else's shop seem to eat them.:confused:I spend a lot of time looking for pencils,tape measures and safety glasses.Sometimes the hammer can't be found also and I have at least 5 of them.Just wondering if it is just me!Sometimes they just disappear.:rolleyes:I think my tools like to eat pencils.Or maybe I am getting old and forgetting where I put stuff.NAH!!It has to be something with the shop.:biggrin:
 
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YUP... it's the shop monkeys. They like to watch us run around looking for something; then after a couple of hours they put it right there under our nose.
 
Wow, and I thought I was the only one.

I know I had that a minute ago.

How bout this...Looked for something for a half hour and then realize it was in your hand all along.
 
For me it is the Grand Kids. I go in the house and look in their goodie boxes and there they 100 pencils, 3 or 4 tapes and eye and ear protection.
 
I sharpen pencils 10 at a time and leave them all over the shop. I also have 6 of those little 6" metal rulers lying around. Those are two things I've got to have or I get CRAZY!:curse:
Almost forgot.....Sharpies, gotta have Sharpies!
 
Sharpies and pencils, I have them inevery drawer of my shop and I have a BIG box of pencils just in case. yes they do disapear at an amazing rate. Tape measures. I have a half dozen rulers hanging on the wall and usually can find at least one. I have 4 tapes and usually have to search for one.
My shop pretty much eats anything you lay down though. I searched for nearly a half hour for a half blank the other day that I had just had in my hand.
 
Me, too! :rolleyes: For me it's the chuck key, either for the drill press or the Nova chuck.

One thing that seems to work for me, when I can't find "it" (whatever "it" happens to be at the moment), I start cleaning. At least I get something constructive done and usually I end up finding "it" in the process.:biggrin:
 
Shop gremlins like to antagonize me too. I can lay my _________ (insert any tool etc) down, turn around and it's gone. Next thing I know, It shows up on the __________ (insert any other place except where I layed it down).
 
I guess I'm different or may a little anal... I have a place where I keep each tool when not in use... hammers on the peg wall, tapes hang on a bar over the work bench, pencils in a pile on the work bench, and I walk the 6 or 8 feet from the lathe back to the bench every time I use one of them to put it back where it belongs, otherwise, I'll never find it again... Now my calipers, which are supposed to hang in a metal loop on the side of my little lathe, that seems to walk around the shop all the time... I seem to always be looking for where I laid it the last time I used it.
 
Yeah, some of those posts are pretty funny, but I'm with Chuck, I have a dedicated spot for everything, problem is every once in a while I get into a reorganizing frame of mind and then I can't find anything:eek::biggrin:
 
I have at least 3-4 tape measures laying around the shop, and pencils everywhere as well as sharpies - but never there where I need them...:biggrin:
l have rare earth magnets on my lathe that hold the chuck keys as well as some spare bushing, knock-out rod etc. On my drill press I have them also for the key and on my bandsaw to hold some hex keys - I think these little magnets are the best thing since sliced bread. And when you use pencils with the eraser, they also will be held by a magnet.
 
The last time I bought a tape measure, they had some bright orange ones on sale. Those are a lot harder to lose than the chrome ones. Pencils and rulers are the worst. I bought a couple of new rulers at the last woodworking show and laid them down somewhere in the show. Heck, they didn't even make it into the shop. :frown:
 
my solution to the missing pencil... go to your local Office Supplies store, and buy a box of pre-sharpened golf pencils.. got 100 for something like 8 bucks. then put them EVERYWHERE. and you can always to back to the box cause you KNOW theres one there!
 
I know where every tool in my shop is:rolleyes:.......the last place I left it:wink:, if not then its where I moved it from where I thought l left it:confused:. Or its under 6 inches of shavings:rotfl:, see how organized I am.:glasses-cool:
 
I try to keep things in their place, but the little shop gnomes do tend to move things. I found one of those pencils from Home Depot works great. It attaches to your belt and the pencil slips into a rubber sleeve and it has a retractable cord. Harder to lose, but not impossible. Then I often find the pencil with my glasses, after much looking around, on the top of my head. I do best when I clean up after each task.
 
Monty said:
Shop gremlins like to antagonize me too. I can lay my _________ (insert any tool etc) down, turn around and it's gone. Next thing I know, It shows up on the __________ (insert any other place except where I layed it down).
Click to expand...
I'm with Mannie, except I think I have underwear gnomes hide my stuff, they are wretched little suckers.
 
I use to have that problem, but now I just eyeball everything for measuring and marking.
:)
 
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