Where did it go?

That is a corollary to Murphy's Law. In order to find a lost object, buy a new one. The old one will magically reappear.

....and if you are not wearing shoes, you will step in the most sharp edge or point (Lego Addendum)

How often have you searched for an item and discovered that it's already in your hand?

Did you ever notice that when you've lost something ,you always end up finding it in the last place you looked...of course that's because once you find it you stop looking...

 

 

 

Its not that the parts get "lost" that bothers me.

Its the laughing, and taunting from their hideaways.

Besides the worst is looking for your lost spectacles, you need them, to see them

The best idea is the watchmakers trick.

The real solution is to pay for repairs   

 

I agree with Elliot, have extra parts on hand and the lost one magically appears.

I try to put an old bath towel on top of the surface I'm working on, then if a screw or something small is on the towel, it is less likely to roll off the edge before I have a chance to put it in a temporary tupperware holder or something similar.  Still a problem if I drop the part out of my hand over the edge, but stops those accidental bounces and rolls.

My tools vanish when I set them down on the bench, right where I am working. Most usually re-appear on the bench right in front of me, after completing an extensive search of the entire area of course.

I too suffer this affliction, and it's not exclusive to tools.

Sounds like I have lots of company....

Sorry, but that doesn't always work. You HAVE to buy a new one! It's when you leave the house that the old one comes out of hiding.

Nate,

   Don't be frustrated. Been there/done that!

   I don't have a solution for you, instead I have my story. I was working on prying apart one of my prewar Pennsy metal cabooses. All of a sudden, the tool box that is underneath came loose and I was 100% certain, based on the angle of how I was holding it, that it went down to the floor in front of my workbench. I looked for 20-30 minutes, but no luck. I asked my wife to help and she found it (in 5 min.) not on the floor but on top of the workbench. How it shot upward I'll never know. 

 

Tom

  

With all of us down on the floor on our hands and knees looking for that kit's custom

casting, I don't see why I haven't banged heads with some of you, but, instead, it is

usually a table leg I crash into.

That's the "fresh set of eyes technique".

The fact you asked a woman doubles your chances of the "new eyes" having success.

No there's no explaining it, it just is.

If you step on things you drop, restaurant floor mats have cells/pockets for chunks for food to fall into. That way your shoes aren't looking like they have hash-brown patties for soles. (They're easier to stand on all day)

On occasion something will bounce off a cell wall, traveling sideways like a bad kick-off bounce.   That's when you invite Tom & the Mrs. over for dinner & trains

Here is a way to find small lost screws or parts on the floor. Take a panty hose and put it over the vacuum hose and the part will hopefully get sucked up and caught in the panty hose. Just don't let your wife catch you using her panty hose.

I agree 100%!  It's also related to the law that states a flying particle will seek the nearest eye.  

Adriatic,

   Thanks for inventing our new business..."Tom & Joann-- Missing Train Part Detectives." We enjoy barbeques if anyone is hiring!

 

Tom

white sheet on the floor underneath where you are working.

I also work on top of a white towel.

Tools and parts aren't the half of it.

 

Mom was right.

 

My grandson is a big help too, for a second set of eyes. If he is here when I drop something he finds it immediately. He gets around like a cat under the layout table, quite well! Sometimes when he comes over he finds things under there and gives them to me. He knows I can't see very good so he is always on the lookout. He is very helpful. He is also quite good with those tiny springs in Kadee couplers.