A round pumpkin.

My wife attached a decorative fall pumpkin refrigerator magnet to the fridge.  I took one look and did the hmmmm....  If fits well in the palm.  It has a round magnet about a 1/4 inch thick.  So, I snuck off into the train room to experiment with it.  It is great for picking up screws!  I even had a laptop torn all the way down the other night.  I used it on the deep holes where the screws don't come up out of the hole.  It has just enough strength to suck those screws right out of the deep holes.  Right now it is back up on the fridge, right where I can find it if I need it.  Don't tell my wife!

For you guys losing screws on the floor and can't find them, I found a 4 inch thick magnet on an adjustable handle during a sale at Harbor Freight.  It is powerful!  You would be surprised what it can find in the carpet or between the grout lines of tile.  When one of those tiny screws gets away I can get that tool and sweep it above the floor and anything metal gets found real fast.

Den

Great idea, Dennis........................

....................and the main reason I swore off brass and SS screws!  Along the same lines a bright LED Mini Mag Light set on edge on the floor will let you see any tiny parts that are nearly invisible from the top.

Next..................................??!!

Peter

glue caps

the closable spout that comes on the Tightbond wood glue that Home Despot sells fits onto the top of a quart size Elmer's white glue. So don't throw those caps away.

Peel very thin multistrand wire......

..... burning the insulation with a match. then peel burnt mess between two fingernails. No broken strands!. Jose.

rubber bands

One of my many things that I do to keep my legs and feet safe is to put rubber bands around my Exacto knives.  This keeps them from rolling off and seeking your feet or legs!  I avoided a few of them before and finally said no more near misses.

other use for saliva

licking fingers to pick up small bits is one way we use our spit.  

I was putting some MT couplers on N scale cars this weekend and chasing one too many sprung springs then I remembered "the trick" ~ just spit on it.  Well just wet it a bit with a little saliva on your finger tip and you improve the odds of that tiny tinsey spring staying in that spring pocket until the top is on.

I've got lots of coupler conversions in my future, some will be the fully assembled ones but many are the DIY build your own from the kit ones.  Got me a two boxes of old Kadee and MT couplers to use and lots and lots of Rapido equipped old rolling stock.  

Yes I do have the official MT/Kadee tweezers with the notch.  That's also very handy.  

. . . . . . 

Yes, there are days when I ask myself - Why "N" ?  When I play with these tiny springs and other bits.  Of course I can take a break and play with my garden railway G scale trains getting them ready for next year's outdoor season.  

There are some rubbery,

There are some rubbery, anti-roll "things" available for X-acto knives which are triangular in cross section. They're about 1.5 inches long.  I only buy one. Then I cut it into short sections and have enough to use on several knives. (I keep a couple X-acto knives at my workbench, another one in the garage, and one out on the layout.)

How about these...

I've learned more than a few tricks over the last 40 years of electronics and MRR building. Here's a few.

1. VCR capstan drive motors have real strong magnets (up to 4" diameter) on the bottom just below the copper field windings. Mount one on the end of a hardwood dowel, pass it over the floor in your work shop and you'll have no problem finding steel screws, springs or whatever else will stick to a magnet.

2. A small piece of HO cork road bed makes a great cover for the blade on an Xacto knife (or pointed razor knife blade). Simply make a slot in the end of the cork enough to insert the blade while it is still attached to the knife. As well, the cork will prevent the knife from rolling on the work bench.

3. Defunct hard drives are a great place to find real strong magnets as well. Open up the hard drive, remove the circuit board, disassemble the mechanical parts and remove the magnet. They are excellent for magnetizing screw drivers and holding parts.

4. Methyl-Hydrate, on a paper towel or old rag, will remove dried up spots of Acrylic and Latex paint as well as removing permanent marker lines from smooth surfaces, except wood.

5. If you know anyone who works in the medical profession you may want to ask if they have any worn out tweezers or forcerps. I still have some given to me in 1976. CAUTION: be sure the tweezers or forcerps are completely immersed in alcohol before accepting them with your bare hands.

6. In a pinch, Methyl-Hydrate on the end of a Q-tip will clean gringe from plastic and metal wheels on boxcars and loco's while you rotate the wheels. (remember, the dirt will only show up when you are running your rail road for show to other people)

7. A DIXON "Pink-N-Ink" #127 eraser is a quick fix for a dirt spot on rails. Use the blue end, rubbing it lightly back and forth over the dirty spot(s) until they disappear.

8. "Roach clips" can be used for holding small parts and wires together when soldering them. As well , they can act as heat sinks, sometimes, in cases when soldering.

That's it for now. More to come, later.

G. T.

Roach Clip

Hey Ghost Train, could you tell me and my Old Lady here where to find these "clips" man?

Skip Stone

aka Thomas Gasior

Great Holloween costumes...

Great Halloween costumes, folks.  I bet you got lots of treats for originality.

Radio Shack for the "clips"

G. T.

Now we're "cooking with gas"..............!

Speaking of N scale, I am starting to have problems seeing everything in O scale, so I really feel your pain!  My new glasses will be ready in a week.  Until then I put a pair of my fiances` 1.25x  on over my glasses for a little help. 

GT great stuff.  Is Methyl-Hydrate MEK?  I think that's methyl-ethyl-ketone, so I'm lost. Does it have another name?

Keep 'em coming....................

Peter

Methyl Hydrate

Methyl-Hydrate aka Methonal, wood alcohol

Treat it with respect. Very flammable and toxic if swallowed.

Small Paint Pallet

Having purchased several Mini Metals Cars and trucks I use the plastic bubble wrap packaging for a small paint pallet or glue container that can be used at the work bench or on the layout.   They also are handy for small parts holders.

Frank

RE MEK

MEK - is great stuff for plastic model building but do read and follow the hazard warnings.  

Took me a while to get my litre in Alberta Canada, didn't find it easy to get smaller quantities.  Industrial supply tend to be in the big 20 gallone pails, few came in 5 gallon containers.  Did find a supplier and got a 'smaller" litre sized container that should last me the rest of my life at the rate one uses that stuff.  Keep an old testers square bottle and refill it (actually bought this stuff over a year ago and still have quarter of that small bottle left).  

All you need to know about the stuff on WIKI  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butanone

Use Methanol in your Paint Booth

Chemist here.

Methanol, methyl hydrate, methyl alcohol, wood alcohol. Lots of vapors. More poisonous than ethanol. Flammable. 

I don't use methanol. I prefer to use denatured alcohol - ethanol - for the same purposes as for methanol. Buy it as shellac thinner. Or use rubbing alcohol - isopropanol, over 90% concentration, which is even less volatile (gassy).

For cleaning wheels or lifting lettering I use these in the paint booth with the fan running. For track cleaning I use the propanol, which works well and it isn't as easy to inhale an overdose.

DrJolS

Don't (didn't) they run Dragsters and Indy Cars...........

..........on Methanol?  Isn't it the stuff that burns (is ignited) but it can't be seen?  Or am I confused, as usual?

Peter

Methanol

It burns if ignited. Pale blue flame that is very hard to see in sunlight. Much easier to see in dim light or at night.

Methyl-Hydrate (methanol) works fine if...

Methyl-Hydrate (methanol) works fine if properly used, with CAUTION.

When I clean MRR wheels with Methyl-Hydrate on the head of the Q-tip I rotate the wheels with the Q-tip held firmly in place.

The vapours from Methyl-Hydrate evaporate very quickly and the smell of fumes are practically nil.

Methyl-Hydrate is 99.9% pure. As well as being used for thinning shellac, cleaning shellac from brushes, it is also used for cleaning windows and will remove cigarette smoke from glass and hard baked-on paint surfaces. It is fondue fuel, marine fuel and is used in "unpressurized" alcohol stoves and bunsen burners.

And, guess what's in the small vinyl containers called "Lock De-icer". Methyl-Hydrate.

Methyl-Hydrate is also used to absorb water in iced-up fuel lines. (ie...furnace oil for outdoor tanks)

If you forget to put fuel stablizer in your lawn mower gas tank or snow blower gas tank, when stored away for the season, an ounce of Methyl-Hydrate will help kick-start the engine in the new season.

Yes, it is poisonous if ingested. It used to be said that if you swallow Methyl-Hydrate (I'm not sure how much) that you would go blind in fifteen seconds and be dead in thirty seconds.

You can purchase Methyl-Hydrate at Canadian Tire, Home Hardware or Home Depot in 500 mL bottles or gallon jugs. Do not leave the cover off or it will evaporate rather quickly.

Methyl-Hydrate is only a safe as the person using it.

When all else fails: READ THE LABEL

G. T.

MSDS

for Material Safety Data Sheet: available online for all of the products we use. Even wood. 

Simply type MSDS followed by whatever solvent or material you are using and you'll find a concise rundown of its hazardous (or lack thereof) properties.

Download them, keep them, refer to them. You'll have a very good idea of the possible hazards of the products you are using.

David Stewart  

Now I'm screwed.............

I'm sure many of you have needed shorter screws for one reason or another. Cutting tiny (00-90 in this case) can be hard as clamping them in a vice can distort the head.

I take a piece of styrene and drill and tap it the needed size. Screw the screw in not quite all the way and cut the excess off. Now screw it in all the way and use a file to slightly taper the end.

Done.

Peter

"take a piece of styrene and

    This is one of the most useful tips I've seen on here. I usually just clamp the screw in  my panavice but if a lot had to be cut this would simplify the process....DaveB 

For you scratch builders and craftsman kit builders

A buddy of mine works in the bar business and he gave me these leftover plastic test tubes. They were for some kind of shot special. Now, they're my cool little stripwood organizers on my bench:

Many great ideas so far................

...................keep them coming.  Thanks to everyone who has contributed so far.

Remember, just because you do something a certain way doesn't mean everyone else is.  Share these with us, please.

Thanks,

Peter

Precision glue applicators

This isn't my idea, but I saw it on instructables and thought it was pretty neat.

You use plastic Q-tip swabs and a candle to heat/stretch the plastic into a long thin tip like this:

Here's full details with a video:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-nozzles-for-precise-glue-applications/