Tiny Screw Magnet Trick
There are a lot of things that use tiny screws that we need to periodically unscrew. Eye glasses, security screws on front doorbells, computer cases… The problem is it is all too easy to drop and lose these tiny screws.
My solution is simple. A magnet on the screwdriver keeps the tiny screw on the tip. It has worked on all the screws I’ve tried it on so far so all of them are ferric steel. There is a non-ferratic version of stainless steel so it is possible to have a screw that won’t attach by magnetism.
Note the magnet does not need to have a hole in the center – mine just happens to be a ring.
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Daily Spark: I aim for the event horizon of perfection and accept the 80% solution of reality. -Boris Gootenoff
Walter Jeffries Tinker, Tailor… A bit eclectic & a tad eccentric, polymath, quantum mechanic & Farmer. Also lucky at cards.
Your magnetized screwdriver is a great trick.
My husband does a lot of building and woodworking, usually outdoors. He also has every type and size screw you can imagine. Typically he uses an impact driver, and typically a screw will drop and land in dirt, gravelly and/ or grassy areas, making it nearly impossible to find the screws because they’ll drop and bounce. He has a long stick with a neodymium magnet taped to one end. It can find and pick up any screw, and small metal parts, as long as it’s not a stainless steel.
I have had occasion to open computers; weekly whilst attending a year or so of computer clinics at Asher College. I bought screwdrivers (Harbor Freight) that have magnetic tips for my small work. Additionally, I spread a white sheet over my work surface, use compartmented pill holders to segregate screws by length. I use my digital calipers, and mark the case with an acrylic pen, to avoid putting long screws where short ones should be (minute crunching sound, followed by Technician’s cursing).
In recent months, making peace with a new hip, I’ve employed Norco Featherlite Reachers because bending too soon could put me back in surgery. Their tips are not only grippers but magnetized. great for dropped screw searching/retrieval, and strong enough to pick up a Victorinox 6″ boning knife. http://www.ncmedical.com will put you on site to look ’em over. I keep long ones in office and kitchen, short ones in bathroom and van. I’m a lot more bendy now, but the convenience is addicting.