Why when I drop a screw does it bounce so damn far?
Don

Same reason that any part or tool you drop when working on your car will always fall into an inaccessible area of the engine or frame rather than on the floor.

And for the same reason that same screw will bounce right into the middle of a box of random parts you keep around for no other reason than to have useful things get dropped into it.

Oh, and that screw? It's no 6-48 scopbe base screw you can get another one of in your screw box. It has to be that one pivotal screw that holds the whole gun together and is in essence irreplaceable.

I hate Physics.

-Spencer

The law of dropped screws is that the bounce-roll phenomenon is diretly related to the frustration of the loss. If, for instance the screw can only be replaced through special order or if it is necessary for tomorrows' hunt, then the final resting place of the screw will be impossible to determine.

In such cases, even the best know remedy - that of prolonged and repeated cursing fails!!!!

I really hate the ones you find a week later
in plain site.

Screwing has never given me any problems but I have launched a few springs that hid in some unusual places in an attempt to avoid being found.

ROTFLMAO!!!!
When they hit my floor, I plan on at least a half hour finding it.
Went thru the caper this morning.
Don

These things are the best proof of alien beings. They take the parts home then return at a later date. I have seen parts hit the floor then disapear after the first bounce. (another space/time existance).
Good luck!

I believe the same law applies to a dropped cartridge case. It will always hit mouth-first and dent the neck.

Ray

The same reason power cords tie themselves in to knots.

Now in defense of Mr Murphy may I say that he can't do it all alone! Gentlemen we owe this dear and close friend of ours greater attention because he is the one who always accompanies us on our travels and during those moments of frustration. You would think that such a legal scholar as Mr Murphy would be too busy to bother with the likes of us here at AR, but let me assure you all, he's watching and waiting! Murphy's Law explains alot, now doesn't it feel better already?

So, did Newton get it right, or not??

I find if you give everything in reach a good
beating it cures a lot of the problems

Lost screws, spanners and other engineering parts, is natures way of getting rid of tired material.
This begs the question, is there any new material?
Well that's easy to answer, why those bits of fluff that you find in your pockets and at times your navel. Where do they come from, how do they get there? Older people are the prefered vectors
Its natures balance, out goes one lot in comes another.
Isn't nature wonderful?

It must be directly related to the fact that when you try to re-drill and tap the hole that screw came from to a different size (for a screw you have) that either or both the proper drill bit and tap must break prior to completing the job.

Loose screws are repelled by like kind?

I was in a home improvment store when I found a device for clearing nails from work sites. It had a huge circular flat magnet on the end of a three foot handle. I paid my money and promptly took it to my gunsmith friend. I had heard him cuss dropped screws so often that I jumped at a chance to reduce his misery. Even a blind man can find the screws now.

same reason a toothbrush dropped in the bathroom ends in the toilet. the only reason to leave the top down that I know of.

Screws hell I find them wedged in my vibram soles after looking around for a hour!!


The springs are the ones that give me all the problems!!

I had a Savage 1907 pistol trigger detent ball fly into a garbage can full of metal chips.

I spent hours, but I can't find it.
They don't have them at Numrich, so I am going to have to make one.

quote:

Originally posted by DMB:
Why when I drop a screw does it bounce so damn far?
Don

Because it has to travel at least as far as it takes to go under some immovable object where it can disappear!

I'm convinced that springs and plungers are made of air-soluble steel. It evaporates as it travels accross the shop.

Jack Belk had a description of the gunsmith's position; on your hands and knees under the bench holding a flashlight saying, "where'd that little sumbitch go?". I didn't feel so bad once I found out that it's a universal plague.

I've tried the big magnet solution. It taught me how much metal shavings are left on the floor no matter how much you sweep.

The worst is definitely after you have dropped/misplaced (misplace being the term we use for the phenomenon where you put it in a specific location and it somehow relocates on its own), then you take and replace/make a new part. Get all done and find the original. I have a metal two door cabinet in my shop, nice cabinet that I got when we threw it out from work. I made the repairs it needed. Then I went to hang the shelves, couldn't find one of the tabs that they rest on. I got a different kind from the hardware store, cut, grinded, bent. Inserted it and put the shelf in. Not 10 minutes later when putting things in the cabinet I found the other tab!

Red
PS
I really want one of those magnet things, how much did it cost you?

There is a parallel universe where screws, lost socks and papers that you need right now go for vacation. I have a bundle of dress socks that have no mates, although I think in my age befuddeled mind that I bought them in pairs. I have lived in the same house for over 30 years, I have had the same washer and dryer for many years. There is no place for the socks to hide. I can't find them. I have resorted to wearing mis-matched socks to court on occassion.
My screws go on vacation until I figure out a way to replace them and then they turn up in plain sight, and I beleive they have a smirk on their face.
There are more things under the sun than you and I are allowed to understand.
Judge Sharpe

I, too, have tried the big magnet idea, but when you drop a stainless-steel or plated brass screw from a fishing reel....onto grey carpet no less...