lost tools..what have you lost ?

[Wedg1e]

Ignoring the DeWalt cordless drill that was at work but now isn't, that nobody seems to know anything about it would have to be the illustrious 10mm socket.
In my case a Snap-On 3/8" drive.
I was installing emergency stop grabwires in an x-ray bay at Invergordon and was using the socket to wind in Rawl fixings.
The bay was a concrete bunker with nothing in it but a small table, me and my tools.
I heard the socket roll across the table and fall on the floor, but finished what I was doing before I turned to look for it.
Bare floor, no holes, drains, cracks, didn't even slope and even if it had I could see every corner.
No boxes or anything else under or around the table it could have fallen into.
I searched for half an hour, the air getting rapidly bluer, but never did find it.
Utterly mystified.

 

[bricol]

I'm still hacked off that I must have left my dad's 1/2" hex drive Britool ratchet, extension and socket in the engine bay of a Renault 11 when I was 17 . . . I'm 53 now . . .

 

[Onoff]

Everything...since I disconnected the lights in the garage, can't find a thing.

 

[MetalMonkey]

I tend to find the point at which you give in and purchase a replacement is when you will find the original the following day. Doesn't matter if you wait a week or ten years. It's like workshop voodoo.

Just like when you drop a screw/nut/washer and every time it lands in a location that would by physically impossible to get it there if you spent a hundred years trying. Or the way a rope or cable will inexplicably tie itself in knots all on its own. Workshop mysteries, never to be explained.

 

[Dieselman 63]

Not a tool, but this, which was stolen from me which made me very upset as it was a gift from my dad. I used it all the time, it was amazing.

Canada Field Patch Shoulder Bag | Red Canoe | Official Site

The Canada Field Patch Shoulder Bag is based on our favourite 1950s hunting satchel. Light enough to venture anywhere, this iconic Canadian carryall features 100% cotton twill, twill tape binding and an adjustable strap. Dimensions: 14 1/2" L x 3 1/2" W x 11 1/2" H

redcanoebrands.com

I ended up buying another exactly the same. Still a great bag, the new one is better as it doesn't have the stain from when I accidentally left a bottle of green ink in there and it opened!

 

[redlig]

Ignoring the DeWalt cordless drill that was at work but now isn't, that nobody seems to know anything about it would have to be the illustrious 10mm socket.
In my case a Snap-On 3/8" drive.
I was installing emergency stop grabwires in an x-ray bay at Invergordon and was using the socket to wind in Rawl fixings.
The bay was a concrete bunker with nothing in it but a small table, me and my tools.
I heard the socket roll across the table and fall on the floor, but finished what I was doing before I turned to look for it.
Bare floor, no holes, drains, cracks, didn't even slope and even if it had I could see every corner.
No boxes or anything else under or around the table it could have fallen into.
I searched for half an hour, the air getting rapidly bluer, but never did find it.
Utterly mystified.

I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion that there is such a thing as selective blindness.

 

[not done it yet]

I know where my ‘lost‘ tools are - it’s just finding them that is the problem!

Lost one set of my keys, over Christmas. Looked everywhere at my daughter’s house, before coming home yesterday.

They hunted for them, again, after returning from his parents yesterday. I hunted high and low when back at home (and for the duplicate keys for a cabinet I needed to unlock). Only one key, of the whole bunch, was needed with any urgency. No joy.

Found them, this morning, in the bottom of a washing basket in the bedroom. Now really need to find a set of three chub keys - I know they are somewhere close, but can’t remember where they were secreted!

 

[slim_boy_fat]

I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion that there is such a thing as selective blindness.

Well, I don't see why there wouldn't be - we all know about selective hearing.

 

[Morris]

When I bought my tig welder it came with MMA leads. Great thinks I, they will be handy. Seven years later and I still haven't found them.
Bought an engine lifting plate that fits onto American V8 manifolds. Put the engine in and haven't seen the lifting plate since.
It's not exactly a huge workshop either.

 

[Barking Mat]

My wife lost my Facom side cutters, they turned up in the garden a year later, chewed by a puppy (one of ours).

I've a few Allen keys, I know where they are, they're in the canal, next to the pontoons.

Crowning moment recently, pair of car ramps, were in the workshop at work, they're not small, totally dissapeared.

Other stuff is not lost, I've just put it away somewhere 'safe'.

So 'safe' I can't find it.

 

[Arc Tourist]

Haven't lost any in a long time, but sometimes I don't recall what tools I have in storage or where they might be located, until I look at one of my reference charts.

 

[skotl]

What's a mere 30 odd years for being peeved.

One must have standards, dear boy

 

[Onoff]

The rest of the roll of RS Torx screwdrivers. Lost them 35 years ago probably. They're here somewhere!

Pretty sure RS tools back then were good makes rebranded as RS. Now though...?

 

[JOEPRO]

I lost a large solid brass drift I used for driveshaft removal. It was out front in my house last time I used it about 3 years ago. I can only conclude someone walked in off street at some point the gates were open and lifted it

I also "lost" a spring clip from my engine crane. It flicked off and into a boundary hedge. I looked for quite a while and had to give up.

 

[Onoff]

I suppose as I'm off I should make the effort to find my Fakita 18V multitool.

 

[arther dailey]

My wife lost my Facom side cutters, they turned up in the garden a year later, chewed by a puppy (one of ours).

I've a few Allen keys, I know where they are, they're in the canal, next to the pontoons.

Crowning moment recently, pair of car ramps, were in the workshop at work, they're not small, totally dissapeared.

Other stuff is not lost, I've just put it away somewhere 'safe'.

So 'safe' I can't find it.

sounds like the ramps suffered from a five finger discount?

 

[magnet]

I lost a green river knife in 1976 diving in the pool under the weir in our local river. It was a mega hot summer that year and it was about the last place there was any deep water to swim in to cool off because the river levels were that low.
I made repeated attempts to retrieve it but sadly to no avail. Fast forward to 2022 i managed to track down a replacement simply for the sentimental value.......At least thats what i told the wife her face was a picture

 

[not done it yet]

I lost a green river knife in 1976 diving in the pool under the weir in our local river. It was a mega hot summer that year and it was about the last place there was any deep water to swim in to cool off because the river levels were that low.
I made repeated attempts to retrieve it but sadly to no avail. Fast forward to 2022 i managed to track down a replacement simply for the sentimental value.......At least thats what i told the wife her face was a picture

Should have gone magnet fishing for it? Apparently magnet fishing is quite a popular pastime these days.

I recovered a windlass (for opening/closing sluices) after it bounced into the water one day.

I needed to return to the lock the following day because I didn’t know where the recovery magnet was stored away in the boat.

A mile, or so, from the road, so good morning exercise, I suppose.

 

[MetalMonkey]

Should have gone magnet fishing for it? Apparently magnet fishing is quite a popular pastime these days.

I think they use neodymium magnets for magnet fishing - they weren't around in 1976.
Actually now I come to think about it, the magnets that were easily (affordably) available when I were t'lad wouldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding.
Not that rice pudding is known to be particularly magnetic.

 

[not done it yet]

I think they use neodymium magnets for magnet fishing - they weren't around in 1976.
Actually now I come to think about it, the magnets that were easily (affordably) available when I were t'lad wouldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding.
Not that rice pudding is known to be particularly magnetic.

So you might think, but you are wrong, of course.
The magnet I used, to recover that windlass, was most definitely not Neodymium. It was horseshoe shaped (but not your usual school type) and quite strong across the poles.

FFS, how heavy would that knife have been? Probably not non-magnetic stainless steel, either.