The tried and true method....

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I have been experimenting to develop an accurate method before I drill some holes on 4 walnut table legs. The 1/2" Forstner bit I was using has disappeared. I have looked high and low for it multiple times over the course of several days. It was good quality bit I bought some years ago. So, I finally broke down and bought a cheaper replacement, a Diablo, at HD. It's sitting on the dining room table ready to be taken to the shop. I am sure as soon as I take it to the shop and cut it out of it's plasticized container and use it, I will find the original! This method always seem to work for me!

[Doug Garson]

The other fail safe method is to buy a replacement, leave it in the packaging and wait for the return period to expire. Magically the next day you will find the original.

[James Tibbetts]

I think you guys have covered the possibilities nicely
I can attest to both options working perfectly well !!

[Bob Jones 5443]

Sounds like a Forstner bit caddy is in order.

bit caddies.jpg

[Stan Calow]

I keep a clipboard in the shop, on which I write down the tools I cant find. After a year or so, I'll buy replacements. That's why I now have three digital calipers, and two sets of blue Marples chisels. Of course, today I can't find the clipboard.

[George Yetka]

Every time I enter the shop I tell myself its a mess and spend 30 minutes putting everything away. I tell myself I wont let that happen again and it doesnt for about the time it takes to take out the first tool and not put it away.

Another good way to find it is to lose something else and go looking for that. They should make the forstners square so they cant run away.

[Brian Tymchak]

Several years ago I made a new years resolution: a place for everything and everything in its place.
..
..
...wish I had met that goal...

[George Yetka]

Several years ago I made a new years resolution: a place for everything and everything in its place.
..
..
...wish I had met that goal...

The shop is a place, and everything is in it. I think you did fine.

[Patty Hann]

I am firmly of the opinion that they are numerous mini black holes in my home.
I set something down (almost always a hand tool), I'm still in the same spot, I turn to pick up the tool and it is gone. It is nowhere to be found.
Days or a week later I find the tool in a part of the house where it has no business being, where I have not been for at least a month (like a guest bedroom walk-in closet) .


My life.jpg

[Mel Fulks]

You can learn to do a lot of things well, but learning to work efficiently is difficult. Old time shops had stern rules for apprentices,
How to pick up tools , how to set them down , use and maintain.
They would demand that work was done in a certain manner …not just done well. The power of
habit is is what is needed.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

You can learn to do a lot of things well, but learning to work efficiently is difficult. Old time shops had stern rules for apprentices,
How to pick up tools , how to set them down , use and maintain.
They would demand that work was done in a certain manner …not just done well. The power of
habit is is what is needed.

My tried and true method has become a habit!

[Rich Engelhardt]

Pfffttttt!
Amatures.

A true follower of the tried and true will not only misplace the original, they will get a replacement that they will also misplace, then another replacement which they will lay down on a flat surface somwhere in the house while they get distracted by something - then upon finding the replacement sitting on the flat surface, the house cronic-putter-awayer will grab it, stick it somewhere - then deliver a 45 minute sermon on the reasons this should never be done.

Which - still makes it necessary to replace the replacement - of the replacement because - .4 seconds into the sermon the daydreaming started (like....I wonder why Choice Hotels replaced Zooey Deschanel on the TV commercials? Granted, they were stupid - hotel fairy - how stupid is that? - still it was Zooey in a short dress and Zooey is so pretty....which reminds me, what ever happened to Eva Savelot?etc,etc) and you are still left wondering where it was hidden from you - - - but - you know better than to ask because you remember that time back in 1981 that you did ask and your answer was - - there is something that hurts worse than a kidney stone...

So - off you trot to get yet another replacement......

[Jimmy Harris]

If it has a tendency to wander off, then you need a backup anyway. So even if you do find it, you need at least two.

[Jim Becker]

I not only need to keep track of my own stuff, but also Professor Dr. SWMBO's stuff. Some days, I do better with hers, but then again, I've replaced a lot of her stuff with bright yellow versions. (literally) Most of the time, things are right in front of me, however, and I don't see them even with a replacement in-hand!!

[Thomas McCurnin]

Everything ends up between the cushions in the couch in front of the TV. Look there. The bonus is that you're likely to find some tasty Cheetos, too.