slownlow Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 I always struggle with very small parts. I know there is some tool jewelers use but not sure what to look for. In the meantime I found wetting a medium small paint brush will give enough surface tension to pick up a piece and position it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColonelKrypton Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 Surface tension works well for many such tasks. Using a small paint brush is a good tip. What you may be thinking of is something like this: https://uchida.com/products/jewel-picker has a sticky end. Some tools are double ended and there are several sizes. Also a wax stick ( bees wax ) is another. You will find this tools in craft stores, Amazon, eBay, your favourite hobby store, ( etc ) Not always easy to search for as they are called different things by different users. Wax sticks can be found by searching ( on Amazon for example ) for something like: nail art wax stick or nail art picker . cheers, Graham 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bainford Posted March 26 Share Posted March 26 Neat idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobss396 Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 Scale Motorsports has or had something called Grabit Stix that worked well. I have to see if I have any left. https://scalemotorsport.com/products/grabitstix™ There ya go... these work quite well and I see Mega Hobby carries them. I have used small balls of Fun Tac (the blue wall poster stuff) on a toothpick. If it won't be visible after, I'll impale a part on an xacto blade. I have used white glue as well, it peels off after it dries. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocking Rodney Rat Posted April 7 Share Posted April 7 The "wetting solution" I use is saliva....carry on. -RRR 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anglia105E Posted April 7 Share Posted April 7 I have a cocktail stick, to which I place a blob of Blu-Tack on one end, and then when I lightly press the end of my ' tool ' on the part it can be picked up and positioned where you want it to go . . . Carefully tilting the tool to one side will release the grip, once your glue takes hold . . . David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOBLNG Posted April 7 Share Posted April 7 I have this double ended tool that works pretty good. Plus this spring loaded gripper. I don’t use either one much, but it’s nice to have them when needed. I have used the gripper for locating lower rad hoses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magicmustang Posted April 7 Share Posted April 7 (edited) I use my tweezers from Hell! They have a deal with the carpet monster and can launch a small part so it can never be found. I keep believing it won't this time but it does. Edited April 8 by magicmustang 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobss396 Posted April 8 Share Posted April 8 Ugh... radiator hoses... always fun to do. I just did a set for my '77 GMC wrecker. Managed not to drop them this time. I'm using something a little softer so the tweezers take a bite into the material. I started using 1/16" shrink sleeving over some .040" wire I somehow have a huge bag of. No idea where it came from. I shrink it over a gas stove flame and it comes in around .055". My radiator and engine fittings I use .093" aluminum tube that has an inner diameter of .062". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R. Thorne Posted April 8 Share Posted April 8 (edited) I find myself using these rubber tipped ones more and more often. Edited April 8 by R. Thorne 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-Garageguy Posted April 9 Share Posted April 9 Hamster hands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobss396 Posted April 9 Share Posted April 9 21 hours ago, R. Thorne said: I find myself using these rubber tipped ones more and more often. Who sells those? I just may shrink some black sleeve over a pair to see how well it works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R. Thorne Posted April 9 Share Posted April 9 Amazon is one source. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peteski Posted April 9 Share Posted April 9 9 hours ago, bobss396 said: Who sells those? I just may shrink some black sleeve over a pair to see how well it works. I just slipped short pieces of wire insulation onto the tips of my tweezers. Not as pretty as those factory-dipped tips, but they do the job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JET. Posted April 12 Share Posted April 12 Round tip tweezers are also better than pointy tweezers for holding small things and not shooting them across the room lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobss396 Posted April 13 Share Posted April 13 It helps to have real medical-quality tweezers to start with. Most of the hobby ones are too flimsy. Even used quality tweezers are good, I used to come across them at work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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