Yea, I was just being smarty. I try not to have parts left over. I put the cover screws into tiny ziplock bags before I take another cover off, and then place the cover and bag together in a tub. As the covers come off, they get stacked up in the order of removal. For internal screws, gears and pieces, I put them into small microwave dishes that I have. They don’t hold much, so I can put just a few items in them that are associated with each other, and get another one for the next few items that I take apart. I have about 10 of the dishes, and I can stack them in many cases to help keep track of the sequence that I used in disassembly.
But I have completed reassembly of a machine and lifted it off of the bench, only to find a small piece of plastic gear or plastic thrust washer laying where it had been sitting. The question then is, did I miss something, or did the last mechanic not get all of the broken pieces out of the machine last time? There was a dime laying there a couple of weeks ago after working on a machine. I found out it was her needle clamp screwdriver, and she’d dropped it down into the machine one time when she had the needle plate off. She has it back to drop it again sometime....
CD in Oklahoma