# TAKING THINGS APART.



## John J (Dec 29, 2007)

This is a thought generated by another post.


No doubt that some of us can take things apart Look at them and get them back together. Its a God given gift, no doubt about it. This gift has put a lot of food on my table. ( Which I thank him for often) 


Just about everyone can do it in one form or another.

If you want to be brave at attempt to disassemble something try this.

We are in the didgatal age of cameras.

Take pictures as you go.

High Def if Possible. Macro if Possible.

You will be surprised how that helps

Take pics a as you remove screws and covers before you go to the next thing.

Be Gentle. 

If the cover does not come off easily then look for more screws.

JJ


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## Madstang (Jan 4, 2008)

Words to live by John.
Take pictures of every step. Never pry or manhandle apart!

You are correct it is a gift...anyone can get it apart...putting it back together with ALL screws correctly is truly a gift. 

Bubba


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## Randy Stone (Jan 2, 2008)

JJ You're 100% correct. 

One more idea, is to put the parts in plastic zip-loc bags and mark each bag for what the contents are. 

The big thing is to try. 

If you can't get it apart or you can't get it back together, there are plenty of members here to help you. 

Randy


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## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

When you remove a bunch of screws to remove a cover or some component, the screws may initally look alike, but sometimes they are different lengths and sometimes those different lengths can be VERY important. A short screw in the wrong place may not engage enough threads to hold securely and a long screw in the wrong hole might short out some component at the bottom of the hole (Don't ask me how I learned that one! Pssszzzzzap!







).

I always (ha ha ha, I lie so easily) put a cloth on the table so the screws won't roll around too much and then as I remove them I place them on the cloth in the same pattern where they were on the thing I am taking apart. Then when I put them back it is easy to know which screw goes in which hole. This also helps even if the screws are all identical... sometimes when the hole is in plastic they have chewed up the threads of the hole and by putting them back in the same hole the scarf left on a screw when you removed it does not gunk-up a different hole that was not damaged originally (or damaged in a different way and now would be doubly-damaged).

Another thing... when you put the screws back in, turn them backwards at least one full turn until you feel the ramps of the threads fall off the ends and the screw drops. This helps keep the threads of the screw from cutting new threads in the hole and you are less likely to strip them or cross-thread the hole.


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

Funny thing... I usually have screws and sometimes parts left over, but the stuff still runs fine.....









Maybe it's all in learnin' what ain' essential? Or just dumb luck?


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## Ray Dunakin (Jan 6, 2008)

When I started disassembling my RS-3, I got a compartmentalized plastic container from Michael's, made for storing beads. I put screws from different parts of the loco into different compartments, along with a note on a small piece of paper indicating what part of the loco they're associated with. 

These bead containers are nice because the bottoms of the compartments are rounded, making it easier to fish out the screws or other small bits.


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## Naptowneng (Jun 14, 2010)

When I had to take my laptop computer apart to replace a fan, found there were 26 (!) screws with several lengths. Found a neat tip: either make a rough sketch of the bottom of the unit or take a picture and print it out. When you remove a screw, punch it through the picture/sketch at the location it came from.
Now you have both a safe harbor for the screw until needed, and the place it goes back to.

Jerry


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## Mike Reilley (Jan 2, 2008)

I inherited a magnetic parts tray/bowl somewhere along the line...and have found it immensely useful for holding small parts when I'm taking things apart. It's just a bowl with a built in magnet. When you drop steel screws in it...they stay put...even if you drop the bowl on the floor. If you DO drop something on the floor, it's also useful to find the part. You just move the bowl over the floor...and the part will jump onto it.


Harbor Freight sells em. Parts bowl


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## Totalwrecker (Feb 26, 2009)

Hmmmm I like the pic method and Mike's mag bowl 

But rather than puching holes what about attaching the pic to a sheet of refrig magnet. I'm sure that the mag sheet must come in large sheets... yep I googled 'Magnetic sheets'; Amazon has Avery mag sheets 8.5"x 11", 5 for $10 (on sale now)..... not affiliated ha ha. There were other listings, I just clicked the first. 

I'd use a aluminum cooking tray with the mag pic inside. 

John


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## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Totalwrecker on 27 Dec 2010 10:07 AM 
Hmmmm I like the pic method and Mike's mag bowl 

But rather than puching holes what about attaching the pic to a sheet of refrig magnet. I'm sure that the mag sheet must come in large sheets... yep I googled 'Magnetic sheets'; Amazon has Avery mag sheets 8.5"x 11", 5 for $10 (on sale now)..... not affiliated ha ha. There were other listings, I just clicked the first. 

I'd use a aluminum cooking tray with the mag pic inside. 

John 



Keep big magnets away from your harddrive (and floppies, if you happen to be in the darkages and still using them!). Very small WEAK magnets are probably not a problem with harddrives, but can damage the data on floppies. The thin sheet magnets are usually so weak that laying a harddrive on it PROBABLY will not cause a problem with the data, but don't set the harddrive anywhere near the magnetic bowl or any of the super (rare earth) magnets that you can get today.


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

The stuff I lose is usually barely or non-magnetic.... wonder bowl is no good for finding that stuff. 

If it has sharp edges or points bare feet usually find some of them.owwwwwwww!!1 


The only other guaranteed way for a lost part to turn up is to buy a replacement.


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## Dave Meashey (Jan 2, 2008)

"The only other guaranteed way for a lost part to turn up is to buy a replacement."

And of course even the large scale Kadee coupler springs are small enough that they fall through the Space-Time continium when they fly off whatever you are trying to mount them on. That is why you find them several months to years after you lost them - They always fall into the future!







A friend of mine made a helpful suggestion that I now follow whenever I assemble Kadee large scale couplers. Put a spot of Walthers Goo on the mounting pegs before you mount the spring. The Goo will help keep the spring from going into warp drive mode, and Goo usually stays flexible for many years. This has worked well for me for almost eight years now.

Have fun,
David Meashey


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## GN_Rocky (Jan 6, 2008)

* Hey JJ, 
Once you master taking things apart the next step is cutting things apart and reassembling them into new models. This can be a fun adventure. One word of caution, start with freight cars first before going to locos. Diesels are easier tham steamers. Keep that in mind too. Passenger cars would be the next step after that. I know that somewhere I have a full lenght dome car to do, but then again I have the 2-10-2 and the SD-9 on the bench right now as well as a little steamer project. Oh boy, the thought of it all ..... 


Rocky*


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## GaryR (Feb 6, 2010)

Read this thread and see a lot of great ideas, all of which I use at one time or another. For keeping track of lil screws, I stick 'em on a piece of tape, with any notes attached that I feel will help later. 
As to it being a "gift", I tend to disagree. I feel it's more dependent on procedure. Throwing the parts in a bin and getting it back together right later, now that would be a gift.  

GaryR


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## Torby (Jan 2, 2008)

Usually when my stuff comes apart, gravity and sudden deceleration are involved and the parts go everywhere. Only once did it involve a speeding [email protected] url(http://www.mylargescale.com/Providers/HtmlEditorProviders/CEHtmlEditorProvider/Load.ashx?type=style&file=SyntaxHighlighter.css);@import url(/providers/htmleditorproviders/cehtmleditorprovider/dnngeneral.css);


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By GaryR on 28 Dec 2010 10:25 AM 
....Throwing the parts in a bin and getting it back together right later, now that would be a gift....
You mean you CAN'T? Electric trains are easy. Clockwork, not so much.


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## John J (Dec 29, 2007)

. Throwing the parts in a bin and getting it back together right later, now that would be a gift.  

GaryR 

I don't mean to brag but I am blessed with that gift.

You have no idea how many times I have to put back together something someone else took apart.


I try to enforce the rule " You took it apart you put it back together." 

But some times I have to give in.









But they pay....I can be real slow getting it back together









JJ


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