Lost a $60 shutter blade set to a magnetic screwdriver, twice

Last month I was rebuilding a Pentax K1000 in my garage and my magnetic screwdriver picked up a blade from the shutter stack, it flew off and landed somewhere in the carpet, took me 45 minutes to find it. Then it happened AGAIN two days later with the same setup, and I finally put a sheet magnet under my work area to catch everything. Has anyone else had this problem with small steel parts, and what do you use to keep them from vanishing mid-repair?

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ryanrodriguez11d ago

Honestly, my setup is the opposite. I keep a big sheet of heavy white paper under whatever I'm working on, and I ditched the magnetic screwdriver for a standard one with a tiny bit of vacuum grease on the tip. I've pulled more parts off that magnet than I ever lost, and a magnet mat just seems like a trap to me. I mean, it saves the part, sure, but then you've got to pry it off before it grabs another screw that happens to get close, and suddenly you've got a pile of stuck metal you didn't ask for. The paper makes it easy to spot anything that drops, and the grease holds the screws and blades without that violent snap. Your mileage may vary, but I'll take the boring, non-magnetic route every time.