The Screw You Need Is the One That Rolled Away

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Taking something apart in the garage is easy enough until the small pieces start making their escape. A screw rolls toward the back of the workbench. A washer drops to the floor. The nut you were sure you put beside the screwdriver is no longer beside the screwdriver.

Soon the repair includes a second job: keeping track of the parts needed to put everything back together.

A small magnetic parts tray gives those loose pieces somewhere better to wait. Drop a screw or nut into the tray and the magnet holds it there, even when the bench gets bumped or the tray gets nudged. The stainless-steel tray can sit within reach without taking over the workspace.

One tray works well when everything belongs to the same job. Things get more interesting when a repair produces two kinds of screws, several washers and a handful of bolts that look almost, but not quite, identical.

That is where a six-piece magnetic tray set earns the extra space. It includes two rectangular trays and four round bowls. Hardware from different parts of the job can wait separately instead of becoming one pile you have to sort later. The magnetic bases have a soft rubber covering, which also makes more sense around finished work surfaces than bare metal underneath.

The trays do not need to become another permanent storage system. They are most useful during the awkward period between taking the screws out and needing them again.

If finding the screwdriver is becoming as troublesome as finding the screws, a garage tool wall organizer tackles the larger version of the same garage problem.

When it is time to put everything back together, the small parts are still waiting in the trays. No crawling around the workbench for the screw that made a break for it.