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When assembling or repairing appliances and electronics in your workshop or at home, some fasteners tend to fall in dark places or hard-to-reach areas. The fasteners can be very hard to find let alone retrieve. But with a proper magnetic pickup tool, you can fish out any lost fastener or object so long as it is made from ferromagnetic materials such as iron, steel, and nickel.
In this article, I review the Cranach pocket magnetic pickup tool with light. It is one of the best flexible magnetic pickup tools for retrieving small metal objects such as screws, nuts, bolts, and nails from tight and dark places. I always have one handy in my appliances and electronics repair projects for picking screws that fall off.
Cranach magnetic pickup tool features
Slim profile
The Cranach magnetic pickup tool is designed to pick up small metal objects. It has a slim profile and takes the shape of a torch. In fact, at first glance, you might think it is a torch until you see it pick nails and screws. The tail has a cross-section of 10/16 inches and the head is 3/16 inches wider.
The handle is knurled to keep the tool from slipping. Also, there is a clip that lets you hang the tool on your tool vest or belt.
Magnetic head and tail
The pickup tool has a neodymium ring magnet and LED light at the front. The magnet picks the small metal objects while the light illuminates dark spaces. When you are not picking objects in hard-to-reach places, you can use the torch to illuminate your workspace.
Telescoping handle
The Cranach pickup tool has a versatile design to suit different situations. It measures just 6 13/16 inches long, which is short enough to fit in your pocket. Furthermore, the tool features a telescoping handle that extends easily up to 22 5/16 inches. This extra length makes it possible to use the tool to pick objects from the ground while standing.
The only issue I noticed with my tool is that the telescoping handle does not extend very smoothly. But when I dabbed a little bit of machine oil around the extended handle, the tool retracted a lot smoother. Other than that, the telescoping mechanism is great and the handle has a rough texture grip to prevent slippage.
Bendable neck
Furthermore, the neck of the tool can bend easily in any direction to access objects in very tight corners. I like this feature a lot because it makes it possible to retrieve fasteners that are trapped in very tight spaces where the entire tool cannot fit. You can also stick the tool on a surface by the magnet at the rear and bend the neck to illuminate a specific workspace. This is useful when working under the hood of your at night.
Extra magnet
Another interesting feature of the Cranach telescoping magnetic pickup tool is the extra magnet at the back. It lets you attach the tool onto a magnetic surface when you want to free both hands and illuminate the work area at the same time. This feature transforms the pickup tool into a hands-free work light. It is very handy, especially when working under the hood of your vehicle at night.
Another use for the extra magnet is to hold retrieved objects temporarily to prevent them from blocking the light when you have to find more items. I use it quite a lot for this purpose because it has a strong magnetic field that secures the rescued fasteners in place without losing them. It is better than keeping them in the pocket
LED light and Soft On/Off button
The bright LED light puts the Cranach magnetic pickup tool on a different level. It makes the tool useful in both well-lit and poorly-lit conditions. You can even use it as a torch when you cannot find your work light. To add icing on the cake, there is a soft ON/OFF rubber button that lets you control the LED light. It lets you turn ON the torch only when it is necessary hence making the batteries last longer.
As far as the batteries are concerned, this little handy tool comes with an extra pack of 4 LR44 batteries. Both the tool and the extra batteries come packaged nicely inside a box with molded cushion.
Who needs the Cranach magnetic pickup tool?
This small magnetic pickup tool with LED light ideal for small repair and assembly projects. Anyone including professional technicians, DIYers, and homeowners need it for picking up small objects that fall in places that are hard to reach by hand. If you have back problems, you might need this little device because it extends to let you pick up items without bending.
The inbuilt LED light comes in handy for illuminating the poorly-lit workspaces. In fact you can use the tool as a work light because the magnet at the back acts as an anchor while the bendable neck lets you direct the light to your workspace.
Because of its versatility and multiple uses, the Cranach magnetic pick up tool makes a perfect gift for both men and women. You can gift your dad with one on Father’s day and he will wish he had it earlier.
Take away
The next time those tiny metal objects fall on the ground or in tight spaces, do not break your back or bruise your knuckles fishing them out. Use the Cranach magnetic pickup tool instead. It is inexpensive and can get at any tight or dark space quite effortlessly. It also has a very strong neodymium ring magnet for picking up nails and screws without dropping them and bright 3-LED light for illuminating dark spots.
