Has anybody else had a problem with small plastic parts sticking to tweezers, knives, cutting pads, other parts etc? They can re-position themselves and skip around like little magnets. Any ideas on defeating this static cling will be appreciated.

Yes. It means you are not grounded!

You need to provide some sort of ground connection to remove a static charge buildup.

Quit draggin yer feet on the carpet! Seriously though,wintertime here in Northern MI usually means dryer air due to forced air heating,making static cling a bugger.Try a small humidifier in the workroom.I have a humidifier hooked up to the furnace and try to keep 40-45 humidity during the winter..........cuts down on "zapping" everyone and the pets.Makes breathing a lot easier too.

Mike

Don't use tweezers. There are several tools for placing small pieces, without the worry of static cling. I prefer RB Productions Pick-up Pencil:


You can also try these


And, there are a few more if you search online suppliers.

A tiny bit of blue tack on the end of a toothpick is cheap a d both materials have myriad uses for the. modeller.

I've got the micro stix, and I personally find them to be not especially useful except under just the right circumstances.

Blu-tac on a toothpick is a technique I also use quite a bit, but I find the blu-tac has a tendancy to stick to parts more readily than the toothpick.

Have not yet tried the pick-up pencils Matt mentioned, but will definitely keep an eye out for those.

That is so weird. I bought two of these pencils at a model show in England last summer and then completely forgot about them. Yesterday I opened the box of my Takom Turtle A/C and there they were....but I had no recollection of what they were for. Then today I see this post....

Getting back to the original post...
Clay, if you Bing "anti static gun" you will find the zerostat gun, which was for records but will de-stat a bench. Also same page you have de-stat floor pads and bench pads. You can easily de-stat a large area.

Tacky-on-a-stick is a very versatile tool - and yes, sometimes one can encounter the problem of the tacky adhering better to the part than to the stick... My generally very successful approach has been to make a stick from stretched sprue (usually from the kit being worked on...!) and make a small tacky-wad tip around that stick-end. This way, there is a lot more and better adhesion of tacky to the stick than the small touched area to the part. The touch-tip can also be pulled and shaped a bit to get a fine tacky point for those tinier PE and styrene bits.

Bob

As did Tom, I'll also go back to visit the anti-static question. Try grounding your tools before you go for those tiny parts. I touch mine to a ground-block - mine is an old copper electroplating plate - sort of like a lead plate from a car battery! which is placed on my bench and connected by a wire to an available iron water-pipe.

And yes, the "zero-stat gun" works great if you happen to have one!

Bob