Washers - nice one Screwfix

[Lobster]

I don't know how many cumulative hours I must have wasted over the years of my diy career by not having the right sized washer available for a job, and having to bodge something as an alternative, so in my most recent Screwfix delivery I ordered a 'selection pack' of washers for 8 quid which I spotted in their catalogue

so this will never need to happen again...

It arrived yesterday. Well - I certainly received a good selection, more than enough to cover any eventualities I reckon. In fact, no less than 22 different sizes... all packed loose into one of Screwfix's standard

10-compartment plastic boxes. Brilliant. At least it whiled away the 90 mins in front of the TV with SWMBO watching that appalling Tamsin Outhwaite thriller last night which she insisted on watching, sorting the whole lot out spread out on a tray on my lap (SWMBO thinks I'm a very sad man).

By the way, when exactly do you use spring washers (the broken ones with a 'kink')? I guess they are to prevent vibration from loosening bolts? I now have no less than 6 different sizes...

David

[Bob H]

----------------------------snipped---------------------------------------

You use spring washers where movement or vibration is very likely to occur

[Mary Fisher]

I don't. In fact, if he weren't dead I'd say that you were the great Tinniswood and I'd claim my £5. Lovely bit of writing, thanks.

You've also given me an idea for Spouse's Christmas stocking.

Mary

[Mungo "two sheds" Toadfoot]

Was there ever a happier man than the one sorting out a pile of assorted fixings into their seperate little compartments?

We're easy to please, aren't we? :)

Thanks for that - made I smile.

Si

[chris French]

In message , "Mungo \"two sheds\" Toadfoot" writes

I find a 3 1/2 year old child useful for this.

[Andrew Gabriel]

A bed full of spring washers in Christmas morning, hum...

[Mary Fisher]

Si, it's not just men. One of the great pleasures of having small children was the time spent, grumbling and threatening murder, sitting on the dining room floor and sorting Lego pieces into the compartmented boxes Spouse made so that the offspring could tidy up fter themselves.

Their tidying, when done, comprised scooping up handful of said assorted bits (from one spot up) and dumping in any old box. My self imposed task was to tip them all out again and carefully categorise bits into colours, shapes etc and make everything neat and tidy.

Which I'm not.

Amother curious side effect of this was the discovery that there were never quite enough compartments for the designated bits, spouse was constantly making new boxes with compartments - then shelves to store the boxes.

Indeed. But we gave all the Lego to three grandsons. It hurts when we see what to us were very expensive parts scattered, discarded, around their garden. They seem only to want dedicated shapes to make fixed patterns of the latest models.

One of the despairs of old age I suppose, the carelessness of the young ... I wonder what the OP would feel were his washers scattered to the wind by uncaring recipients of his generosity?

Mary

[anthony.j.cunningham]

Respect!

They just don't understand, do they?

[Mary Fisher]

It used to be five small children with their assorted small things from stockings. I know which I'd prefer now and it can't be counted on one hand.

Mary

[Mary Fisher]

Come ON! I'M the one who does that sort of thing herebouts!

Mary

[PJ]

Never can find one when you need them. Do you have a screwfix number? :-) PJ

[Mary Fisher]

You can have our latest one, post paid. Glad to get rid of the selfish little .. er delightful, intelligent, bonny girl ...

Mary

[PJ]

Ah you suddenly remembered your sales technique for the latter part of your response. PJ

[Colin]

That explains it! I have always wondered what happened to old Lego.

You rarely see broken pieces, people are always giving/receiving new boxes of the stuff for birthdays/Christmas. You would have thought that the world would be saturated with Lego by now...

Colin

[Kevin]

What are wavey washers for and those strange serated ones, likewise anti-vibration I guess.

Kevin

[dmc]

It's all collected by people like me who have ever-growing collections of old lego :)

The old stuff is too good for kids.

Well, my house is getting close to saturation.

Darren - 854 in bits on work desk at the mo and 8868 to sort and index next :)

[Andy Dingley]

Did our grandparents shake their heads sadly over this plastic-blocked Danish import, because it stopped us whittling sticks and knitting our toys, as they had?

[Tony Bryer]

What it actually did was effectively kill off Meccano - who went broke c.1965 IIRC

[Gordon Henderson]

You buy it on eBay by the Kg.

As long as there are new children, there will always be new Lego.

(And old kids like myself who want to re-claim their lego collection after their horrid evil stepmother gave it away to the kids upstairs)

Gordon

[Mungo "two sheds" Toadfoot]