Square bar for door handles

I'm totally amazed - not a single likely shop out of several hardware stores sell them.

Neither in my village or central London. Do they never break for other people (well, mine was made of shitite, not steel)...

Oh well, ebay to the rescue...

Reply to
Tim Watts
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Our local B&Q stock it in 1m lengths

AJH

Reply to
andrew

hardware stores

Tim,

Pop down to the farm and I'll give you a bit - it's ony 1/4" square stock

Andrew

Reply to
Andrew Mawson

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Reply to
dom

That's some b****y door !

Andy C

Reply to
Andy Cap

Kind offer Andrew - thanks, but I ordered a few in different lenghts on ebay already (a couple of quid each inc P&P, depending on length).

It was just *very* surprising that no hardward store (proper ones, sort of) kept them, despite selling mortice locks...

I got a few as I suspect other handles in the house have shitite bars too...

The shops tried were Robertsbridge (Alan's) - to be fair, he's only just branched into hardware, it's mostly a bike shop - but he does keep good stuff; the farmers and hardware store up the road (lump of steel for yer tractor, not probs, hinges, locks, handles but no bar); Dyas near Covent Garden and a random but old style hardware shop on the Strand...

Dare say B&Q would have them (or at least plain bar) but that involves an hour's round trip...

Reply to
Tim Watts

It is only Scrooges like us that need it Tim. A new piece comes with shiny new door furniture and it takes a long time to wear out!!

Bob

Reply to
Bob Minchin

If you were to use mild steel for this, you'd be well advised to case-harden it (after cutting to length!), otherwise it'll inevitably twist after long repeated use , and be very difficult to remove from the lock/latch mechanism.

Reply to
Frank Erskine

Glad I ordered "proper" ones now :)

Yes - the shitite bar had done this just before it finally fractured...

Reply to
Tim Watts

Reply to
Martin Bonner

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OOI, it seems ironmongerydirect must be doing something right - I noticed the other day they seem to be slowly mopping up most of the unused units on the small industrial estate they occupy - the have four of the larger ones now).

Reply to
John Rumm

Screwdriver and and neighbours door?

Reply to
ARWadsworth

There's a hardware store (or used to be) on Southampton Row, between High Holborn and Sicilian Avenue...

Reply to
Bob Eager

The stuff to buy for that job is key steel, usually from an engineers' supplies place.

Colin Bignell

Reply to
Nightjar

That's 10 mins from my office - ta Bob, I'll seek it out for future things...

Reply to
Tim Watts

That would be Buck and Ryan, a very good traditional toolshop, full of top quality stuff that I can't afford, I often go there for a browse at lunchtime.

Reply to
pcb1962

Knew it would be near...

Reply to
Bob Eager

Hmmm, the "proper" ones I bought from B&Q were as soft as mild steel when I trimmed them with a hacksaw.

Andrew

Reply to
1970alr

First house I bought, before I'd even moved in, I popped in one evening just to make sure it was still there (still full of the wonderful feeling that I can hardly believe I just bought it, or at least, the Woolwich had just bought it;-).

Anyway, nipped into the bathroom and closed the door whilst having a pee. Not sure why, as there was no one else in the house. Anyway, on trying to come out, I found the door handle didn't work - it didn't operate the latch. I was stuck in the bathroom, and no one knew I was there!

The only tool in the room was a pair of nail clippers. I pulled them apart, and one of the bits of metal would just about engage with the door handle screws, which I managed to unscrew.

Then it was obvious what was wrong - the square bar was too short and when I had closed the door, it had moved into the outside handle, with only about 1mm still sticking out of the lock. Thought for a moment. Nail clippers couldn't get enough purchase to pull the rod back. So I used the nail clippers to disassemble the handle, so I had the handle without the back plate. The handle could just grip the 1mm of rod which was exposed, which I did very carefully so as not to push it in any further. Actually, it turned out it wouldn't go in any further, but I didn't know that until I got the door open.

Reply to
Andrew Gabriel

BTDT.

I was in a flat we'd just rented, can't recall why, and went for a pee. Like you, I shut the door, and even worse turned the key (again, like you, gawd knows why because there was no-one else there). Having done my business I tried to unlock the door, only to discover the key wouldn't turn. Panic. No-one knew I was there, I was on the 5th floor so couldn't climb out the window, this pre-dates the days when I routinely carried a Leatherman and I didn't have a set of nail clippers. Fortunately, after 20 minutes of wiggling the key and brute force, I managed to unlock it. Phew.

I subsequently found out that the key wasn't even for that lock. The landlord had just "stuck it in the lock for somewhere to put it." Sigh.

Reply to
Huge

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