Where can I buy 5mm e clips from in the high street?

[MM]

Sure, the internet is full of 'em, but surely these are available on the high street, but not Halfords, as they are asking £7.99 for an assortment of 300. I don't want an assortment, I just want some 6mm ones, maybe a few 5mm ones also.

MM

[Owain]

I've given up on the high street for almost anything. (Don't even have a Halfords now.)

I can't even get the socks I like.

Owain

[chris French]

In message , MM writes

What are they for?

A quick google (not being sure waht an e clip was) suggest model shops that deal in RC stuff might have them.

Pass, but don't expect to necessarily find them cheaper. Often you can by a bag of say 20 of something cheaper on ebay, than you can say buy 5 in a local high street shop.

[ARWadsworth]

Not even with a good mugging?

[MM]

My crappy Stanley corner clamp:

screws are retained by a small e clip in a groove on the end. After only two uses, one of the e clips popped off. I found it again and put it back on, but it popped off again after another couple of clamping operations. Now it's lost its retention property and won't even stay on. Bloody stupid design, because the actual clamp itself is pretty useful. Talk about spoiling the ship for a ha'porth of tar, because this is a perfect example. They could have used a locknut instead, for example.

Yes, I saw that, too. They are used on e.g. robot axles, apparently. There's a model shop in Spalding that I will try on Monday.

Yeah, that's what I'm probably going to end up doing. But the postage on a tiny bag of clips is horrendous, hence me wondering if I can't get 'em over the counter from somewhere.

I've looked at the screws and considered other ways of retaining them, but putting a 6mm thread on is doubtful as the diameter of the (currently) stud portion (in which the groove is cut) is only 6.14mm and I don't have a 6mm die anyway.

Thing is, there is a massive jump in price between these light duty clamps and a 'proper' hefty tool, e.g. the Record, which is around £50!

Fifty quid for a ruddy clamp!

MM

[MM]

Actually, Starlock push-on fasteners like this would probably be more secure than e clips:

[MM]

I asked one company where I could buy them and they said they'd send me a few free samples!

MM

[ARWadsworth]

Mrs Palmer and her 5 daughters will have to work overtime to pay for that result:-)

[MM]

I got my free samples and the 6mm pushnut fits perfectly. Job done!

MM

[MM]

Ah, well, that depends. For a start, as my later posts show, the problem has been fixed by using a Starlock pushnut instead of the e clip. However, if you want a better quality clamp, the Record product looks like the only suitable contender and that is *expensive* (up to £50 for the TM141).

OTOH I got the Starlock pushnuts for free as samples direct from the manufacturer.

MM