So instead of buying a small number (25) of the right size bolts I ended up buying a whole multi-pack of assorted sizes for rather more expense, because that was the only option. And why do bolts come in packs of 10 or 25 whereas the nuts only come in packs of 100?
So I ended up buying the following:
Screwfix sub-total = £24.30
- countersinking drill bit, part 11311, £5.37
- machine screw pack - for 12 countersunk 5 mm diameter bolts at 2 cm length for fixing rails/angles to MDF - part 13352, £14.99 (ouch)
- 5 mm nuts, pack of 100, £3.94
Running total = £97.02
Unfortunately, I forgot to get the 8 mm nuts to fit the threaded rods......
you can never have too many spare bits... You can always save them for the Darwin/Mendel version after the repstrap!
ReplyDeleteI found a good local market stall that does cheap tools, and I found a metal supplier a few miles away that supplies sheet and bar stock (and threaded rod), and as many individual nuts/bolts as you want. They also had a bunch of random bits like coupling nuts that I thought might be useful.
Wickes has been pretty good - mainly for 'bulk' trade packs of common stuff. B&Q and homebase are a bit expensive.
Shop around as much as you can - and keep your eyes open. You're doing pretty well so far!