Hi All

A few weeks ago I finally got fed up with never being able to find the right
size screw. I duly purchased one of those flat organisers with lots of
individual plastic boxes inside - about 20 of them. Great! You can take
out the box you want, return it after use and closing the lid locks
everything in place.

Then I placed an order with Toolstation, a box of each size screw from 4 x
1/2" right through to 8 x 2" more or less. When they arrived I spent a
happy half an hour tipping the screws in the boxes & marking each one with a
felt pen. Luxury! So organised & tidy!

Two nights ago, I leant a 6' x 1' board up against the workshop wall and
picked up another to put on the bench.

Everything then seemed to happen in slow motion! The top of the board slid
sideways along the wall and toppled sideways. There on the bench was my
screw organiser, lid open.

I watched helplessly as the corner of the board smote the corner of the
organiser, somersaulting it gracefully into the air. It hit the floor and
scattered the best part of 2000 screws all over the place. Only 8 screws
remained in the boxes.

I went to the pub! I've since picked them up & sorted the larger sizes.
The smaller one defy sorting - it was easier to buy some more!

Anyone want 1000 mixed screws?

Dave

On Thu, 22 Sep 2005 23:08:05 GMT, "david lang"
scrawled:

Anyone want 1000 mixed screws?

No ta, got plenty here from previous escapades of a 'throwing screws
around' nature.
--
Stuart @ SJW Electrical

Please Reply to group

"Lurch" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 22 Sep 2005 23:08:05 GMT, "david lang"
scrawled:

Anyone want 1000 mixed screws?

No ta, got plenty here from previous escapades of a 'throwing screws
around' nature.
--
Stuart @ SJW Electrical

Please Reply to group

Its also annoying to but a bag of screws - only to find that the bag can't
be ripped open tidily and certainly can't be re-sealed. (need an organiser!)

david lang wrote:

I watched helplessly as the corner of the board smote the corner of the
organiser, somersaulting it gracefully into the air. It hit the floor and
scattered the best part of 2000 screws all over the place. Only 8 screws
remained in the boxes.

I went to the pub! I've since picked them up & sorted the larger sizes.
The smaller one defy sorting - it was easier to buy some more!

Sheesh - these days some people just have no stamina ;-)

David

On Fri, 23 Sep 2005 06:38:01 GMT, "john" wrote:

|
| "Lurch" wrote in message
| ...
| On Thu, 22 Sep 2005 23:08:05 GMT, "david lang"
| scrawled:
|
| Anyone want 1000 mixed screws?
|
| No ta, got plenty here from previous escapades of a 'throwing screws
| around' nature.
| --
| Stuart @ SJW Electrical
|
| Please Reply to group
|
| Its also annoying to but a bag of screws - only to find that the bag can't
| be ripped open tidily and certainly can't be re-sealed. (need an organiser!)

Use resealable food bags available from most supermarkets.

--
Dave Fawthrop dave hyphenologist co uk
The London suicide bombers killed innocent commuters.
Animal rights terrorists and activists kill innocent patients.

On Thu, 22 Sep 2005 23:08:05 GMT, "david lang"
wrote:

Hi All

A few weeks ago I finally got fed up with never being able to find the right
size screw. I duly purchased one of those flat organisers with lots of
individual plastic boxes inside - about 20 of them. Great! You can take
out the box you want, return it after use and closing the lid locks
everything in place.

Then I placed an order with Toolstation, a box of each size screw from 4 x
1/2" right through to 8 x 2" more or less. When they arrived I spent a
happy half an hour tipping the screws in the boxes & marking each one with a
felt pen. Luxury! So organised & tidy!

Two nights ago, I leant a 6' x 1' board up against the workshop wall and
picked up another to put on the bench.

Everything then seemed to happen in slow motion! The top of the board slid
sideways along the wall and toppled sideways. There on the bench was my
screw organiser, lid open.

I watched helplessly as the corner of the board smote the corner of the
organiser, somersaulting it gracefully into the air. It hit the floor and
scattered the best part of 2000 screws all over the place. Only 8 screws
remained in the boxes.

I went to the pub! I've since picked them up & sorted the larger sizes.
The smaller one defy sorting - it was easier to buy some more!

Anyone want 1000 mixed screws?

Dave



I have been there - done that. Now I keep them in the orignal boxes in
a drawer. I only ever have one box out at a time to make picking them
up easier.

I tend to buy screws in 5000's or 10000's from screwfix.

Rick

In article ,
david lang wrote:
I watched helplessly as the corner of the board smote the corner of the
organiser, somersaulting it gracefully into the air. It hit the floor
and scattered the best part of 2000 screws all over the place. Only 8
screws remained in the boxes.

Same thing happened to me with a large box of assorted fuse values - but
all the fuses were standard 20mm, so the only way to identify them was by
reading each and every value. ;-)

--
*I don't work here. I'm a consultant

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

david lang wrote:

Then I placed an order with Toolstation, a box of each size screw from 4 x
1/2" right through to 8 x 2" more or less. When they arrived I spent a
happy half an hour tipping the screws in the boxes & marking each one with a
felt pen. Luxury! So organised & tidy!

You know screwfix will sell you a box like that pre-populated with the
screws ;-)


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On Fri, 23 Sep 2005 08:10:18 GMT, Rick wrote:


| I have been there - done that. Now I keep them in the orignal boxes in
| a drawer. I only ever have one box out at a time to make picking them
| up easier.
|
| I tend to buy screws in 5000's or 10000's from screwfix.

I used to buy in boxes of 250 ish.
Just recycled many hundred slot headed screws when I moved to crossheads.

--
Dave Fawthrop dave hyphenologist co uk
The London suicide bombers killed innocent commuters.
Animal rights terrorists and activists kill innocent patients.

On Fri, 23 Sep 2005 10:35:33 +0100, John Rumm
wrote:

| david lang wrote:
|
| Then I placed an order with Toolstation, a box of each size screw from 4 x
| 1/2" right through to 8 x 2" more or less. When they arrived I spent a
| happy half an hour tipping the screws in the boxes & marking each one with a
| felt pen. Luxury! So organised & tidy!
|
| You know screwfix will sell you a box like that pre-populated with the
| screws ;-)

As will Lidl at a fraction of the price and no postage.
Only when on offer.

--
Dave Fawthrop dave hyphenologist co uk
The London suicide bombers killed innocent commuters.
Animal rights terrorists and activists kill innocent patients.

On Fri, 23 Sep 2005 10:55:59 +0100, Dave Fawthrop
wrote:

As will Lidl at a fraction of the price and no postage.
Only when on offer.

Bought a set of 500 chipboard screws in four sizes for 99p the other
week! Came complete with storage pots to boot.

Never had a problem with Lidl screws BTW. Seem well made.

sponix

In article ,
Owain wrote:
david lang wrote:
The smaller one defy sorting - it was easier to buy some more!

An interesting and enjoyable task for a small child - don't you know one
you could borrow for an afternoon?

But be careful if you borrow two. My wife still rankles over the day her
father paid his daughters to sort his nails. The older sister got the message
first and took the obvious step when being paid by weight of sorted nails ...

... and my wife (younger sister) still hates panel pins. ;-(

--
John Cartmell john@ followed by finnybank.com 0845 006 8822
Qercus magazine FAX +44 (0)8700-519-527 www.finnybank.com
Qercus - the best guide to RISC OS computing

John Rumm wrote:

You know screwfix will sell you a box like that pre-populated with the
screws ;-)

I know John - but I like the DIY aspect!

Dave

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
david lang wrote:
I watched helplessly as the corner of the board smote the corner of the
organiser, somersaulting it gracefully into the air. It hit the floor
and scattered the best part of 2000 screws all over the place. Only 8
screws remained in the boxes.

As I type, there is a compartment box, and about 1000 (maybe more!) fuses
all over the floor in the shed...bugger....

Sparks...

david lang wrote:

I watched helplessly as the corner of the board smote the corner of the
organiser, somersaulting it gracefully into the air. It hit the floor and
scattered the best part of 2000 screws all over the place.

When I was a kid I acquired a typesetter's font case - a huge drawer
with more little compartments in it than you could shake a serif at. So
I tidied up and did the teenage modelmaker's equivalent of sorting the
CDs into alphabetical order.

Later I learned the important lesson that the tidier your life is, the
more you have to lose from earthquakes (or in this case, errant Irish
Setters).

These days my storage must be sealable and survive dropping.

In article ,
Sparks wrote:
I watched helplessly as the corner of the board smote the corner of the
organiser, somersaulting it gracefully into the air. It hit the floor
and scattered the best part of 2000 screws all over the place. Only 8
screws remained in the boxes.

As I type, there is a compartment box, and about 1000 (maybe more!)
fuses all over the floor in the shed...bugger....

;-)

Telly in the shed. Few tinnies. Magnifying glass. You'll sleep well
tonight.

--
*What was the best thing before sliced bread? *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article .com,
wrote:
Later I learned the important lesson that the tidier your life
is, the more you have to lose from earthquakes

Just the excuse I need g

--
Tony Bryer SDA UK 'Software to build on' http://www.sda.co.uk
Free SEDBUK boiler database browser http://www.sda.co.uk/qsedbuk.htm
[Latest version QSEDBUK 1.10 released 4 April 2005]

s--p--o--n--i--x wrote:

Never had a problem with Lidl screws BTW. Seem well made.

Never tried Lidl, although I prefer Screwfix over Toolstation since they
seem a better fit for the Wiha diamond bits.

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
david lang wrote:
I watched helplessly as the corner of the board smote the corner of the
organiser, somersaulting it gracefully into the air. It hit the floor
and scattered the best part of 2000 screws all over the place. Only 8
screws remained in the boxes.

Same thing happened to me with a large box of assorted fuse values - but
all the fuses were standard 20mm, so the only way to identify them was by
reading each and every value. ;-)

Reminds me of being a nipper just starting electronics as a hobby and
buying a 'lucky bag' of 2000 assorted resistors (on strips). Of course
they weren't much use in such a random state so I went through each and
every one decoding the colour code/value and sorting them into order...
Certainly a good way to learn the marking scheme!

david lang wrote:
Hi All

A few weeks ago I finally got fed up with never being able to find the right
size screw. I duly purchased one of those flat organisers with lots of
individual plastic boxes inside - about 20 of them. Great! You can take
out the box you want, return it after use and closing the lid locks
everything in place.

Then I placed an order with Toolstation, a box of each size screw from 4 x
1/2" right through to 8 x 2" more or less. When they arrived I spent a
happy half an hour tipping the screws in the boxes & marking each one with a
felt pen. Luxury! So organised & tidy!

Two nights ago, I leant a 6' x 1' board up against the workshop wall and
picked up another to put on the bench.

Everything then seemed to happen in slow motion! The top of the board slid
sideways along the wall and toppled sideways. There on the bench was my
screw organiser, lid open.

I watched helplessly as the corner of the board smote the corner of the
organiser, somersaulting it gracefully into the air. It hit the floor and
scattered the best part of 2000 screws all over the place. Only 8 screws
remained in the boxes.

I went to the pub! I've since picked them up & sorted the larger sizes.
The smaller one defy sorting - it was easier to buy some more!

Anyone want 1000 mixed screws?

Dave


Keeping original boxes in the drawer means repeated trips, and carrying
more than needed, so not the best.

I use multicompartment trays, but not big ones, such that it takes a
dozen or so trays to get everything in. Now if I know what size screw
is wanted, I dont take a tray at all, just take the original box. But
if its an unknown job, just take 1 or 2 trays. Spills are much less
frequent, and not hard to clear up. Printing a scale on the tray makes
clear up much quicker.

Screw sorting's more satisfying that tv anyway.

Why does no-one make those compartment boxe with a latching lid over
each compartment?


NT

In article ,
Owain wrote:
John Cartmell wrote:
An interesting and enjoyable task for a small child - don't you know one
you could borrow for an afternoon?
But be careful if you borrow two. My wife still rankles over the day her
father paid his daughters to sort his nails.

alistair sim voice Paid? /

Probably 1d per pound. They were aged about 7 and 4 at the time - and it was a
long time ago!

--
John Cartmell john@ followed by finnybank.com 0845 006 8822
Qercus magazine FAX +44 (0)8700-519-527 www.finnybank.com
Qercus - the best guide to RISC OS computing

s--p--o--n--i--x wrote:
On Fri, 23 Sep 2005 10:55:59 +0100, Dave Fawthrop
wrote:

As will Lidl at a fraction of the price and no postage.
Only when on offer.

Bought a set of 500 chipboard screws in four sizes for 99p the other
week! Came complete with storage pots to boot.

Never had a problem with Lidl screws BTW. Seem well made.

sponix

Is there a way to buy from Lidl without going there? Eg online, mail
order, etc?

NT

On 24 Sep 2005 08:54:48 -0700, wrote:

| s--p--o--n--i--x wrote:
| On Fri, 23 Sep 2005 10:55:59 +0100, Dave Fawthrop
| wrote:
|
| As will Lidl at a fraction of the price and no postage.
| Only when on offer.
|
| Bought a set of 500 chipboard screws in four sizes for 99p the other
| week! Came complete with storage pots to boot.
|
| Never had a problem with Lidl screws BTW. Seem well made.


| Is there a way to buy from Lidl without going there? Eg online, mail
| order, etc?

No. you have to go to a store early on the first day things are on offer.
Store Search accessed from http://www.lidl.co.uk/gb/home.nsf/pages/i.home

--
Dave Fawthrop dave hyphenologist co uk
The London suicide bombers killed innocent commuters.
Animal rights terrorists and activists kill innocent patients.

Owain wrote:

John Cartmell wrote:

An interesting and enjoyable task for a small child - don't you know
one you could borrow for an afternoon?

But be careful if you borrow two. My wife still rankles over the day her
father paid his daughters to sort his nails.


alistair sim voice Paid? /

Why? had he lost his toes?

Owain

"Lurch" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 22 Sep 2005 23:08:05 GMT, "david lang"
scrawled:

Anyone want 1000 mixed screws?

No ta, got plenty here from previous escapades of a 'throwing screws
around' nature.

My old friend Alan threw a polystyrene pot of
gravy (from a fish and chip shop) to his friend at
work. Friend was standing in front of a big rack of
screws, and missed the catch. Boss made them clean
and sort the whole lot.

Alan, do you ever read this group? Fame at last!

-David P.

P.S. maybe it was curry.

"Dave Fawthrop" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 23 Sep 2005 06:38:01 GMT, "john" wrote:
|
| Its also annoying to but a bag of screws - only to find that the bag
can't
| be ripped open tidily and certainly can't be re-sealed. (need an
organiser!)

Use resealable food bags available from most supermarkets.


Also very good for keeping small cables and cably instruments
(such as multimeters) in, to stop them getting tangled.


-DP