A letterbox story...
 

Or rather they seem to be called letterbox plates these days.

I like the original brass one here - but didn't like having to polish it.
Lacquer is a temporary fix - but looks dreadful when worn/damaged and even
more work to remove polish and re-lacquer.

Polished chrome I didn't want.

So decided the most maintenance free that I liked the look of would be
brushed stainless steel. Not SS lookalike, but the real McCoy. Something
not that easy to find, after checking the usual sources.

Eventually found what I wanted at a specialist online supplier. And all
the other matching door furniture. Not cheap - but was willing to pay for
quality.

It all looked very good when it arrived.

Was surprised there was no fitting template with the letter plate. Four
fixings one at each corner with what looked like SS rivenuts (but welded
to the plate) and threaded rods - SS cap nuts for the interior.

Drew out a template and got on with it - the opening was larger than the
original.

Only to discover the rods wouldn't screw into their captive 'nuts'.
Assembling it off the door showed just why - they all pointed in different
directions, none was square. Not wanting huge holes with washers in the
door, I decided to complain. No problem they said (after I sent some pics)
we'll replace it and send you a return label for the old.

The replacement arrived today. Did a trial fit of the rods and they are
reasonably square.

But the fixings are 15mm in from the sides. The old one, 10mm. Otherwise
identical. Guess there's a reason they didn't supply a template.

Watch this space. ;-)

--
*Not all men are annoying. Some are dead.

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

A letterbox story...
 

On 25/09/2017 15:22, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

But the fixings are 15mm in from the sides. The old one, 10mm. Otherwise
identical. Guess there's a reason they didn't supply a template.

Not cheap - but was willing to pay for no quality.

I once bought a number of shelf brackets each with 4 fixing holes along
the length. I used one as a template to drill the wall only to find
that on the other brackets the holes had been drilled at a different
random spacing.

--
mailto: news {at} admac {dot] myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

A letterbox story...
 

In article ,
alan_m wrote:
On 25/09/2017 15:22, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

But the fixings are 15mm in from the sides. The old one, 10mm. Otherwise
identical. Guess there's a reason they didn't supply a template.

Not cheap - but was willing to pay for no quality.

Rather difficult to know that - except with hindsight. I'd be happy with
the product if it had fitted as I expected. Had it been the second one
from the off, I'd not have posted this.

I once bought a number of shelf brackets each with 4 fixing holes along
the length. I used one as a template to drill the wall only to find
that on the other brackets the holes had been drilled at a different
random spacing.

'They' just do this to annoy us. ;-)

--
*They told me I had type-A blood, but it was a Type-O.*

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

A letterbox story...
 

Dave Plowman wrote:

Or rather they seem to be called letterbox plates these days.

My PVC door and side-panels came with fairly crappy "aluminium" flaps
(same inside and out) which didn't match the rest of the chrome door
furniture. It didn't take a dopey delivery driver long to force
something too large into and break off one of the flaps ... temporarily
I reversed the inside and outside flaps.

It took me ages to find a good, larger replacement, but not too large to
fit the frame ...the the internet seems to be full of cheap ****ty
letterboxes.

Eventually got a decent PVD chrome plated one, to make it draught-proof
it has springs stronger than Arkwright's till, so the postie probably
hates it, charity collection bags tend to end up scrumpled between the
two flaps.

A letterbox story...
 

Had a reply from them after I sent a pic showing the new problem with the
replacement. If nothing else their customer service is good.

Seems it was the last one they had in stock and are awaiting more.

Suggested I send both back and when the new stock arrives they will
attempt to find one with the same fixing centres as the faulty one.

But I don't want no letter plate at all for gawd knows how long.

I could plug all the holes and re-drill for the replacement. But that is
quite a bit of work. Because the new holes would be close to the old,
they'd need plugging properly with wood.

Decisions, decisions. ;-)

--
*I will always cherish the initial misconceptions I had about you

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

A letterbox story...
 

On Mon, 25 Sep 2017 15:22:37 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
coalesced the vapors of human experience into a
viable and meaningful comprehension...

Or rather they seem to be called letterbox plates these days.

I like the original brass one here - but didn't like having to polish it.
Lacquer is a temporary fix - but looks dreadful when worn/damaged and even
more work to remove polish and re-lacquer.

Polished chrome I didn't want.

So decided the most maintenance free that I liked the look of would be
brushed stainless steel. Not SS lookalike, but the real McCoy. Something
not that easy to find, after checking the usual sources.

Eventually found what I wanted at a specialist online supplier. And all
the other matching door furniture. Not cheap - but was willing to pay for
quality.

It all looked very good when it arrived.

Was surprised there was no fitting template with the letter plate. Four
fixings one at each corner with what looked like SS rivenuts (but welded
to the plate) and threaded rods - SS cap nuts for the interior.

Drew out a template and got on with it - the opening was larger than the
original.

Only to discover the rods wouldn't screw into their captive 'nuts'.
Assembling it off the door showed just why - they all pointed in different
directions, none was square. Not wanting huge holes with washers in the
door, I decided to complain. No problem they said (after I sent some pics)
we'll replace it and send you a return label for the old.

The replacement arrived today. Did a trial fit of the rods and they are
reasonably square.

But the fixings are 15mm in from the sides. The old one, 10mm. Otherwise
identical. Guess there's a reason they didn't supply a template.

Watch this space. ;-)

I once had that with some Unicol industrial TV stands, The hole
spacing on the TV brackets were correct but they had been jigged and
welded up inconsistently. Fortunately where I was working had a
machine shop so I got them to widen the holes to conform.


--

Graham.
%Profound_observation%

A letterbox story...
 

Graham. wrote:

I once had that with some Unicol industrial TV stands, The hole
spacing on the TV brackets were correct but they had been jigged and
welded up inconsistently. Fortunately where I was working had a
machine shop so I got them to widen the holes to conform.

Once spent a fruitless morning trying to get the holes to line up
on a Honda 50 rear wheel sprocket. Eventually I accepted that one
of the four was out of alignment by at least a couple of
millimetres, and it was time to catch a bus (again) and get it
swapped. :-(

Chris
--
Chris J Dixon Nottingham UK


Plant amazing Acers.

A letterbox story...
 

On Wednesday, September 27, 2017 at 8:25:17 AM UTC+1, Chris J Dixon wrote:
Graham. wrote:

I once had that with some Unicol industrial TV stands, The hole
spacing on the TV brackets were correct but they had been jigged and
welded up inconsistently. Fortunately where I was working had a
machine shop so I got them to widen the holes to conform.

Once spent a fruitless morning trying to get the holes to line up
on a Honda 50 rear wheel sprocket. Eventually I accepted that one
of the four was out of alignment by at least a couple of
millimetres, and it was time to catch a bus (again) and get it
swapped. :-(

Chris
--
Chris J Dixon Nottingham UK


Plant amazing Acers.

To get back to letterplates, when we lived in London (Sydenham), I locked my self out of the house, I managed to get back in by disassembling the letterplate from the outside (Squeeze knocker together (Oooh er missus), remove knocker, rotate knocker posts anti clockwise, remove plate, poke hand through relatively large hole in door and operate the knob on the Yale cylinder latch thingy). My memory is I though about putting something more secure on, but decided I was probably daft enough to do it again and I'd look at it as a feature rather than a bug!


Cheers

Chris

A letterbox story...
 

On Wed, 27 Sep 2017 07:23:10 -0700, chrispvholmes wrote:

On Wednesday, September 27, 2017 at 8:25:17 AM UTC+1, Chris J Dixon
wrote:
Graham. wrote:

I once had that with some Unicol industrial TV stands, The hole
spacing on the TV brackets were correct but they had been jigged and
welded up inconsistently. Fortunately where I was working had a
machine shop so I got them to widen the holes to conform.

Once spent a fruitless morning trying to get the holes to line up on a
Honda 50 rear wheel sprocket. Eventually I accepted that one of the
four was out of alignment by at least a couple of millimetres, and it
was time to catch a bus (again) and get it swapped. :-(

Chris --
Chris J Dixon Nottingham UK

Plant amazing Acers.

To get back to letterplates, when we lived in London (Sydenham), I
locked my self out of the house, I managed to get back in by
disassembling the letterplate from the outside (Squeeze knocker together
(Oooh er missus), remove knocker, rotate knocker posts anti clockwise,
remove plate, poke hand through relatively large hole in door and
operate the knob on the Yale cylinder latch thingy). My memory is I
though about putting something more secure on, but decided I was
probably daft enough to do it again and I'd look at it as a feature
rather than a bug!

That's exactly why I have a way of remotely unlocking the door.


--
My posts are my copyright and if @diy_forums or Home Owners' Hub
wish to copy them they can pay me £1 a message.
Use the BIG mirror service in the UK: http://www.mirrorservice.org
*lightning surge protection* - a w_tom conductor

A letterbox story...
 

On 27/09/2017 17:13, Bob Eager wrote:

That's exactly why I have a way of remotely unlocking the door.



Or a well hidden/ disguised key safe at the front of the property?
Buy one with a full weatherproof cover.
Paint the cover to remove the branding or the words "Key Safe".

--
mailto: news {at} admac {dot] myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

A letterbox story...
 

On Wed, 27 Sep 2017 17:34:40 +0100, alan_m wrote:

On 27/09/2017 17:13, Bob Eager wrote:

That's exactly why I have a way of remotely unlocking the door.



Or a well hidden/ disguised key safe at the front of the property?
Buy one with a full weatherproof cover.
Paint the cover to remove the branding or the words "Key Safe".

We had a key safe for a while due to an elderly relative and nurse
visits. It is very hard to disguise as we have a bare concrete front
garden 2 feet deep!

As it is, I can do it from my mobile. It is protected with 2FA and is as
secure as the rest of the property!



--
My posts are my copyright and if @diy_forums or Home Owners' Hub
wish to copy them they can pay me £1 a message.
Use the BIG mirror service in the UK: http://www.mirrorservice.org
*lightning surge protection* - a w_tom conductor