Bolted Down

a pile of nuts and bolts

Making a concerted, pre-spring cleaning effort in the studio/workshop at the moment. Was going well today until I got to my "inheritance," 4 big toolboxes worth of metric thread machine screws, nuts and assorted supporting hardware. I say "inheritance" because they were on a deceased estate, nature strip, hard rubbish pile and the brother of Splodgenoodles (not her real) name scored them for me. Once I find a proper home for the collection, I may never need to buy threaded hardware ever again. At least, not M4 to M10. But OMFG! I'm broken!

Half, no, two-thirds of my day has been wrapped arounf sorting, collating, bagging-pending-a-new-home and stacking what feels like a hundredweight of ironmungery from buggeration to buggery and this ballast still doesn't have a permanent home. Sure, the M6 bolts are now sorted to length. AFTER 10 HOURS OF SODDING SORTING!!! M4 and M5 are yet to be sorted. M8 to M12 are sort of only a couple of handfuls, but I have no idea how to integrate any of this into my previous, meagre collection of threaded hardware. Seriously considering piffing the small AF imperial dross and findlings. Well, except for 1/4 inch, because cameras, and that weird bolt size that's what American microphone threads use. 7/16ths? 9/16ths? (I always have to dig out my "reference bolt" and measure it to remember the size.) Oh, and half inch, have to keep half inch for my drill sanding pad, but oh wait, I had to buy one of those because I didn't actually have any half inch bolts to adapt the sanding pad to the drill. I am fornicated.

Yep, the useless sizes can make way for the modern, rational, metric world. If I find I've tossed a size I need, I'll drill and tap. Oh the humanity. Broken. and about an eighth of the work to do barely done. Goodnight. Ouch.

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