One of the finials on a curtain pole (a) had lost its grub screw which kept it in place. Tried an M5 metric bolt (wrong thread pitch) and a Meccano bolt (too small) then rooting around in my box of random hardware I noticed that the threads on the stud of an old drawer pull (b) looked about right and indeed they were (c). So I sawed a slot in the end of the stud (d) and then cut a short length off the end (e). Note the end is held in the vice because I didn’t want to lose it. There we have it (f) the basic grub screw. Deburr the cut end of the thread (g), pop the new screw in place (h) and finally widen the slot with a file (i) to accommodate the screwdriver head. Simples…
This plastic knuckle joint on a fancy folding armchair had split open. Glued back together and reinforced with a brass strip screwed into place. I feel the supervet would have been pleased.
Note: unfortunately most indoor furniture is outside the scope of what we can do: it usually takes too long and needs a proper workshop
RIMLESS GLASSES: this was a real challenge. One arm had broken off at the root (1) and there was no chance of fixing the break. First job (2) tape over the lens to protect it and dig out the old fixings (two barbed metal prongs pushed into plastic sleeves through holes in the lens). Next (3) drill sideways into the lens and (4) glue the wire end of the broken side-arm into the new hole.
CHANNELING KIRSTEN FROM “THE REPAIR SHOP”… I have become a total fan of epoxy putty. To deal with this hole in the side of a ceramic planter I used a steel-filled putty which bonds well to concrete and glass etc. Hard enough to sand down in 20 minutes, painted with a coat of B.I.N. primer (dry in 15 minutes), pattern loosely touched in with watercolours and sealed with a coat of metal lacquer to give it a glossy finish.
You can still see the join (as they say) but OK for a little over an hour’s work.
TIP: There are two types of cross-head screws. It’s important to use the correct screwdriver to prevent damage to the screw and possibly round it off. Note that the Posidrive has extra flutes on the screwdriver while the Phillips is plain
