I need some small screws (or bolts if you want to call them that) with their associated nuts to repair my greenhouse. The ones I have at the moment have either square or hexagonal heads, and the screw part of it is 10 mm long (I think they're called M6). I've been to all the big DIY chains and the only things I can get either have the head of the screw too thick to go in the slot in the greenhouse, or the screw part is about 4 times too long.

Does anyone know if there are any independent hardware shops left that could sell me a dozen or two of exactly what I want?

Don't know anywhere in Sheff but www.screwfixdirect.com might be able to help.

Thanks for that. Looks like what I want is a 12mm M6 set screw or something very similar. Unfortunately the delivery charge far outweighs the cost of the nuts and bolts though... any local suggestions?

Suggestion: find something else useful from screwfix to add to your order. They also sell light bulbs, cleaning goods, tools, paint...... Or ask a friend if there's anything they want. A paper copy of the catalogue would probably help.

I use screwfix regularly - they're pretty good.

Edit: try a garden centre.

There's 2 places I used to use, but it was years ago and I'm not sure if they are still open!

First is near Ford garage on Manton Street, round the back of St Mary's road.
Second is called Williams, near RSPCA place at the bottom of West Bar.

Sorry if it's all a bit vague and good luck! :thumbsup:

Purdey's DIY woodhouse mill? Furnace lane.

A firm i used to work at used IFS (http://www.yell.com/search/ShowMap?nat_id=1010671&businessType=FIXINGS+%26+FASTENINGS&location=SHEFFIELD&clarifyIndex=&clarifyOptions=&searchType=classic&replayURL=%2Fucs%2FUcsSearchAction.do%3Fooa%3Don%2 6searchType%3Dclassic%26keywords%3DFixings%2B%2526 %2BFastenings%26startOoaAt%3D5%26location%3Dsheffi eld%26startAt%3D10%26scrambleSeed%3D27378%26scramb leSeed%3D27378%26ooascrambleSeed%3D) all the time. Plenty of places if you look on Yell.

A few places to try,
There is a hardware shop on Abbetdale road a short distance from the Broadfield pub
Arnold Lavers on Chesterfield Road
Industrial fastenings? End of Edmund Road I'm sure the initials of the place are I.F.S.
No Frills the DIY shop
If you take one of the nuts and bolts with you on your travels it'll be easier to match it with new ones, it sounds as though you may be looking for what is sometimes called 'Dexion' nuts and bolts

Thanks for all those suggestions - I'll try to get round a few of them over the weekend.

Try looking on the forum Small screws see prostitutes in sheffield, Bolts try sticking your finger in a plug socket and nuts most of us on sheffield forum. lmao Sorry I was bored and couldn't resist the title.:thumbsup: :loopy: :hihi: :hihi:

Hey I was just going to post the same thing :suspect:

I need a small piece of threaded rod about 2" long but really really thin, like smaller than the diameter on cabinet knobs. I've been to B&Q and the usual suspects but they had nothing.

The question is how do I know what size of rod I need so I can order over the net? M6 doesn't mean anything to me....

Genesis,
M6, M8, M10 etc. refer to the diameter of the bolt in millimetres.
M6 has an outer (top ridge of thread) of 6mm.

Measure (or estimate) the diameter of the rod that you need.
You are unlikely to find smaller than M6 at most DIY outlets.

Another source is model shops.

http://www.greenweld.co.uk have small diameter rod. (put "threaded rod" into their search box) and

Here is another for M2 Rod
http://www.rcworld.co.uk/acatalog/Threaded_Rod.html

Again for these small items postage is more than the item so you could look for Radio Controlled Model shops in Sheffield.

Just had a nosy for IFS [Industrial Fastener Supplies] they are at 3 Edmund Road which is very close to St. Mary's Gate
Nuts and bolts galore and Genesis they may very well sell threaded rod as well although it wasn't immediately noticeable on their web site.

Originally posted by cgksheff
Genesis,
M6, M8, M10 etc. refer to the diameter of the bolt in millimetres.
M6 has an outer (top ridge of thread) of 6mm.

Measure (or estimate) the diameter of the rod that you need.
You are unlikely to find smaller than M6 at most DIY outlets.

Another source is model shops.

http://www.greenweld.co.uk have small diameter rod. (put "threaded rod" into their search box) and

Here is another for M2 Rod
http://www.rcworld.co.uk/acatalog/Threaded_Rod.html

Again for these small items postage is more than the item so you could look for Radio Controlled Model shops in Sheffield.

Wow thanks for the advice and links! I measured it and it seems to be 2mm diameter (definitely not 3mm) so I guess it would be M2 then. Are there different thread types too? Do you have a RC shop you could recommend that might carry this?

Thanks!

"Hobbies" on Moorfields definitely have some and nuts to match.

S3 8UH on the otherside of the road from Harrolds the Locksmiths.

But, I'm sure there are lots of others around in Yellow Pages or Yell.com

Originally posted by metalman
Thanks for that. Looks like what I want is a 12mm M6 set screw or something very similar. Unfortunately the delivery charge far outweighs the cost of the nuts and bolts though... any local suggestions?


The place you need to go is
Cromwell Tools (http://www.cromwell.co.uk/). You can find address and directions here:

http://www.cromwell.co.uk/branch?id=RnHBa6wo

The have a trade counter open to the public and they'll be able to sort you out with anything you need. Theyre also much much cheaper than the big DIY stores.


Originally posted by genesiscouch
I need a small piece of threaded rod about 2" long but really really thin, like smaller than the diameter on cabinet knobs. I've been to B&Q and the usual suspects but they had nothing.

The question is how do I know what size of rod I need so I can order over the net? M6 doesn't mean anything to me....


As cgksheff said the "M" stands for metric (:D) and the "6" is the diameter of the rod. You can buy it in metre lengths from cromwells (see above). I bought some M4 recently, and it was about 80p/metre.

p.s. Im not affiliated with cromwells in any way - just a satisfied customer! :) good luck!

Well I've solved my problem anyway... just by chance I happened to find exactly the right sort of special greenhouse spare part nuts and bolts in a nice little hardware shop in Wombwell this morning.

Best of luck with the threaded rod though!

OK so I made it down to Hobbies today. Unfortunately the lady there was a little less than helpful which was surprising for a hobby shop (admittedly a threaded rod is not a big sale).

Anyways we tried M2 first and it was too small, so they had some M2.5 short bolts which we tried threading into the nuts I had. The M2.5 seemed to fit but the threads felt like they were jamming and cross-threading, it was hard to tell but due to their fineness we didn't force it much. Finally she had some DBA? 6 which was too small again.

So that's where I'm left. She didn't offer any more options but really there is no unique threads...it has to be fit something! Does anyone have some suggestions on what/where I can try next??

Have you tried IFS on St Maries gate just opposite the tool hire place - they will almost certainly have what you need - or at the very least be able to point you in an appropriate direction (map here (http://www.yell.com/ucs/UcsSearchAction.do?keywords=&location=Sheffield&broaderLocation=&scrambleSeed=28817&companyName=Industrial+Fastener+Supplies&startAt=&mqs=&targetName=&M=1&T=1&clarifyIndex=&clarifyOptions=&filterKeywords=&searchType=classic&startOoaAt=&ooascrambleSeed=&ooa=on))

Originally posted by evildrneil
Have you tried IFS on St Maries gate just opposite the tool hire place - they will almost certainly have what you need - or at the very least be able to point you in an appropriate direction (map here (http://www.yell.com/ucs/UcsSearchAction.do?keywords=&location=Sheffield&broaderLocation=&scrambleSeed=28817&companyName=Industrial+Fastener+Supplies&startAt=&mqs=&targetName=&M=1&T=1&clarifyIndex=&clarifyOptions=&filterKeywords=&searchType=classic&startOoaAt=&ooascrambleSeed=&ooa=on))

I'll run by tomorrow (if they're open) and hopefully they will be able to hook me up or at the least tell me what I need. Thanks :)

Originally posted by genesiscouch
we tried M2 first and it was too small, so they had some M2.5 short bolts which we tried threading into the nuts I had. The M2.5 seemed to fit but the threads felt like they were jamming and cross-threading, it was hard to tell but due to their fineness we didn't force it much.

If what you have is just ordinary nuts, why don't you purchase the nuts that go with the threaded rod available? I could understand still hunting if it was a threaded plate you needed the rod to go through :confused:

Originally posted by genesiscouch


Anyways we tried M2 first and it was too small, so they had some M2.5 short bolts which we tried threading into the nuts I had. The M2.5 seemed to fit but the threads felt like they were jamming and cross-threading, it was hard to tell but due to their fineness we didn't force it much. Finally she had some DBA? 6 which was too small again.

So that's where I'm left. She didn't offer any more options but really there is no unique threads...it has to be fit something! Does anyone have some suggestions on what/where I can try next??

There are lots of different threads - some fine ones are BA - generally used for electrical equipment, UNF - used a lot in motor vehicles, BSF - in engineering. Course ones are UNC, and Whitworth, now mostly superceded by the M (metric)series. Some others I've long forgotten the names of :)

As someone else suggested why not buy some rod of the right diameter and nuts to fit, but bear in mind if you need to cut the rod to length you'll need a taper die to repair the thread where you cut the rod.

Originally posted by evildrneil
Have you tried IFS on St Maries gate just opposite the tool hire place - they will almost certainly have what you need - or at the very least be able to point you in an appropriate direction (map here (http://www.yell.com/ucs/UcsSearchAction.do?keywords=&location=Sheffield&broaderLocation=&scrambleSeed=28817&companyName=Industrial+Fastener+Supplies&startAt=&mqs=&targetName=&M=1&T=1&clarifyIndex=&clarifyOptions=&filterKeywords=&searchType=classic&startOoaAt=&ooascrambleSeed=&ooa=on))

I'm sure i suggested this place or am i losing my mind?
Nope I've checked i DID suggesst it first
Particularily useful when you're working on your car engine and you drop a bolt or nut and it just Vanishes and you spend hours crawling around on the ground looking for it.

Don't worry I'm not so thick or skint that I wouldn't buy new nuts too! The "nuts" on both ends of the threaded rods are custom designed for the piece they come from so it is literally impossible to replace them off the shelf.

Yup Wallbuilder you did mention it before, I just thought that Hobbies would have what I want.

Greybeard - Thanks for that info! This piece was designed within the last five years so I don't think it would be an "old model" thread. Hopefully ISF will have some more options to try....

It's a shame that you did not meet "Mr Hobbies". He knows his stuff inside out.

I drove past IFS this morning and it appears to have closed and now be selling tape/glue etc - perhaps you could improvise ;)