One of the things that I love about hardware stores are “magic boxes”. You may ask, “What are magic boxes?” Well, to me they are the little drawer boxes found in hardware stores that contain all the “little bits and bob’s” of miscellaneous hardware that you might need for a given project. Now, we’ve always had lots of magic hardware boxes here at the store, but I just received some new ones this week that I thought that you’d like to see.
The first one is a box of automotive studs. Now most of you won’t get too excited about these, but if you need one you’ll know how important they can be. Automotive (or any mechanical) studs are basically high grade bolts made without a head, in other words they have threads on both ends. Studs are often used to connect two parts of a larger machine together. Studs have advantages over bolts, as they are stronger and torque more uniformly than bolts. Therefore they seal gaskets better and are less prone to leakage that bolts. That is until a bad day comes when you break one and need a replacement, hence this magic box assortment.
The next box contains what are termed “throttle accessories”. Specifically these are throttle accessories to fit lawn equipment. Lawn mowers and such often have a throttle control lever located next to one of the handles. This is connected to a cable which runs down the handle to the carburetor. This cable is held on by a combination of screwed on clamps and spring loaded circular clips. They then terminate at the carburetor throttle arm with a swiveling clamp connector. The only problem with this setup is that as the mower vibrates (and all of them do!) the parts can come loose and drop into the grass while you mow, where, for sure, you will never, ever find them. This box contains a variety of these items that you need to get your mower squared away again.
The last two boxes contain something a little different. There are screws, nuts, washers and the lot, but they aren’t made of metal! They are actually molded out of nylon, which is surprisingly strong and works pretty well. Why make them out of nylon? Nylon has several unusual characteristics that metal doesn’t offer. Nylon is both corrosion resistant and non-conductive to electricity. This means that it can be a good choice for applications requiring parts to be insulated from one another, or in corrosive environments.
These are just some of the “magic boxes” that we have here at the store. By rough count, we have 165 or so more! Who says that magic isn’t real? Just come on in to the Old Hardware Store…