Mopar Muscle Association UK

You know when some tiny thing annoys you and you keep thinking about it and can't let it go?

Yeah OK I get like that too many times.

But this is annoying because I have used this lovely old tool shop in a victorian indoor market for years and years and always got good service.

Not been for a few years but I went at lunchtime because I need a half inch drill bit or, preferably, a reamer to "adjust" yet another American made part that does not bloody fit.

Overweight guy dressed like a salesman (what ever happened to the brown coats?) with too much aftershave and gelled hair asks me what I want as soon as I stepped up to the place. Pushy.

Asked if he had a half inch drill or reamer. Said he could do me a drill.

Fine I said. But it has to be a half inch. Near enough is not good enough as the part I am drilling out needs to just slide on another shaft.

He gets a drill bit out of a draw and puts it in a bag and wraps it up.

£9.00 Not cheap but fair enough these days for this type of traditional business.

On my way out I take it out of the bag just to check it.

12.5mm.

I turn back into the shop.

Sorry but I asked for a half inch drill bit.

"That's what I gave you".

No it's 12.5mm.

"12.5mm IS a half inch"

No it isn't.

"There are 25mm in an inch so 12.5 is a half inch right"?

Not exactly no.

"It is".

Now I am wondering in my head if 12.5mm instead of 12.7mm (half inch) would be enough to do the job anyway or if it would still be too tight?

I decided to try it. So took it anyway.

But by the time I got back to work I knew I should have just given it back and got my money back. Been annoyed with myself more than the pratt that sold it to me.

Anyway. Remembered there are a couple of engineers on our campus where I work that we gave some computers to. The kind of lads that always have a vernier gauge in their pockets. AND proper overalls. But blue not brown.

Decided to see them and they let me borrow a drill bit, reamer, AND decent T-bar to drive the reamer.

I should have seen them first but I could do with a drill bit as it is a useful size and I wore my old one out.

I had better wait until I cool off before returning the 12.5mm. But I think I will tell them they just lost a long time (over 30 years) customer.

That's the issue now Dave, service isn't what it used to be & very few places reward loyalty anymore. But on the other hand you've now got what you need for free due to some friendly people, so clearly the world hasn't completly gone to the dogs.

You are absolutely right to have a rant 12.5 mm isn't half an inch.

I tend to buy my stuff on line now from companies like Tracey Tools or you might give our very own Mark a shout (Chronos Tools) he does proper Imperial drills.

In my view every engineering tool retailer should wear a brown cow gown with a micrometer, jammed into an old metal spectacle case in his top pocket (or a vernier) and he should be able to convert from imperial to metric accurately.

That's the problem these days, you can't get the staff.

It was the way he was talking to me as if I was thick that annoyed me the most.

Now I understand how people on here feel when I answer their questions.

At least you still have a tool shop. Round here it's Wickes,Homebase,Robert Dyas and the like. All of our good places have long gone,even the trade places.
Yes,sadly it's internet time and watch the quality or as said Chronos or Tracy Tools also Maidstone Engineering,another small modellers supplier.

I actually threw away a bunch of old drill bits the other day,I have 3 drawers full of em and yes 10, 1/2 inch bits........sorry we live so far away

Ivor wrote:You are absolutely right to have a rant 12.5 mm isn't half an inch.

I tend to buy my stuff on line now from companies like Tracey Tools or you might give our very own Mark a shout (Chronos Tools) he does proper Imperial drills.

In my view every engineering tool retailer should wear a brown cow gown with a micrometer, jammed into an old metal spectacle case in his top pocket (or a vernier) and he should be able to convert from imperial to metric accurately.

That's the problem these days, you can't get the staff.

Dont forget the obligatory checked shirt, worn on the collar edge, tie and a woolen jumper.
2 grease patches on the outside of his brown coat pockets
And a Pipe Smoker.

Old School proper Tradesmen, a dying breed if any left at all.

Yep you are all right with this . The only positive with the DIY outlets is they don't close for lunch, half day closing and drop the shutters on the stroke of 4.30. Oh..and don't forget Sundays. Some of the quality of the tools they sell is dreadful though

My Father in Law still has a brown coat he uses when he does engine work. Specs and pencil go top pocket. long since retired, but one of a dying breed, sadly.

Dave, don't forget when you take it back to wind him up first and tell him you used it and it Bananarama! up the very expensive part you were working on, because it was the wrong size. Take the calipers with you to prove the cocky twat wrong too.

Or just jam the drill bit up one of his nostrils and write off the £9. Worth every penny

Well the reamer was spot on. I now have a tube that slides nicely on my shaft.

I will take the 12.5 back at lunchtime but I am going to try and see the owner. Tell him he just lost a customer.

Nice to have sliding fit

Still can't see why you couldn't use the 12.5 and waggle it round a bit in the hole

latil wrote:Nice to have sliding fit

Still can't see why you couldn't use the 12.5 and waggle it round a bit in the hole

Well sometimes you have to.

So I go back to the shop to return the drill bit.

The only guy there was the village idot that sold me the damn thing. So I didn't say anything. I just handed him the bit and the receipt and asked him politely if I could have my money back please.

He took it out of the bag, looked at it. Looked at my receipt. Then carefully wrapped the whole lot up again and handed it back to me.

"The guy that can authorise the refunds is not in until Saturday".

So I say "You are authorised to open the shop, sell the goods, and close the shop for the day. So why can't you give me the refund"?

He just told me I would have to come back saturday.

So it was then I got a bit annoyed again.

I told him he sold me it in an underhanded way. He insisted again that 12.5mm is a half inch. I told him it isn't.
He tells me he has been doing his job for 15 years and he knows what he is talking about.
I tell him I have been doing various forms of engineering for nearly 40 years and he is a Bananarama! halfwit.

In fact he has shaved his head today. So now he looks like an extra from "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest".

I just hope the owner on Saturday is very very polite and gives me a refund without any issues. Otherwise someone is going to be sitting in A&E waiting for a drill to be extracted.