utopia
08-01-2013, 02:42 PM
I've just discovered that my local pound shops sell a range of aerosol paints.
I imagine many of you will have seen it in your local neighbourhood, courtesy of the local grafitti "artists". (ironically, its next on the shelf to the anti-vandal paint and grafitti remover.)
Compared to Halfords, who would have charged me £19.50 for 3x 300ml cans of primer, gloss and clearcoat, I got 3 cans the same size for....£3.
Obviously it may or may not be the best quality paint, and the colour range is limited, but for small, relatively insignificant bits it could be perfectly acceptable. I only wanted black anyway.
It smelt different, so I'm assuming it may use cheaper propellant, but it went on fine, and didn't react with the Halfords plastic primer that I'd already applied.
Will report back on how it stands up in use, but at 85% cheaper it certainly fits the budget.
While I was there I also picked up 6x LR44 button batteries for my Zena alarm disc-lock.
Decent quality (Maxell) these only cost 50p each...they're normally 3 or 4 times that price, and don't last ever so long, so I often ended up using the disc lock without the alarm working, which is a bit daft.
I even got a twin pack of perforated, stainless steel sink strainers, which I may use as part of the "semi-baffles" that I plan to make to take the edge off the noise of my open termis.
For a quid they're worth it, even if only to hold them over the ends of the cans to get an idea of how much effect such a restriction will have.
I used to have steel mesh wired over the ends, which worked in a minimal kind of way, and lasted for quite a while, but eventually ripped out when I gunned it from the lights when rising to the challenge of a spotty youth on a supersports bike.
Oh and 50x little plastic shot-glasses, which don't appear to react with the epoxy resin that I'll be mixing in them.....at 2p ea obviously.
And a pack of 3x school-type bristle paintbrushes, perfect for brushing cleaning solvent into nooks and crannies, or applying paraffin (as cutting fluid) to the ally mountings that I'm machining in my lathe. I don't need to tell you the price.
Not to mention a dozen, stainless steel, S-shaped hooks.....well you've never got one handy when younneed to hang something up to paint it. You would pay 5x the price just to buy that much 2mm stainless wire.
Then there was the little textile mini man-bag thingy. I think it claimed to be for your mobile phone and other tat. It fits perfectly in the underseat compartment, next to the Ducati toolkit, and holds a puncture plugging kit and those extra toolkit items that Ducati have the nerve to think that you'll never need.
Actually, these were so good that I got a couple of spares, in case anyone else should want one. I'll bring them along to gatherings.
I do like a good ferret about in a pound shop, though you do have to be selective, and the aisles are a bit narrow for the larger person (but fortunately I'm a beanpole).
I'm just off for some more clearcoat now.
Who knows what else I'll find.......:biggrin:
I imagine many of you will have seen it in your local neighbourhood, courtesy of the local grafitti "artists". (ironically, its next on the shelf to the anti-vandal paint and grafitti remover.)
Compared to Halfords, who would have charged me £19.50 for 3x 300ml cans of primer, gloss and clearcoat, I got 3 cans the same size for....£3.
Obviously it may or may not be the best quality paint, and the colour range is limited, but for small, relatively insignificant bits it could be perfectly acceptable. I only wanted black anyway.
It smelt different, so I'm assuming it may use cheaper propellant, but it went on fine, and didn't react with the Halfords plastic primer that I'd already applied.
Will report back on how it stands up in use, but at 85% cheaper it certainly fits the budget.
While I was there I also picked up 6x LR44 button batteries for my Zena alarm disc-lock.
Decent quality (Maxell) these only cost 50p each...they're normally 3 or 4 times that price, and don't last ever so long, so I often ended up using the disc lock without the alarm working, which is a bit daft.
I even got a twin pack of perforated, stainless steel sink strainers, which I may use as part of the "semi-baffles" that I plan to make to take the edge off the noise of my open termis.
For a quid they're worth it, even if only to hold them over the ends of the cans to get an idea of how much effect such a restriction will have.
I used to have steel mesh wired over the ends, which worked in a minimal kind of way, and lasted for quite a while, but eventually ripped out when I gunned it from the lights when rising to the challenge of a spotty youth on a supersports bike.
Oh and 50x little plastic shot-glasses, which don't appear to react with the epoxy resin that I'll be mixing in them.....at 2p ea obviously.
And a pack of 3x school-type bristle paintbrushes, perfect for brushing cleaning solvent into nooks and crannies, or applying paraffin (as cutting fluid) to the ally mountings that I'm machining in my lathe. I don't need to tell you the price.
Not to mention a dozen, stainless steel, S-shaped hooks.....well you've never got one handy when younneed to hang something up to paint it. You would pay 5x the price just to buy that much 2mm stainless wire.
Then there was the little textile mini man-bag thingy. I think it claimed to be for your mobile phone and other tat. It fits perfectly in the underseat compartment, next to the Ducati toolkit, and holds a puncture plugging kit and those extra toolkit items that Ducati have the nerve to think that you'll never need.
Actually, these were so good that I got a couple of spares, in case anyone else should want one. I'll bring them along to gatherings.
I do like a good ferret about in a pound shop, though you do have to be selective, and the aisles are a bit narrow for the larger person (but fortunately I'm a beanpole).
I'm just off for some more clearcoat now.
Who knows what else I'll find.......:biggrin: