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Useful, simple things that you didn't know existed until you found them. I'm always telling pupils at school that they could make themselves very wealthy and successful if you can design products that people didn't know they could actually need. No doubt we all come from different backgrounds, trades and professions so I'm sure some will find some products everyday for them!
My two are the blacksmiths drill; didn't know they existed until I needed to drill a hold larger than the chuck of my corded drill:
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And this:
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You didn't know pencils existed? 😀
Utterly brilliant little bit of kit;
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Kevsterjw - it makes your lead [i]feel[/i] longer.
Kevsterjw - it makes your lead feel longer.
2B really brings the pencilling alive.
So that is what is meant when you 'go over to the dark side'? 🙄
Spider catcher - get in! 🙂
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HG Mould Spray +LOTS.
I don't need mould spray, the bathroom is plenty mouldy already.
CFH what is that thing?
Cooker hob heat diffuser?
I thought it was one of those jobbies that enables Southerners to open jam jars?
Either that or some sort of Tesco Value trivet.
its a wheel sizing thing ,measures coolness
I thought it was one of those jobbies that enables Southerners to open jam jars?
Nah, it's to give Northerners somewhere to cool their steaming pots of bitterness and envy 😉
What trivet for bitterness pots?
[i]What trivet for bitterness pots?
[/i]
well, you'll want to keep it simmering on a low heat, so this type;
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I quite like these. Useful but not essential.
Those extra scissory scissors are brilliant. And the bananarender!
I love ours...
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I'd love one of these though...
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Occilating multi tool
Borrowed my dads after thinking i really didnt have a use for one..... After using it for the two cuts he told me it would be best for ( cutting out an old windowsill from the reveals - i immediately saw a whole heap of uses for it and have only had it a couple of days but find my self reaching for it for intricate cutting - i have been laying a laminate floor and fitting new windowcills in those 2 days though
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HG Mould Spray +LOTS.POSTED 1 DAY AGO # REPORT-POST
Bought some today and it's worked a treat in our troublesome corner.
Nothing has ever worked before. So that's another +1
I also bought some today worked a treat. I didn't think was possible without resealing yet again.
ooh this sounds good - where did you find it?
(can see it online, but would be handy to pop out and get some)
I got mine from B&Q.
That'll do, ta!
Think I'll give some of it a go too!
CaptainFlashheart - Member
Utterly brilliant little bit of kit;
Only if you have to slum it with [i]laminate[/i] worktops.
those drillbits that drill a pilot hole for a screw but also leave a perfect conical countersink hole as well
Omitn, a Le Creuset from the top oven of the Aga would burn my wooden work surfaces, hence those trivets.
[img] https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT3ZnV2a5yIbPFnV4Nff-Cwup-VV5WAyFGCcaCBtthatPjT49PxOg [/img]
A bike one - best bike tool I have ever bought - was only a fiver 20 years ago
[img] https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ-1PcqxWLqbJ7Hw-lqUXxHKEOreneWsJ_p1LUxb7lHul8K_7tx [/img]
Hg mould spray is incredible. Thank you stw
I want a mouldy bathroom to try some of that HG stuff out now!
Mould spray is Milton fluid. Unbranded will do push toilet paper into the space and spray and leave for a while.
Different types of heat defusers. Some are for keeping milk from boiling over. I use them to raise my kettles on the wood burner so do not get to hot and waste hot water. But if wood burner is very hot will use a very low trivet again for the same reason plus for cooking a stew while in the pub. Basically a slow cooker.
The hypercraker. Great for traveling light.
While I was re-stocking my shed, I remembered this thread.
Want to add:
Pocket hole joints in general, but particularly this jig:
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Expensive ish, but I managed to make 36 birch ply boxes in 2 days.
all in one dishwasher tabs... although they probably don't count as "didn't know existed"
The hypercraker. Great for traveling light.
When did you last have a cassette lockring come loose on a ride? For me it was about 1993.
For bakers - flexible plastic bowl scrapers. They're so obvious but I'd never seen one until a year or so back. Great for cleaning bowls after making bread, for limiting waste when you're making cakes and for initial mixes of sticky doughs by hand.
Plus they cost about 50p.
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Thread bump. Never knew these existed until 5 minutes ago, upon googling shirt tucking techniques (What?!)
Not sure how I feel about them; clearly ridiculous, but....no. No. No. I can't.
😀
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http://www.sharpanddapper.com/products/shirt-stays
I don't care how neat his shirt is, he's going to get in trouble on the train dressed like that.
Luckily my legs seem to be held on quite well, but if they start falling off I'll be getting me some of them ^
Bear ,forget the shirt, neat socks are more important 😉
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Back onto bananas - has anyone done that slicing a banana whilst it's still in it's skin trick?
Crank bros speed lever. Tyre removal awesomeness
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BBSB - if that tool actually works for you, then your tyres can easily be removed by hand. If used on any tyre that is tight, the CB tool is so brittle it will snap and try to slice your hand open!
I like the satisfying 'sliiiiiide' as I run a lever around a tyre. I don't want a tool that takes that feeling away from me.
Snapped a couple of those CB tools - completely useless....
Never knew these existed until 5 minutes ago, upon googling shirt tucking techniques (What?!)
Brilliant invention. Socks on strings. I'm always losing my socks when I'm out and about - leaving them on buses, dropping them in the park. Nothing more sad than a lone sock on a railing waiting to reunited with its owner.
Wait a minute - I'm thinking of mittens.
Snapped a couple of those CB tools - completely useless....
really? i used one for about 3 or 4 years, no problem. only stopped using because i lost it. guess i was lucky
+1 for this. Have broken one so it needs work but it makes tyre removal and fitting much easier. It makes tricky tyres easy, rather than impossible tyres possible.Crank bros speed lever.
If men wore up-to-the-knee socks, they would stay up without sock braces! 😛
AlexSimon, you beat me to the Pocket Hole Jig, great bit of kit, put together a 6 foot bookcase I'd been putting off dowling and only took me an evening. I went for the Axminster one though with a full metal body and the screw packs are a lot cheaper when you come round to needing some.
http://www.axminster.co.uk/ujk-technology-pocket-hole-jig-complete-kit
Milliput. This stuff has bailed me out of some DIY faux pas in recent years. At the weekend a friends little tyke decided to swing on our baby gate ripping it out of the wall complete with all the hardwear. I'll use this stiff to fill the huge holes in the plaster screw straight into it once dry. Amazing!
Some of you chaps need to have a look at the [url= http://unclutterer.com/category/unitasker-wednesday/ ]Unitasker Wednesday[/url] tag on Unclutterer.com
Cardboard instant pannier - ace for that quick bit of grocery shopping:
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Chalkline. Very very handy on site. Not many diy'ers use them but would benefit hugely from using one.
Just popped out to get some mould spray and discovered the HG mothership.
[URL= http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o42/Citroenxsara/1FAAC49B-D176-4651-AF97-2DF00522C8C8.jp g" target="_blank">
http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o42/Citroenxsara/1FAAC49B-D176-4651-AF97-2DF00522C8C8.jp g"/> [/IMG][/URL]
They appear to have have a solution for every household issue.
No mould spray though, they can't stock it fast enough. I blame STW.
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Simple useful product that I'm convinced DOESN'T exist...
Waterproof cycling gloves. 👿
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Saved me buying a new track pump....
[quote=aazlad ]Milliput. This stuff has bailed me out of some DIY faux pas in recent years. At the weekend a friends little tyke decided to swing on our baby gate ripping it out of the wall complete with all the hardwear. I'll use this stiff to fill the huge holes in the plaster screw straight into it once dry. Amazing!
> http://www.milliput.com/
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In a similar vein - polymorph. Used it for tonnes of stuff since I've had it in the house from moulding a drainpipe to take water off the greenhouse to the water butt to replacing some lost mounting parts on my commuter mudguards.
http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/250g-polymorph-n14at
[quote=winston ]
Saved me buying a new track pump....
Damn, could've done with seeing this a few weeks back!
Wolf scarifier/moss remover
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OK, it's a couple of wheels on a rake but it makes it so much easier. Still needs a bit of elbow grease.
You could but the HG mould spray or you could buy this instead...
[url= http://www.wilko.com/bathroom-cleaners/wilko-mould-and-mildew-remover-750ml/invt/0333217 ]Wilko is your friend[/url]
Fark me, STW does Lakeland.... 😀
Our cleaner was so impressed with the HG Mould Spray that she bought us another bottle as a thank you 😀
Can I just say that I've been using a CB tyre lever for years with great success and no breakages 8)
Is that HG Mouldspray stuff OK for unpolished (but sealed) limestone tiles?
(Must remember to get some mould spray in Wilco's on Saturday) 🙂
Brilliant invention. Socks on strings. I'm always losing my socks when I'm out and about - leaving them on buses, dropping them in the park. Nothing more sad than a lone sock on a railing waiting to reunited with its owner.Wait a minute - I'm thinking of mittens.
Hmmm, my mum gave my g/f a pair of mittens on a ribbon as a Christmas pressy, and she was chuffed to bits with them.
We went down to the Severn Bridge and popped into the cafe, got back into the car and she realised she didn't have them, so went back to the cafe.
No sign of them! To say she was crestfallen doesn't come close. Mum was a bit cross, too.
hhhaaaaaa hhhhhaaaaa
Thats because I've got them
[waves at you in you gf's stolen mittens]
[punches self in face with other hand because the ribbon is too short]
[is crest fallen]
😀