A few days ago I decided that my banker braces needed to be attached to my trousers with key rings rather than with the clips supplied, these last having acquired the habit of becoming unclipped. I had some matching key rings at home but they were not really big enough to go with the braces so key ring hunt it was.
First stop was the key kiosk by the Spread Eagle. Oh no sir, we can do a key ring attached to a large ornamental leather thing, but not a key ring by itself. Second stop Rymans, whom I had thought might have had key rings tucked in along with bull dog clips and sundry fasteners. But they didn't. Third stop Robert Dyas but ditto. I didn't think to try Wilko, who as the successor to the Woollies niche in the market might well have done the business. In desperation, I march around to ScrewFix, a place which has done me well for strange odds and ends in the past, but they did not run to key rings.
What is the problem? Surely the demand for key rings is holding up OK? I can see that such low value items would clutter shops up, but surely the all seeing and all powerful market forces would make a place for them somewhere?
Sleeping on the problem, I think I ought to try the other key kiosk, the one by the Assembly Rooms, and yes it turned out that they do carry key rings, in more than one size too. Including the size I wanted. Three for 60p which was rather less than I had been expecting to pay - but then their ends had not been shaped, just cut off straight, making it easy to catch the ends when fitting the ring onto something, like the belt loop on a pair of trousers.
So out with the metal work vice, out with the tube of fine metal files (an interesting home (not mine) made tube with a screw top and a screw bottom, a screw at both ends) and in about 12 minutes the 6 ends had been filed down a bit. Not a great job, but it will serve. And I was pleased that the metal work gear which has been sitting in the garage for months, if not years, unused, has finally had another outing.
No comments:
Post a Comment