Q3: Do you have something you bought in bulk, never expecting to use them all, but ended up buying lots more since?
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Q3: Do you have something you bought in bulk, never expecting to use them all, but ended up buying lots more since? What was it and what do you make with them? #MakersHour
@MakersHour A3 bulk buying isn’t really a thing in the world of upcycled miniature making but I suppose the closest i can come to it is stripwood - mostly machined for model ship building. It is so straight and fine - I could never cut my own reliably even with my mini table saw. I bought some in a multipack of ‘decking’ and used it for the library panelling and then found more and more uses for it. I do now have quite a collection of different sizes in different woods. #MakersHour
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Q3: Do you have something you bought in bulk, never expecting to use them all, but ended up buying lots more since? What was it and what do you make with them?
A3: I don’t think so, so I’m going to go rogue and flip the question…
I am TERRIBLE for buying in bulk when I only need one or two.
“Oh look, I can buy the two self-sealing stem bolts I need for £X, but wait, there’s a great deal on a pack of 50…”
@Andy
I often do that too.If the cost is minimally different I will spend a little more for a bulk order.
Often 50 of something as a bulk order is cheaper than buying 10 individually.
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Q3: Do you have something you bought in bulk, never expecting to use them all, but ended up buying lots more since? What was it and what do you make with them? #MakersHour
A3 not really. If anything it feels like some things I can never buy enough. Endmills, carbide inserts, drill bits. Can never have enough of them.
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A3 not really. If anything it feels like some things I can never buy enough. Endmills, carbide inserts, drill bits. Can never have enough of them.
@quixoticgeek
Ahhh, yess. The smaller the drill, the more you need in stock! -
@MakersHour A3 bulk buying isn’t really a thing in the world of upcycled miniature making but I suppose the closest i can come to it is stripwood - mostly machined for model ship building. It is so straight and fine - I could never cut my own reliably even with my mini table saw. I bought some in a multipack of ‘decking’ and used it for the library panelling and then found more and more uses for it. I do now have quite a collection of different sizes in different woods. #MakersHour
@Janet_52square @MakersHour Lollipop sticks are great for doors and gates!
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@MakersHour I don't really buy things in bulk. I did buy a big box of assorted embroidery thread at the thrift store on a whim, only to find myself now buying all the embroidery thread I can find (at the thrift store) because it turns out I really like to embroider.
#MakersHour@Stratski @MakersHour @WizardOfDocs @MakersHour Yes, I like these, hugely useful and often very pretty. I have taken to making my own out of beads and bits of odd earrings. Here’s two hanging off my angle poise lamp - I popped them there waiting for the glue to dry and never took them down. #MakersHour

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@MakersHour #MakersHour A3: Stitch markers are essential to my knitting process. They're great for counting things, for color coding parts of projects...and it turns out I like to use different types with different yarns, not to mention they keep disappearing into the couch.
@WizardOfDocs @MakersHour replied to the wrong post!! See below.

https://sunny.garden/@Janet_52square/116455705214598413 -
@Stratski @MakersHour @WizardOfDocs @MakersHour Yes, I like these, hugely useful and often very pretty. I have taken to making my own out of beads and bits of odd earrings. Here’s two hanging off my angle poise lamp - I popped them there waiting for the glue to dry and never took them down. #MakersHour

@Stratski @MakersHour @WizardOfDocs Sorry! This was about stitch markers - though I do have a *lot* of embroidery thread most of it i was given or inherited.
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Q3: Do you have something you bought in bulk, never expecting to use them all, but ended up buying lots more since? What was it and what do you make with them? #MakersHour
@MakersHour
Q3: bought in bulk and used upA3: most recently, I used up some small brackets that I bought in bulk thinking they would be more than enough. I also remember being amazed I finished one of those large professional thread spools. I thought I had a lifetime of black thread when I bought it. (It did last many years)
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@Stratski @MakersHour @WizardOfDocs Sorry! This was about stitch markers - though I do have a *lot* of embroidery thread most of it i was given or inherited.
@Janet_52square @MakersHour @WizardOfDocs haha, they is a pretty cool market though. Much nicer than the ugly boring plastic ones I have. Maybe I should make some fancy ones as well. And that's a bit of outside inspiration for question 4 right there

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@Andy
I often do that too.If the cost is minimally different I will spend a little more for a bulk order.
Often 50 of something as a bulk order is cheaper than buying 10 individually.
@MakersHour @Andy Recently I was persuaded to replace all 4 tyres on my van because one tyre was £140 and so two would be £280 but they’d sell me 4 for £350 … because it was Easter

. Anyway 2 were advisory and the other 2 not yet illegal but close so it seemed a good deal. I did manage not to buy 8 and keep four for later 

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@Janet_52square @MakersHour Lollipop sticks are great for doors and gates!
@Andy @MakersHour Actually now that I am really woodworking I find the wood in lollipop sticks, satay sticks and cocktail sticks often too inconsistent or not actually exactly to scale. I do use them for kids projects and for glue stirrers and spatulas etc… this is part of the reason the machined specialist stripwood is so appealing when I open my Hobbies catalogue. #MakersHour
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@MakersHour @Andy Recently I was persuaded to replace all 4 tyres on my van because one tyre was £140 and so two would be £280 but they’d sell me 4 for £350 … because it was Easter

. Anyway 2 were advisory and the other 2 not yet illegal but close so it seemed a good deal. I did manage not to buy 8 and keep four for later 

@Janet_52square @Andy
That's the sort of thing that tempts me, too. It is a good chance to get a full set of matching tyres, in wear and age, on the vehicle. -
@quixoticgeek
Ahhh, yess. The smaller the drill, the more you need in stock!@MakersHour @quixoticgeek Drill bits! Why are they so quickly lost, blunt, broken etc… I break fewer now I have the drill press but still i can ADHD my way through a box of miniature bits far too easily.
#MakersHour -
@MakersHour @quixoticgeek Drill bits! Why are they so quickly lost, blunt, broken etc… I break fewer now I have the drill press but still i can ADHD my way through a box of miniature bits far too easily.
#MakersHour@Janet_52square @quixoticgeek
I find it really annoying that I bought a large set of tiny drills from sub millimeter to 3mm, in 0.2mm increments, and most of then are so badly ground that they drill off centre, or don't drill at all.It is like they were sharpened by hand with an angle grinder! Total waste of money from Axminster Tools.
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@MakersHour @quixoticgeek Drill bits! Why are they so quickly lost, blunt, broken etc… I break fewer now I have the drill press but still i can ADHD my way through a box of miniature bits far too easily.
#MakersHour@Janet_52square @MakersHour I recently started experimenting with precision drilling on the lathe using 0.5mm and smaller drill bits. You have to accept a certain level of consumable nature to the bits. But with the right tools and care, I'm amazed by what can be drilled.
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@Janet_52square @MakersHour I recently started experimenting with precision drilling on the lathe using 0.5mm and smaller drill bits. You have to accept a certain level of consumable nature to the bits. But with the right tools and care, I'm amazed by what can be drilled.
@quixoticgeek @MakersHour I have not tried drilling on the lathe - one for the future. I could make 1/12 scale pens…

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@Janet_52square @quixoticgeek
I find it really annoying that I bought a large set of tiny drills from sub millimeter to 3mm, in 0.2mm increments, and most of then are so badly ground that they drill off centre, or don't drill at all.It is like they were sharpened by hand with an angle grinder! Total waste of money from Axminster Tools.
@MakersHour @quixoticgeek Actually the cheap ones can be ok for centring but they are brittle. So I buy in bulk and just accept their limitations. However I am drilling wood - or FIMO - not metal.
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Q3: Do you have something you bought in bulk, never expecting to use them all, but ended up buying lots more since? What was it and what do you make with them? #MakersHour
Not really. I don’t have a lot of storage space and my workshop spaces are in heated or covered outdoors so not conducive to storing anything.
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@MakersHour @quixoticgeek Actually the cheap ones can be ok for centring but they are brittle. So I buy in bulk and just accept their limitations. However I am drilling wood - or FIMO - not metal.
@Janet_52square @quixoticgeek
I like sets like those. I have some for my repair kit.The ones from Axminster were conventional black twist drills, and they were rubbish.
I got some very cheap rubbish ones from China and they were actually better as drills, but not sized accurately.