Five Minute Fix – fragile fixings

Words/Pictures by Steve Cooper

Once in a while there’s a need to tight a nut or bolt on something that’s small, fragile or mounted on a surface that’s easily damaged. If you’re not careful the fixing ends up either not sufficiently tight or the surrounding material gets marked. Even worse you over tighten then snap something. Hold a temporary support bar between your thumbs, onto the face of the device that needs to be secured and either side of it. This delivers three key elements; security from damaging anything close by, support for the component and most importantly a fixed point against which you can gauge your hand’s leverage. Anything from a file to a block of wood, another spanner or an offcut of metal can be used to ensure perfect control without fear of failure.