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As well as a spanner that would fit the radiator, I also needed a saw to cut up all the wood I’d accumulated so I could fit it in the car and take it to the tip. I didn’t get one in Homebase because I became overwhelmed and a bit intimidated by my lack of knowledge of them.
Screwfix
Screwfix had special spanners for radiators; I ordered one online, which I could pick up the next day.
Before I went, I looked up saws on the internet. I found out from Wikipedia that you can get cross-cut saws, which cut across the grain, and rip saws, which cut in the direction of the grain without the grain affecting the direction of the cut; some saws can do cross cuts and rip cuts. Fancy. I also found out that most Western saws cut on the push, but Japanese and Ancient Egyptian saws cut on the pull; however, some modern saws cut on the push and the pull. Fancy.
I needed a cross-cut saw. I wanted a saw that cuts on the push and the pull because it would be less effort.
When I got to Screwfix, I asked the man for advice about which saw to get. I told him what I wanted it for, and he showed me some short saws and some long saws in the catalogue.
“What’s the difference between short saws and long saws?” I asked. “Does size matter?”
Size didn’t matter, but “most ladies buy the short one.”
The man disappeared into the back somewhere and came back with a long saw and a short saw. I picked up the long one. It felt good and hefty. I put it down and tried the short one. It didn’t feel good and hefty.
The bigger one does cross-cut and rip cut, and it cuts on the push and the pull. It sounded perfect. I didn’t even ask about the smaller one. I’m clearly not “most ladies”.
When I got home, I tried the radiator spanner. It didn’t fit.
Back to Homebase
A few days later, I went back to Homebase as I was passing anyway, and bought a couple of adjustable wrenches of different sizes. There was no way these were not going to fit.
