"Danger - Variations in 1" fender washer diameter" Topic

I've been purchasing 'Grattan' 1" fender washers for years to use as figure bases, they work great. I also purchased the excellent Litko 'horde' bases with 26mm inset holes. The 1" fender washers fit perfectly. So I spray-painted my litko bases and cleaned a whole lot of fender washers in the ultrasonic cleaner, then spray painted them the same color. Worked great, the fender washers fit firmly into the recessed holes so I can put my magnet-based figures onto them. Lovely.

BUT !! After about half of the bases were inserted, they just quit fitting !! Yowee !

I took calipers to the washers. Exactly the same product as evidenced by the box labels, different lot numbers purchased at different times. Each box is uniform, but I found THREE different diameters.

The early washers which fit are 25.4mm in diameter.
Two more-recently purchased boxes are 25.7mm dia
One box has every washer 25.9mm in diameter.

NO FAIR !! The 25.7mm and 25.9mm versions DO NOT FIT into my lovely Litko bases !!

Anybody have 100 fender washers to sell me which will fit my bases?

I've emailed Grattan to complain, but don't expect any joy in that direction.

Chick

sounds like you need to complain to Litko. They are more likely to give you a larger hole than the fender washer company doing anything.

25.9 should fit in 26.0. If measurements are correct. Try a dremel grind around the edge of the washers and around the 26.0mm "hole." Maybe you;ll get some of the 25.7's to fit.

Have you confirmed this variation on your unprimed washers?

I ask because I had a similar problem and it turned out to just be a variation in primer thickness. I corrected the problem by just enlarging the space on my movement tray and placing a small dark blue dot in the enlarged spaces and on the underside of the larger bases to match them up quickly for gaming.

We don't get that problem when using 2p coins (cheaper than washers!) in the UK.

Or using 1" rounds of magnetic sheet attached to the top of a movement tray (with the figures mounted on fender washers).

It doesn't provide for recessing the (thin) figure bases, and doesn't help at all if you've already committed to the Litko trays, but it is not subject to the vagaries of manufacturing tolerances.

I get my fender washers by the box from Ace hardware; no idea who actually makes them. But they're pretty consistent.

Allen

Ouch! Understood it's a pain in this situation, but fender washers in their natural habitat need only a consistent fastener clearance for the center hole.

Paintbeast asked: "Have you confirmed this variation on your unprimed washers?"

Yep, all of my measurements were on unprimed washers.

And the UNPRIMED 25.7 and 25.9mm diameters don't fit in the painted Litko bases, so the painted washers stand no chance at all.

Chick

You could try my 1 inch rounds they are di punched for guaranteed accuracy and uniformity and there is no hole. They are also thinner than washers and are made of galvinized steel so they stick better to magnetic surfaces.
bag of 20 is $6.00 USD buy five bags get one bag free. gamecraftersltd.com

I just had a similar problem in reverse. After basing some new saxons and vikings I decided to put the extra fender washers I had under some GW bases because I never liked how flimsy the LOTR plastics felt. I discovered most of my GW bases are not flat; 95+% don't rock on hard surfaces or weren't noticably warped. However with washers underneath now I need to green stuff a bunch to fill bad gaps, although the weights are nice now and it "fixes" scale creep!

Btw, I used Lowe's standard fender washers and they were right on the base diameter.

Well, it isn't as though fender washers are a precision machine part.

BTW, OSHA says that this topic should have a "notice", header, not a "danger" header.
-Kle.

Game Crafter, thanks your precision disks look nice. At 0.034" thick they are a little thin for my taste, but would work.

DKalley, I'll go to Lowe's on my way home, thanks also to you.

Chick