Recent content by ratkinsonuk

Out of the more common hardwoods, i.e. cheap, which ones take Danish Oil better/best? Rat

Let's just say, I love the shine :lol:

Thanks Custard. If I went with 5 coats of a water based clear Poly without applying any other finishes, do you think it would come out the same tint as the second section (from the left) in your image? I'd like just enough to bring the grain out and give it a lustre without starting to yellow it.

I’ve just glued up some ash boards for a small project I’m making. The boards aren’t particularly well colour matched, as one side is a slightly pinkish (heartwood?) colour. I’m hoping to balance the colours out in the finish, but I’d like some advice. My plan is to use Rustin’s Clear Danish...

I'm with you Mark. My eyesight is terrible, and I really struggle to read the increments on a rule. That means getting my face down low, so anything I can do to raise the work up to my level is always a bonus. Guess that rather contradicts what I said about a constant height thought. Ah well...

You've probably guessed I love pinching other people's ideas, and this one from David Gladden is no exception as an ideal solution for the vice positioning. https://youtu.be/l59Gx2QT0pE I particularly like the way he's added support pegs to the ends of the bench for longer pieces. The chop...

I particularly like his take on the French cleat system, with re-purposable sliding cleats instead. Definitely a method I'm going to incorporate, but with labels for the tool locations - my memory is shocking these days!

Will, thanks for the advice. I've done a mock-up of how I'd like it to look. As you can see, the whole back wall will be storage using a good variety of methods - e.g.fold-out wings, drawers, cupboards, sliding uprights, sliding shelves, etc, etc. I'm getting a lot of inspiration from John...

Hi Keith. This pic (sort of) shows my tool board in the top-left. It's all the racking at the back I knocked up as a temporary measure about 10 years ago :oops: that I'd like to replace with proper cupboards to begin with. The right hand wall will then become my long bench, with a chop saw...

Out of interest, have you managed to find a super cheap ply supplier, or do you just pay the £25-£30 standard rate? I keep looking on eBay for some cheap cabinet-grade stock, but very little comes up in my area. I can get it for as little as £18 a sheet (12mm), but it's then a 300 mile round...

A nice clean setup Gareth. I see you have/had the same quandary as me - ply's very expensive, so what can I use instead :) I didn't need to go the OSB route as luckily, I work for a distribution company. We recycle endless sheets of fairly decent chipboard and MDF. I'm planning on making the...

After many years of neglect, I'm going to 'properly' set up my workshop, but I've got a bit of chicken and egg situation going on regarding the basic sequence. Do I concentrate on getting tools set up first, e.g. table saw outfeed, chop saw station, etc, or do I work towards storage first? If I...

Not easy to do on the Kity, but finally got round to replacing the stock insert with this one. It's made from 2.5mm galvanised steel, with a few spacers epoxy'ed onto the bottom to bring it up level with the table. The fit is tight enough not to need to screw it down to the existing fixing...

My current drill is just a small benchtop model Steve, so it would end up on a wheeled pedestal for those times when I required the extra width. If I do upgrade to a full height drill (I can't see the need at the moment), then I'd have to rethink it's location. I'm trying to build as much of...

Thanks for sharing that Matt. It looks like your shop is about the same size as mine, and you've managed to fit in something similar to my intentions, so it's good to know this is a proven setup. Rob.