Recent content by DiyAddict

I urge you and your beloved to get professional help. Your lives can be improved immeasurably if you address these major issues, especially the structural state of your building, your worklife, and your living conditions. To me, your idea of selling loads of stuff to get away by yourself is...

Looks like workshop-utopia to me Mike! You have good separation of the machine tools and anything that might damage their precision surfaces. You'll be glad you've saved those wonderful machines, and you 'll feel the gentle support of your grandfather smiling over your shoulder every time you...

It started out as a 10'6"" x 6'6" outhouse. I had the ceiling spray-foamed (Not normally advisable I know, but ok for an asbestos roof), and lined the walls with battens & plywood. I made up some french cleats so I could store plenty of tools & accessories on the walls. The space then evolved...

That's a real conundrum. I was in a similar position, ended up selling my dad's machines on Ebay, then regretted it. Years later, I now have a pillar drill, lathe and mill, with many accessories, all packed into a tiny outbuilding, and am on the search for a surface grinder. All of those...

+1 for dessicant dehumidifier, running permanently on low. I have one in my small machine shop and don't in principle need any extra protection for the tools and machines themselves. A word of warning though - if the dehumidifier ever stops, even in relatively dry weather, you'll get an instant...

I installed a Howdens kitchen in my mum's house a couple of years ago. She chose them in preference to Wren, Magnet etc. The carcasses seemed nothing special, although it was great that they arrived pre-assembled and were accurately constructed. However, the hinges and drawer sliders were all...

Because the fluted part is much more flexible than the shaft, and drill bit flex seems to be your main issue. For those size holes I concur with others that suggest using a pecking technique with quality stub drills, or solid carbide. Be careful with carbide though - if there's any radial...

I've had similar problems with UPS not turning up (or picking the 5 minutes while I was out). In each case, the Festool repair had to be rebooked, as the collection automatically gets cancelled after one 'try'. The actual repair was similarly impressive. I only have 5 Festool tools and about 25...

Well, I went for rough-sawn sweet chestnut in the end. I'd love to try working with iroko sometime, but I think this will suit my tools/abilities better, and I've heard excellent things about SC's durability for exterior joinery. I just need to not mess it up.

Just to be clear, my post above applies to anyone, irrespective of their state of health. If you have access to a large, flat surface, I think you should try WattsJoineryBarn's suggestion first. There are numerous youtube videos on making/using a thicknesser sled. Look up 'planing without a...

Steve, I think you're going to struggle with 2.4m lengths. You'd need the sort of planer which you've already stated is too large/heavy for your shop. I'm not sure that getting a big heavy no. 7 for this one job is the best solution for you either if you don't have experience with large planes...

I had a relatively new blade wander as described when I was new to bandsawing. It turned out that the teeth on one side were pressed in, ie the set was asymmetrical. This was my fault - I'd put too much pressure feeding in the wood, forcing the blade backwards, which caused the teeth to make...

I may still go with the white cedar suggestion. I've emailed Wentwood to query whether sawing the chestnut beams into planks is likely to result in splits as the tension is released (or if the beams already contain splits). Don't really want to start with split stock. If I got the cedar, I'd...

Got it - wow, that is some impressive workmanship! Those two short videos at the end are great too. Thanks!

Yep, or an epoxy clear-coat. I'm not going to let that put me off :)