Recent content by Mike B

Guess what I've got then?? 8) Absolutely great, and delivered with a smile!! Many, many thanks Dibs. All your hard work and attention to detail is much appreciated =D> =D> Mike

I have similar issues with our place and so will be interested to see what the response is. As far as I can make out, it is actually better to do the rendering in the spring as the summer can be too hot as the mortar dries too quickly, and the winter too cold so it can freeze. Getting it to...

Hi Need to get the house re-rendered and have been looking at possible alternatives, as I'm far from impressed by the guys we have spoken to so far... So, does anyone have any experience of/with External Wall Insulation Systems such as those offered by Weber and Isover?? I'm trying to...

If you can manage with slightly narrower bands (say 1 1/4" - 1 1/2") then you could also try to find an engineering company that cuts steel to size on large bandsaws. They will have lots of stripped/broken bands, especially those who cut steel bars/tubes in bundles, as everytime one of the bars...

David, Just out of interest what do you use to grind the blades?? Wet grinder, dry grinder, or something else?? The "ruler trick" is most useful - thank you. Cheers Mike

Actually, the LV dovetail saw isn't bad at small cross grain work - something to do with it having more fleam than a tradition rip filed saw (or so I believe)... cheers Mike

Just out of interest, can aquapanel or wedi be used to cover a wooden floor before tiling (as opposed to ply etc), or are they too brittle and only suitable for walls or cladding?? thanks Mike

I have one of the continuous DMT stones and have found that CMT Blade & Bit Cleaner (from Axminster) works the best. Keeps the stone clean and rust free too!

Hi Just after a quick show of hands as to how many of you would use a final coat of wax on a Danish oil finish vs those who would just leave it at the Danish oil, as I can't decide (as usual!). I gather that the wax "softens" the feel and adds a little scratch protection, but I assume it...

Steve/Senior I know exactly how you feel but you boys have hardly started yet!! We had a new roof put on our house - the builder was recommended and stated that the work should take 6 weeks but expected to be finished in 5. In the end the the guy took 4 1/2...

Devonwoody As far as I can recall it was not specified whether appliances were unplugged or not. The basic point was that any appliance whether it be a fridge/TV/VCR/hairdryer/kettle/PC/even a mobile phone charger can and has caused a fire and that the recommended safety advice should be...

I recently watched a US documentary in which they interviewed an "expert" electrical engineer who had been investigating electrical appliance fires for over 20 years. During this time he clearly stated that if an appliance has a mains plug on it then he had seen it catch fire/cause a fire at...

It makes sense from a maximum support point of view, but is a contradiction as this then does not allow any adjustment of the mouth. I guess this is why there has been a move towards thicker irons as this will minimise any chatter introduced by adjusting the mouth. Haven't Lee Valley addressed...

I have the Hock A2 iron and improved chipbreaker in my old #5 Record. It has totally transformed the plane and keeps an edge well. It was also a direct replacement with no adjustments being required to the "y" lever or anything else. I tried an LV #4 iron to start with but that did not fit...

Derek Sorry if this is rather obvious but have you tried emailing Shapton directly about this?? If it is a common problem they must surely have some suggested fixes otherwise they would be struggling as you say... I found them quite helpful when I considered buying some, although I did not...