Recent content by SimonB

Thank you both.

Ian , could you explain more please, I can't visualise this. I need to make some workshop doors and would like to make them as secure as is practical. Thanks

Does this fall within the "substantially non-combustible material" requirement of Building Regs and if so have you addressed this with your local authority, given the boundary proximity? If not then perhaps worth doing so now, before erection, rather than being made to take it down after.

Ours is a Neville Johnson library, some examples of the ladder here. It has two hooks to hang it vertically when not in use, then lift and sit in notches for the angled in use position. Likewise 3m ceilings with floor to ceiling shelving, so a practical feature as much as an aesthetic one. I can...

A few thoughts based on our experience and design 1. +1 for adjustable shelves, depending on whether you're a pushed to the back type or all evenly lined up on the shelf lip, spare holes can be hidden by books 2. Are you music listeners, if so and plan to have audio in the room pre-run all...

Be aware, at least when I used Amazon Photos some years back, that you are restricted to using their backup software, which is quite primitive, and I found it very buggy and slow. I stopped using Amazon Photos when they ditched direct access via Amazon Drive (I had a 1TB subscription with them...

I bought the Richard Kell No 2 after the same problem of finding a good quality Eclipse style guide. The clones that I came across all had negative reviews for accuracy, and though I baulked at the price I felt this was a buy once tool. I'm a hand tool novice and I only recently learnt how to...

Ian, many thanks for the reply. Sorry, I didn't get any notification and have only just noticed it. All useful comments, thanks. My reason for thinking of angle was rigidity and resilience to weather. I had planned to drill the angle to affix it, but unsure if this then defeats the benefit of...

Is this the "I'm now eating 2022s" batch? Ours starts to oxidize and darken considerably after 12 months. Was this the original colour? That would be strange. I've just opened a 2021 batch that got forgotten on a top shelf and it is very dark, and actually a little past its best. Never had...

We use the Leith recipe, and have tweaked it over the years to my taste - 1kg oranges, 2 lemons, 1.4kg sugar, 0.6 tblsp pectin, 1.7l water - normally we do at least one 3kg batch. Half all the fruit, juice in the Magimix juicer, save and separate juice and pips plus any pith that's come off...

We make it most years, 3-6kg depending on how much time we have, and give away most of it. I like mine quite tart and find recipes too sweet so we add pectin and cut down on the sugar. The initial boiling of the chopped fruit with all the pips and pith in a muslin imparts a lot of pectin too and...

I'm looking for advice on construction and materials for a 'pickleball practice board'. Pickleball is a bit like tennis, or giant table tennis, played with a plastic ball. My initial thoughts were something like this, with two sheets of marine ply, held together with some angle. Two of the...

We sous vide a lot. My other half has chef training, although not a chef, and likes her gadgets and follows modern techniques. Flank steak and short rib are other favourites for normally unpopular cuts that benefit from slow cooking. I also do a mean pork belly (brine for 24 hours then cook for...

Adult wasps don't eat insects directly, they are fed to their young, and the adults feed off their sweet secretions, which is why then the breeding cycle is over, around now, that the wasps have to go out and find their own sugar supply. Be wary of wasp traps, there has been research that...