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That school looks bloody awesome. We should have more of them.

I think every timber has it's foibles. Chestnut can split, it's why it's used so much for cleaved fencing and makes great shakes etc But Oak has it's foibles too. I've but lovely dry, straight lengths of oak that has released tension and both have become instant bananas.

Thanks. I'm east of England though. I prefer something closer to home. There is a place near Ipswich but they grow very little to board length and coppice most of it for fencing and firewood. Wentwood's site spells out how good the timber is though. "Sweet Chestnut is one of the most...

Same. It should be the staple of British Woodwork. Yet one of the most difficult to source. What's not to like about a fast growing, low sapwood hardwood timber that's good indoors and outdoors and has a great strength to weight ratio?

Sure. Horse chestnut is rubbish. It doesn't deserve the name. Sweet chestnut is a superb wood grows abundantly here and I just don't get why it's not out go to wood. There's nothing it couldn't be used for. We will never lose our love of oak but Chestnut could be used for practically anything...

I did, brain fart. Fixed.

I'm puzzled why we don't use more chestnut in the UK? If anything, it should be our go to timber. It's 80% the strength of oak but 66% the dried weight. It grows much faster than oak so can be harvested much quicker and thus be much cheaper. It has a low sapwood percentage. It dries faster than...

Off the top of my head and in birthday range for most people. Pica Dry Pencil - Pencil with belt clip, built in sharpener and replacement leads...

The one thing that consistently annoys me about woodworking in this country is the difficulty sourcing timber unless you want basic ply, MDF, or untreated/treated pine. I'm planning to build a custom deck rail. It will consist of a base rail, a top rail a 10cm space and then an oak handrail to...

I'm planning to build a custom deck rail for myself. It will consist of a base rail, a top rail a 10cm space and then an oak handrail to top it off. Between the top rail and base rail will be a panel of welded wire sandwiched between 2 verticals to form a frame (verticals, top rail, base rail)...

The missus wanted to reorganise our kitchen cupboard space with internal pullouts which is fair enough because cupboards just end up a mess with stuff pushed to the back. Rather than make something it's much cheaper to buy chrome baskets that come with hinges at about £25 each for a 600mm...

Great post, thanks. It's part retention, part erosion. I want to put back a section that has eroded over time (about 60cm at the far end tapering down over about 10m) and to stop it eroding again in the future. The amount of horizontal space it consumer is also important which is why gabbions...

It could be, but I think I would have more trouble doing that myself and thus may cost more to get someone in.

It's not a huge job. It's not easy for sure but it's only about 18" high and by the time I do the job I can probably do it while barely getting wet. The toughest part of it is driving in the piles which need to go in a good 4ft+ but being a river bed it should be pretty soft. I considered...

Yes I looked at greenheart too but like Ekki it's hard to source and expensive.

Hi Guys, I wanted to ask if anyone had experience of timber that was going to be submerged in water? I want to shore up a riverbank at the bottom of my garden. It's not a huge river, in fact in Summer with farmers raiding it and dry weather it can get get down to less than a foot deep. But in...

Inaccuracy can only be measured if cutting multiple pieces the same size. If you just want a single cut then sure you can get your tape measure out and measure two marks, but if you want multiple identical cuts (as most projects do) then the guide rails give you quicker and more accurate repeat...

I've had a Makita track saw for a while and it's a handy tool but slow and inaccurate without parallel guides. Something they should all come with out of the box IMO. It's something I've always wanted to own but just couldn't justify spending £150+ on for what amount to two bits aluminium...

Thanks Lons. Out of interest how much did your building cost to spray foam?

Yes been looking at the spray foam since it was suggested above. Anybody have experience with it? It's not cheap, but there are DIY kits available. Apparently it's tricky to do, but as this is an old barn roof for a workshop and not a 500k detached new build I don't suppose it matters much if...