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Yes, I think I'll give that a go. Thanks to all for advice.

Not sure what it is. Either something growing from the patches or it might be dust that is for some reason attracted to the patches. There are lots of patches that don't have stuff coming out of them. Not that our house isn't fastidiously clean or anything. :D

Not had a great deal of success unfortunately. Vinegar has some effect, but also lightens the wood. It seems scrubbing with a scourer and white spirit is the most effective, but still not brilliant. It looks like I'll maybe have to strip the wax off, sand and refinish.

No, none of the doors are near any kind of water. The marks are on both sides of three different bedroom doors (the bathroom door is a different type).

That's an interesting thought, any idea what to do about it? I should have mentioned they've been fine for the last five years we've been here and as far as I know they've been as they are now for some time before that, so strange for something to suddenly start this year.

We have a few pine doors upstairs in our cottage. I originally thought they were unfinished but now think they are probably waxed. Over the winter lots of small dark spots have appeared on all the doors and are gradually spreading. I have no idea what this is (some kind of wax mould?) and...

Thanks for letting us know about these.

I've used them and they've been good. They have a good range. Only downside is that often you can only buy 10 packs on their website. I can understand they don't want to mess around selling single drill bits all day, but a minimum order value would be preferable for me. Mind you that seems to be...

I've bought from them a few times and had a satisfactory service. They are by no means the first place I look, but occasionally have something that other places don't and can sometimes offer good value. Agree that there pricing strategy is generally not great.

Drill and bench grinder worked well to produce some transfer screws: These worked well to transfer the hole locations to the new piece. Thanks for all the help and ideas.

Lots of good ideas there, thanks. Transfer screws seem pretty elusive in the UK, I couldn't find a supplier in an albeit quick search. I wondered whether it might be possible to make transfer screws as per dickm's suggestion, but to either chuck the screw into a portable drill and use a bench...

Transfer punches look like just the job, thanks. Sharpening up some bolts would also be a great way to do it, but unfortunately I don't have a lathe. Thanks for the help.

Is there a technique to transferring the locations of hole centres from one metal piece to another, without just trying to measure and replicate the locations by eye? I have a piece of steel (6mm, mild) with four drilled and tapped M6 holes in a, ahem, slightly imperfect square. I want to drill...

Thanks, I'll give it a try.

Aaah, so that makes sense! Thanks all! Shows I really didn't know what I was talking about, which is not a surprise. I might have a go with some Oxalic Acid just to see what effect it has, but can see that darkening them is probably the only way to hide the stain fully. They're already probably...

I don't know the history, unfortunately, this is what we inherited with the house. The previous occupier was pretty "inventive" when it came to DIY and so any kind of mad stuff could have happened. I don't think the big holes are worm holes, but thought that perhaps they had been drilled for...

This is a bit of a random one and I'm not certain that there is much that can be done, but thought it's worth a punt. We have some wooden beams in one of our rooms, which have some kind of stain around holes which have been drilled in them. I presume these holes were for some kind of woodworm...

Thanks for all the advice, that's really helpful. When I've got a chunk of time available I'll give it a proper going over and try and get it set up once and for all. Making the changes you've outlined will make it a lot easier.

That's an excellent tip, thanks. I'll have a go at making something out of some steel plate as you suggest. For the actual adjustment, do you just loosen one end a very slight amount (leaving the other end fully tightened) and then tap/bash into alignment or do you undo both ends a little? When...

Using Plusgas is a good idea - I think I used that to unseize it in the first place, I didn't think to use it to put it back together. Definitely a good idea to keep it lubricated, so thanks for the tip as I don't want the same thing to happen again (as by then I'll definitely have lost the...