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Just in case you have missed it Fred Dibnah’s programmes are back on BBC 4. This evening one of his best was on, about the building of Norman cathedrals. It can be found on the iPayer. what I really enjoy is that he and his producer must have been really interested in the topics, not the...

Because of the confined space and position of a waste pipe from the basin I need to make the unit to go behind a back to the wall toilet pan. I would like to know if there is an easy and accurate way to fit the drop down and push pull clips? all I can think of is clamping to the inside and...

I was in the reference section of Battersea library and was really impressed by the carving on the gallery and clock.

I'm in the process of making a decorative bookend for my 3 year old granddaughter. I have in mind little boat with a figure rowing. It occurs to me that to create the effect of clinkers it might be practical to make it like a scroll bowl but leaving the joins visible. Have any practitioners done...

Hi my son just sent me a message that the new office in City Rd in London that he is responsible for setting up, has been let down by their contractor who were going to build a bar for colleagues to congregate around. He thought I might be able to do it but I don't have access the equipment to...

I'm making telescopes for my grandchildren, using PVC waste pipe for the tubes. But it looks like waste pipe, UGH!! I want to colour the pipes and have spent hours on the Internet looking, without success, for suitable small quantities of solvent dyes. (Links to the process and stuff I'm looking...

I have been trying to make some small candle sticks with a barley twist stem. I make them from bits of logs of Bay wood. At the moment I cut the twist with a rasp and then smooth the surface with glass paper. It takes a lot of effort with the rasp and I wonder if any one has a more efficient...

I have recently made 3 tipped tools from purchased tips (5 for £15) and materials lurking in my shed. I am so delighted with them I'd like to share them with you. Today I have had the most fun in ages. I was given several pieces of pear tree a few years ago but had no use for them at the time...

Why has this little pot warped in this way? Yesterday I turned this little pot and lid from a piece of Bay, which I rescued from a shredder I happened to be passing, last summer. I expect when I turn something from green timber it to warp, which it has already. A gap of over 3mm has opened in...

I want to build a musical box for my granddaughter, who will soon be two. I wonder if anyone has any advice, particularly about a suitable movement. I think I would like it to be battery driven or if it is a wind up that the crank is one she will be able to turn herself. Also it would be nice to...

Freds show this evening if you didn't catch it is worth watching. Its about carpentry and wooden houses. https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0074n9m/fred-dibnahs-building-of-britain-3-the-age-of-the-carpenter

We have quite a big Holly tree at the front of the house. Its roots have damaged a drain's inspection pit and it is pushing over a rubble wall and that could be dangerous. It has also ruined our path several times. The trunk of the tree is substantial about 30 cm diameter for about 2 meters and...

This is a highly untechnical question, do any of you put your turning shavings onto your gardens? I heard that woody stuff could go onto compost heaps, so thought that a mountain of oak shavings I was making could go on my raised beds as a mulch. This year my crop of beans has been miserable and...

Has anyone made a swanee whistle? What is the minimum of equipment I need? I have a graduate lathe with a patriot chuck and various bits, the only really long ones are either flat bits or boring bits, that an electrician might use. I’ve watched a couple of YouTube clips but it would be nice to...

I have just retired and have a very old Union Graduate lathe, which I rescued from a school I worked in, which closed well over 30 years ago. I have assemble it and would like to get it working again. The motor is 3 phase and the connection block looks very complicated, not at all like the ones...