Search results

The idea that the best place to put light switches in a house …. Is on a mobile phone, which may or may not be in the room, or even the house. They might be away and ask you to feed their dog/cat, and you can’t work the lights. Maybe some bright young thing will come up with the idea that...

As a kid, there was always paraffin to hand (same stuff really) and I was taught to use it for cleaning bike chains,gears and ball bearings etc. my dad used it to flush diesel engines. We have oil central heating and I have been known to scoop a litre or so out of the tank!

the section with lead inserts look very similar to components in a piano action. But possibly someone who has dismantled a piano repurposing the hammer action? Stuart

I have 4 vent axia silent fans (about a year old now). They come with two speed options. If set at the higher speed, they are not silent. Not bad but not silent! If set at the slower speed they are really quite close to silent but shifting less air. But if you get the option that turns on and...

I built a rather large front ported reflex speaker ai 1971. My woodwork teacher was very supportive, and the blockboard carcass was beautifully veneered. Sad thing was I couldn’t afford to make the second one at the time, and it years before I had shed space. I bought a pair of AR3 imp speakers...

The front half of my house was built about 1890 and was plastered straight onto a 9” wall with various repairs before I moved in had been done with inappropriate materials. About 8 months ago I had damp problems in 2 rooms, and bit the bullet. I took all the plaster off back to the brick. Put...

One dimension that I don’t think has been mentioned is the space between the toilet once fitted and the door, which is crucial when alighting from your seat! One leans forward as part of the motion as you need to put the centre of gravity above your feet, and to start off your big fat bit is...

Welcome! (From another originally Scottish Stuart M) !

Gavin (OP), I was intrigued by your question as I have a son, 32 years old, who I have just helped move into a new house, and looks to me to help get the place how he wants it. We are both musical. He is nerdy about sound. I am not. One major attraction for him was a garage that had already been...

If you are still in or around St Neots, you are welcome to try out a > 10 year old record BS350 bandsaw. I also kept my baby Delta bandsaw, which still gets very regular use as I have a 1/4 inch blade on it and can quickly saw tight curves without placing around changing blades on the bigger...

Reminds me of Blaster Bates (who had a very large posterior) saying “a big nail needs a large hammer!”.

If there is a bedroom on the other side of the stud wall, do put sound insulation in, especially if you plan to fix a toilet wall holder on that wall!

I have a lightweight aluminium tower about 15 years old. It gets me to the top of the chimneys on the gable end of a two storey house.it doesn’t have a ladder attached to the ends like the one in post 17. You just climb up the end frame on the inside. I have 3 decks and use them all if going upt...

Have you tried https://luthierssupplies.co.uk/catalogue/ inhoram in Sussex? I bought a superb single piece of mahogany from them for a les Paul copy some years ago pre cites. Their current online catalogue suggests they have some full size mahogany pre cites, but doesn’t mention swietenia. Maybe...

I’m afraid that your imagination is let down by Anglian water in little Paxton, near st Neots, where on a fairly new housing estate about 20 years old, I was dealing with the problem of the rising main stopcock in the kitchen not properly shutting off in my son’s first house. Not metered, and...

I asked a builder who does mostly listed building work the same question a few years ago. He said that for something simple it is often quicker to get (or print) some graph paper, and draw it. Providing you use an approved scale and do it accurately it’s not a problem. I thought nah! I then...

You still need the guide. Two 3mm pins hold the guide in place whilst you are drilling the big hole using elsewhere on the guide.

I have an mft bench with all its holes, and I also have another bench that I intended to be purely for assembling finishing. I inherited a very solid welded steel frame 8 ft x 2 ft 6 that is so heavy I need help to move it even by inches. I Bolted an 18mm ply top on it and found that I tended to...

Given that a builder can source building control from any number of private providers, the system is vulnerable to all sort of abuse, including backhanders etc. Once a build has a private BC company associated with it, the local authority BC will not (cannot?) intervene. I have witnessed the...

I bought a cheap one years ago from Maplin, and I use it and trust it every day. It does turn itself off if left on, and not just the display (unlike my trend digital angle meter for which I am for ever putting in new batteries even though I don’t use it much at all. So it’s great, and sorry...