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Might not be ideal in a workshop.

I'm surprised this hasn't had national press coverage. In a nutshell, 2 building companies working on a large development in Cambridge, expensive area so homes likely to be £650k and up (and up...) discovered that the foundations of some newly completed houses were below standard. Quite how...

Just for interest really, shows how problems creep up on you. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/dec/14/australia-will-become-the-first-county-to-ban-engineered-stone-bench-tops-will-others-follow?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other Never thought about this until I read about it this...

We live in a very hard water area and one if the jobs I hate is cleaning the grouting in the showers, around taps, plugholes and suchlike every few months. Yesterday I was in town and saw a "sonic scrubber", c £22, like a giant electric toothbrush. I see from their website that sonic is...

Just had an email from Turners Retreat, Nr Doncaster and online. They have some good looking deals on Jet machines, bandsaw.s, mitre saws etc., they look to be real £££ savings not just a few £. While stocks last they say, so maybe they are stopping selling that range.

OK, I know the old cop-chase movies said Wilco not Wilko, but you may have read that Wilko has gone into administration. It might re-emerge, leaving it's debts and obligations behind in the way that lots of pre-pack deals do, bad news for suppliers and often employees plus there is often rates...

Interesting thread on satin finishes, how about matt? I do a fair bit of woodturning and normally use oils, waxes and occasionally lacquer depending on what it will be used for. The result is either high polish or satin or something in between. Recently I've come across some pieces (one group...

This is about as miscellaneous as it gets. Most mornings start withe Marmite on toast, so I get through 5 or more 250g jars of marmite a year. Getting the last scrapings out of the near-empty jar has always frustrated me - easy in winter when you simply use hot water to rinse and add it to a...

I am getting emails from RP about their now extended summer sizzler sale. Discounts on various lathe, accessory, sharpening, bandsaw etc. Not life changing bargain basement, but £100 on the bigger stuff and 10 or 15% on small things. Might be a good time to buy if you want anything.

Suppose this should be in an "unfinishing" forum. I have a Yew slab coffee table finished with 3 or 4 coats of acrylic varnish, all a bit shabby now. I could surface sand and recoat, but ideally I would take it back to bare wood and start again with an oil finish. It's c. 1200x400 (mm, not...

Dropped into Aldi today, saw a "Ferrex Wood Engraving Set" for £10, on inspection its a pyrography tool set. Odd description. 30w iron and several bits and tips. Might be a bit rubbish but who knows, I got myself one, no intention of becoming a pyrographer (is that a real thing?) but as an...

This isn't really finishing but this seems to be the best place for it because it shows through the finish. I glued up some small piece of oak and ash ( chosen becauseI had some) as a proof of concept test for turning a segmented vase. I used evo stick wood glue - pva - also because I had...

I thought some might like this idea - I needed a doorstop, I have a lathe. You could use anything but I had some off-cut beech kitchen worksurface, clamped and glued 3 layers to give me a spindle blank about 120 x 120 x 250. Make it like you make a box, drill hole in top to push a loop...

It seems to be accepted that no finish/sealant or similar will survive lengthy water immersion inside a vase - but if anyone knows of something that does that would be great. I have lined vases with various things, 22mm copper pipe with an end cap, old plastic bottles and so on but they always...

A few years back I bought some douglas fir at the National Trust Ickworth craft show. That show was cancelled in 2020 and never returned, but they are still doing their wood sale. Its stuff that has been felled on the extensive estate. Some of it seasoned, and they were helpful and would cut...

I'm making a few fittings for percussion kit. No special high loads but will be subject to vibration. I can use nyloc nuts in most places but not all. When I used to fix car engines back in the 70's, it was copa-slip for threads you wanted to undo, red (or green?) Hermatite for stuff you...

I normally sand to 400 and finish with oil, sometimes I go a bit further and finish with microcrystalline wax. These days I rarely need to start below 120 unless it's a particularly difficult piece. I've used a variety of cheap and cheerful abrasive papers, occasionally sianet/abranet type and...

No, really. I put this in the design section because it was in the design supplement email from the Guardian. Could just as well have gone in 'off topic general interest'. Furniture that arrives flat and bends to the right shape, strikes me that it needs real precision in design and control...

Really a continuation of the recent energy saving topics. I need a new kettle, current one is very old and as we live in a hard water area and I don't descale as often as I should it's past redemption. The steam powered cut off seems to take ages. I see there are temperature controlled ones...

In the bottom of a box that came from my father's garage I found 2 Stanley spokeshaves and an oil stone. Grey, fine, nice and flat. It was probably last used 40+ years ago. It's encrusted and clogged with ancient dried on oil, I was thinking of hot water wash, rub with kitchen detergent...