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How did we manage before they came on the market?

Looks like we're in the same sort of business, though we specialise in box-framed sash window restorations (not modern solid frames with spring balances - I loathe them with a passion). That's a good tip though we're nearly always working on the exterior putty with the sashes removed from the...

I've found my 18v Makitas useful for old putty too, but I don't bother grinding a square edge - just use blades which have got too blunt for neat cuts in wood.

I need one for regular trade use and the Fein corded one I tried first, while it soon became a vital tool, wasn't man enough for the job and the blade constantly worked loose. That was a few years back so they're probably better now. I now have two Makita 18v cordless ones with quick-change...

I know 5 people who've had Covid, 2 had only mild symptoms and soon recovered, 3 had it very badly of whom one died. The two who recovered described the terrifying experience of fighting for every breath, convinced that the next intake of air would be their last. 9 months on they're still...

How does it get into houses in the first place? Without knowing what percentage of the population visited pubs and restaurants in the brief period they were open, your 3% figure is misleading. You could argue that jumping off cliffs accounts for less than 0.5% of UK deaths, but it would be...

We don't know that it would have been the same with any government, it can't be proved one way or the other so it's irrelevant. The government in charge had full responsibility and made a pig's muck of it, even if we disregard the way they shovelled taxpayers'money to completely unsuitable...

I've been using simplybusiness.co.uk for years for my business insurance. It's a tradesperson's combined policy covering public liability, tools, machinery and workshop insurance. They're easy to deal with on the phone or online. I forget how much I paid to renew this year, but it was well under...

I ohmitted to mention Faraday, even though I had amp-le opportunity

I'm worried this thread is becoming polarised

We had a lot of German customers who wanted castings made to Werkstoff Number specs, so I had no choice but to get used to the Werkstoff system. I agree it was confusing to begin with but I remember it being a good system when I got used to it. But that was for alloy steel castings so the good...

I'd never heard of O1, probably because I left metal manufacturing in 1985. So I looked it up as you suggested. It's a wrought alloy steel but I couldn't see a standard specification for it. My time in metal manufacture was in cast steels and nickel alloys, so most of the specifications I came...

Luckily he had his Eartha Kitt

I didn't know there was an old tools shop in Stalbridge. It's not that far from me so I'll have a look when I'm next in that part of Dorset.

If later Sheffield 'irons' were oil-hardened, they must have been medium to high carbon alloy steels. The alloying additions to steel (typically 3% chromium plus a bit of molybdenum) would improve hardenability so oil-quenching or even air cooling instead of the more drastic water-quenching...

That's good news Nigel and I'm happy to be proved wrong. I left the alloy steel industry 35 years ago in favour of woodworking, so I'm probably out of date!

Do Wha abou Micks Wedge?

Doe for I'll have a couple of them to nibble

The supply of genuine old irons for wooden planes must be drying up. I doubt if anyone makes them any more - not enough demand. "Iron" is a bit of a misleading term. Like Sorby chisels (and muliple other mainly Sheffield-based manufacturers) they would probably be cast carbon steel - anything up...

I may have replied to the wrong message! Maybe it was somebody else who was going to Axminster for a honing guide. But the thread has turned nasty and members are getting annoyed, so I'm out of it