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I made a TV unit out of some beech I milled a while ago and put a coat of gloss osmo polyx on and was a bit disappointed. When I cut it the colours were superb and I had hoped it would pop when finished. Instead it looks oddly flat, with no depth. Possible options: Sanded too much (320 grit)...

I know this topic comes up a lot. They seem a brilliant option for smaller workshops, but the choice is limited. It would appear 2 distinct price points (though I don't quite understand how the DeWalt 774 fits in with regards to features). My looking up suggests at the cheaper end: Hyundai...

Recently got myself an old vacuum pump for some resin stabilisation. Worked great for that, so I decided to have a go at a vacuum chuck. I bought a rotary adapter (holdfast) for £50. I looked at vacuum chucks. They seemed excessively expensive, so decided to make one. Took a small faceplate...

I am slowly in the process of rebuilding a fairly large shed (many thanks to previous posters for advice about insulated roof panels). The old concrete pad is mostly intact, but there is quite a lot of unevenness (up to 40mm in places where 2 different concrete pours have moved independently)...

Just wondered if anyone had tried any nano or ceramic finishes? I have seen them mentioned on youtube a lot and there are loads for cars, but there seems to be very little about them for woodworking when they are not trying to sell you something! Someone on here said they were considering...

I posted on here about rebuilding a shed asking about roofing options and someone suggested structural insulated panels. They look great. I was wondering what experience people had with them and where was best to buy from? In particular what is the maximum span that is safe? The specifications...

Hello, I am looking to rebuild an old (quite large) shed. Given the amount of work that will be involved I thought it would make sense to make more work and replace the old rotten structure with an insulated one. I will be reusing the old dwarf walls to build the frames on, hence the slightly...

I have a decent sized piece of birch with some lively colours in I would like to use for an electric guitar body. It has some slightly punky bits and a few cracks / possible ring shake so it needs stabilising. (I had a piece from the same tree give way spectacularly on the lathe and you could...

I am looking to buy a new sharpening system to replace my ancient record scan 150 with a wonky cracked wheel and no option to take jigs. This may be the first "finished" bit of the workshop that I won't want to consider replacing with a bigger better version in some probably fictitious future...

I have got myself an old record 53 vice so am finally ready to finish off the top of my workbench. It is an old solid core melamine faced fire door sat on top of a very sturdy chestnut frame that I made. How would people go about attaching the vice? If I glue and screw a spacer block on from...

We are replacing our kitchen and rather than pay the insane prices for new ones have bought a second hand one on eBay. It has some quite large granite worktops that I am not looking forwards to moving. Does anybody have any tips for getting them out without breaking them, or clever ways of...

Hello does anybody have a sliding mitre carriage that would fit an Axminster ts-250 table saw that they wouldn't mind selling please? Thanks, Alex

I have recently bought an Axminster ts-250 as my first table saw. It didn't come with the sliding mitre carriage though. Firstly, how useful is having one? Is it worth trying to source one, or should I just make a DIY sled for crosscutting? If they are great, how universal are they? I guess...

I am getting round to making a more suitable workbench than the old (but massive) sideboard I have currently. I have some sweet chestnut that I am going to make the frame out of and have the chance to nab some old fire doors that I was going to use to make the top. What would people suggest as...

Now the cold weather is approaching, does anybody have any experience of using window film to improve insulation. We have (pretty old) double glazing and the north facing side of the house is always cold and gets terrible condensation. Would one of those add on window films help reduce...

As the title says! I was looking for some copper shelf brackets and none of the few that are available took my fancy. Got me wondering how difficult it would be to try some DIY electroplating. I would prefer not to go down the cyanide route, although I know the results would be better. Has...

I would like to replace my bright orange modern pine internal doors with something a bit nicer and have come across some lovely 1930s doors which will fit some of the frames. We have an understairs cupboard and loo which have much narrower doorways however. I don't want to just cut the edges of...

I am looking at a new (second hand) lathe that comes with a large 3 jaw chuck. Does anyone know where I might be able to get new dovetail jaws for this, or would I need to buy a 4 jaw one? Unfortunately the seller does not know the exact model of chuck. Makes quite a difference to the price to...

Just wondered if people have tried cooking wood as a way of changing the colour. It seems quite a good way of bringing out the grain and increasing the contrast. This is a piece of beech after a light bake.

I have some end grain slices (about 40cm across and 5cm thick) that I would like advice about finishing please. Completely dry and been flattening them with a router. They are a bit punky, so I am considering soaking them in epoxy to stabilise them. What would people suggest finishing them...