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Back in the day I cut my IT teeth on old school VAX 11/750 systems, these were considered 'mini's' - the main processor comprised of a rack just over 2 x the now industry standard 19inch wide rack and it supported similar half width racks for expansion boards utilising either MassBus or UniBus...

That chatbot and indeed all machine learning algorithms are heavily dependent on the training material, and in this instance they are hoovering up data from 'trusted' sources on the web and as one who does a lot of research, and lets face it we all do to some extent, the results from some...

I'd second tung oil, personally I find a few thin coats diluted approx 50% white spirit and left to dry, and then finished with a coat of undiluted oil wiped on with a cloth works well. Sure it does take a day or two to dry (it actually oxidises) however I personally find the smell quite...

I'd 2nd use of copper wire, lots of gauges available from hefty 2.5mm domestic T&E down to fine or smaller 0.3mm for fine work. In a former existence I worked at Marconi's and guys would knock up incredibly intricate wire spaceframe models of cars and the like, in part to demonstrate their...

My late mother had a pendant device which I think was provided by Age-UK, can't remember the details, but this allowed one or more numbers to be called in the event of the emergency button being depressed, this was some time ago and I guess tech has moved on a bit however there are a few options...

That reminds me of the Shooting Stars episode where the teams had to name a vegetable, one team incorrectly named a swede a turnip and Reeves & Mortimer said 'Yes Correct!' Ulrika Jonsson leading the other team protested and said that is not a turnip, it's a swede, at which point the compares...

I've not seen the video, however electricity will travel along the shortest route to ground, however the actual path when arcs are involved is way more complex because the magnetic effects they induce can cause the path to curve or fragment as I'm sure we've all seen with fork lightning. A quick...

That looks more like a 5mm depth of cut and not 2mm - no wonder the bit was getting warm....

I do volunteer work for an Essex based charity and one thing I offered them was workshop time with a mixture of hand tools and supervised machine tools, however the charity weren't interested because my workshop is on private land - i.e. my back garden! A quick google and I found this...

I detached my bicep in one arm shifting a full sheet of 25mm ply a while back - it tore the tendon from the radius and ulna, and went with a loud bang and an immense amount of pain - it felt like an electric shock for maybe 10mins, and I at first thought I'd dislocated my shoulder which I have...

I'd also advise wearing eye protection when using punches - some in my experience can be over-hardened and will shatter quite spectacularly if you are giving it a bit of welly to shift a recalcitrant pin..

I too have the Veritas scraper holder but it gets little used since I find as others have mentioned that the burr angle often isn't optimal and I can get a better cut hand-holding it and flexing to hit the sweet-spot. For sharpening a length of silver steel rod is all you need and that will be...

I'll second the Eclipse jig, or any of the Chinese knock-offs on Ebay or this Screwfix one Magnusson Honing Guide, I use a couple of different aluminium oxide grit (from rolls) glued to a sheet of float glass intended for a cantilever style shelf. Glue is Screwfix spray contact adhesive, then...

Sled's are ideal for making swift repeat cuts, and from experience even if the t-slot is fabb'd out of hardwood it will last a long time before developing any slop. I made one for an old Axi tablesaw out of American Maple that I was using to re-size some filthy pitch-pine parquet and thousands...

..or if you have a router table, or rebate block for your Bestcombi spindle you can machine one up out of some suitable hardwood, I made one for a sledge attachment for my Kity bandsaw and even after a lot of repeated use in filthy conditions there is barely any slop in the track... /Ed

I've used tourmaline in the past to age new Carlisle brand door hardware, what is a real pain is getting whatever varnish the factory applies - it takes 2-3 coats of whatever passes for nitromors these days... One other thing, having antique'd your piece to taste you need to protect the finish...

...and for those suffering from myopia...

Hi Martin, lots of good advice in this thread and it looks like you've learnt a lot already! - practice will help you improve your technique and it looks like you are getting pretty close to perfection - or whatever you consider 'good enough'! As others have said edge planing on thin stock is...

Just read mine for the period 27-Nov -27-Dec - Gas heating +hot water £130.55 Electricity - induction hob £111.12. 3 bed detached single occupancy. Likely lower costs due to 5Kw log burner lit most evenings such that CH does not fire up in the evenings, only demand on gas is hot water. For sure...

Those two certainly tick my boxes in terms of being incredibly pleasing on the eyes, the latter two almost decadent and incredibly sexy too. I am jealous that you had the opportunity to learn from him, I would be very interested to see more of his designs and perhaps construction plans - did he...