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Bookcases & wall units i made a few years ago were finished in ronseal satin polyurethane varnish, It was easy to get an excellent finish in 3 to 4 coats & is extemely hard wearing. Note this is the high voc version not the waterbased crap that doesnt last five minutes.

Thats as may be but it was free & i was skint. The workshop was 1500sq ft & uninsulated so in the winter very cold. Summer too hot! The air reciever stove was riveted steel 1/2" thick & stood 6ft high mounted vertically, door in the centre & ash pan door in the bottom. 8" dia steel chimney with...

I had a big stove made out of an old air receiver, I used to fill it up with sawdust & shavings & ram it all down hard, leave or make a hole down the front & light that. Used to burn for hours. The risk is that the fire will undercut the packed sawdust & you may get a cave in. That can lead to...

A few years back i rescued an old cello from a house clearance, a bunch of thickos were clearing a house & as i drove past in the pouring rain saw it sticking out the top of their trailer. I pulled over 100 yards down the road & ran back just in time to see the guys throw a washing machine in on...

The smell when you cut the stuff is a giveaway Oak smells very different to Ash which i always think has a dog **** sorta smell?

It is Ash. No medullary rays & the end grain is typical.

As said by Sgian Dubh Beech is totally non durable except at 5 to 7 years he is being optimistic. Beech was imported into Old Leigh as sawn through tree trunks for many years to the Timber wharf & if you slipped the lads in the yard a fiver they would slide a flitch over the wall into the...

Citric acid can be bought by the kilo off ebay, amazon, or online suppliers, its often used as a food additive & for cleaning industrial kitchens. Quick & easy & works, good for cleaning up old files As the action tends to sharpen the teeth a tad.

If that could talk it would tell a tale or two!

Thickening epoxy is usually done with colloidal silica, Sold in horribly expensive cardboard tubs by epoxy companies like West or SP , The same stuff can be bought for a fraction of the price called Cab o sil, from fibreglass suppliers. adding silica to resin thickens it so it does not sag, but...

I used to keep a set of drills specially ground for acrylic on my technicians desk at school otherwise the kids would have busted every bit of acrylic they ever drilled! Feeding the drill slowly is something they just didnt get!

They look like fractures caused by the drill pulling itself into the hole. If you want acrylic to drill cleanly take a normal twist drill & grind a negative rake flat on the cutting edge, you can also use a diamond file. A drill ground this way scrapes rather than cuts & will drill fast clean...

My Dad was an Aerolite fan & always had a jar mixed up on his bench, although its a UF glue like Cascamite the latter being mixed at time of use tends to have air bubbles in it which must weaken it. From experience repairing wooden sailing dinghies & spars i have found that UF glues tend to have...

In any school the Default training provider for staff is the Design & technology association DATA, We were not trained in use of guards like that described, What we were trained was that proper workholding techniques must be used to stop the work piece becoming a spinning bacon slicer! Use of...

I worked in a college for 12 years & secondary school for 5 years as a D&T technician, BS4163 was the default document with H&S updates through CLEAPPS. I retired 5 years ago. This smacks to me of a H&S inspection /inspector going way over zealous, All our Drills had guards but totally enclosing...

My favorite thing i have made from recycled timber, The first Cigar box guitar i made & still my go to guitar, Recycled Ritz Casino Habana cigar box, through neck was cut from a pitchpine bed rail found washed up on the sea wall in Benfleet creek about 50 years ago by my Dad & i. Fretboard is...

That is very much the case in the USA, here it isnt so bad. Problem here in UK is boatyard & marina costs are getting very high & yard storage fees add up to the point its a heavy drain on any budget. Our local boatyard charges 70p per foot per week so for a 25ft boat about 20 quid with vat. A...

When i was about 6 i watched my dad cutting a short piece of wood on his table saw, it kicked back & the wood hit him on the chin & damn near knocked him out. I use one regularly & have a rule, never cut anything shorter than the table is long & never ever put my hands anywhere near the blade, I...

It is a skip placed on site by a skip company at a club of which i am a member & used to collect scrap metal. We all put stuff in it & some of us take the odd bit out which has never caused problems. But a year ago someone started taking stuff out & selling it, his taking the piss has led to a...

Had another look this morning, nothing to be seen. Bummer. Never mind i have a decent lathe & a suitable chunk of gunmetal so will have to turn up a new screw for it! Thanks for the pics it shows whats required.