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I was a boatbuilder for most of my career, had a 1500sqft workshop on a local farm, rent was cheap & i made a go of it for 15 years. Even with cheap rent it only took a couple of slack periods & i would be skint. As my trade was very seasonal this was usual! Local council caught up with the farm...

Most of my timber is recycled, I find it washed up on the tideline, breaking up old furniture, from a mates scrapyard, the yacht club bonfire. Old furniture was often french polished it scrapes off really easily with a scraper & sander. Personally i would never put any painted article through a...

What do you want to make? I had the use of a Laser cutter engraver when i worked as a school D&T technician, I used it nearly every day. First thing to know there are two basic types of Co2 Laser commonly available, DC watercooled & RF air cooled. All the cheap chinese lasers are the former...

Buy cheap buy twice. Or you could if you are lucky buy a cheap secondhand machine & do it up, 35 years ago i bought a Multico L3 that had been in a fire, it was £150 at the time, put a new motor in it & starter & its still going!

The reason they skip it is because time is money it takes too many man hours to move it out & then where do you put it? then somones got to sell it & what it fetches wont recoup the cost of moving & storing it. In the meantime the crap is stopping the work flow due to lack of space. But a lot of...

Insulate the workshop is the only way. Insulated steel roofing sheets are good but can be expensive, foil bubble wrap insulation is easy to apply & works well.

Not really, I left after a row with the head over h&s (the extraction system that didnt work & they wouldnt fix) Hell would freeze over before i set foot in there again. But the machine was on its last legs anyway, I heard from an ex colleague that it is barely working now. But on the bright...

Thats impressive cutting depth for a diode machine, how many passes? There is huge price differential between makes, many have zero to worse backup then the top range ones from Epilog & Trotec cost as much as a good car, between then a host of others. One reason i'm going to have a look at...

Anyone on here got a laser cutter? I had access to an excellent Lotus laser systems RF machine for 5 years when i worked in a school as a D&T technician. Used it a lot for all sorts of things. Missed it when i retired! So im off to have a look at a couple next week at Kent lasers, Been put off...

Insulation is the key. Parafin or diesel heaters pump out so much water vapour they will make it ten times worse. Im so glad i have a nice thick insulated steel roof, it cost a few bob but i dont have any worries about damp any more!

I remember at discos back in the 80's when Wham's song Get down on it came on, quite a few lads would sing along with "Get down on it, Suck my helmet" there were other verses too.

Buyers premium of 20% then 20% vat on top of hammer price & premium. Ouch, better be careful bidding on owt there.

I very rarely watch woodworking videos with the exception of Rebuilding Tally ho! As a D&T technician i had to do 5 yearly Design & technology assoc training courses on all machines we had in the workshop, Circ saw, Bandsaw, planer thicknesser, bench drill, grinder, heat processes, wood lathe...

I started building cigar box guitars about 8 years ago, they can be as simple as you like & there are no rules which is part of the attraction! One string, two,three, four or more if you want. This morphed into building other instruments the most recent a hurdy gurdy, not perfect but its...

Iron maiden "Can i play with madness" became "Can i play with magnets". As for the Police how can you not sing along to this with "Massage in a brothel"!

I have a workshop that is basically an extended double garage, I have a lot of machines & tools in it & am always trying to keep it tidy, I generally fail, so need to have a muck out at least once a month or sooner if im working in there a lot. If i didnt try i wouldnt be able to move!

I was in the boat trade for 40 years, Firstly Iron bolts & fastenings were & are often used in Oak because it was cheap. You would not use bronze in Iron keels due to electrolysis problems. The problem arises today that you most likely will only be able to get mild steel for your bolts which is...

^^^^^ This, There is no point making a nice mould to then have a stick up & have it fail to release, working in the boatbuilding trade with grp for 40 years I have seen a few & had a few myself, Its an awful feeling when a part sticks & you realise that somethings going to break before it comes...

A few years ago a friend acquired a Milne treadle lathe circa 1860 from a workshop that had been pwered by a watermill, It was about the size of a boxford with gunmetal chucks & in fantastic condition, a real timewarp machine. I should have bought it!

^^^^^ First class idea, Place on a sheet of melamine faced chipboard or plywood (or plate glass if you can find a bit big enough) You will need to apply a release agent either wax polish or blue pva release agent (Not the same as pva Glue!) Radiuses on inside corners if required can be done with...