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Anything bigger than 1" dia is usable, 6 to 8" is a big tree so you will have some lovely timber there. The bigger sizes are prone to splitting in a spiral way as they dry so its often a good idea to quarter them. I wonder if it was killed by Box blight? this is infestation by Box moth...

I retired nearly two years ago from a job as a D&T technician in a secondary school. At times it was a really rewarding job that i thoroughly enjoyed, at other times it was horrendous largely due to the appalling behaviour of some of the kids & the inability of the senior staff to control it. So...

The standard blade guard on the 352 encloses the blade above the table & should be perfectly acceptable. The blade is less guarded under the table as there is a gap between the bottom of the table & the lower door, its only about 6" or so & I made a guard for ours from a piece of folded steel...

There is a difference between doing sketchy stuff in the privacy of your own workshop & posting educational videos of yourself showing newbies how to do it! If i choose to do what is regarded as dangerous stuff its my look out, my own tablesaw has no riving knife or crown guard fitted, i know...

If you let the machine run up the disc will start to rotate completely & will rev up to motor speed, this will cause a dig in on landing. Just plonk the thing down & pull the trigger. The trick with random orbital sanders is not to lean on them & press too hard, keep the disc flat to the surface...

I doubt it is HSE doing this, what happens in schools is that most schools are now academies & many lease their facilities from Service provider companies especially if the school is a new build or refurb. These companies will use any excuse to rip out older machinery using the excuse of "It...

Interesting site, just had a quick look, Radio Caroline is on there also broadcasting on 648 medium wave!

You local car spraying suppliers will have polythene sheet on a roll (& masking paper on the roll), it opens out wide & is ideal for covering stuff you dont want covered in paint. Dont forget that overspray will rapidly build up in small areas & some form of extraction might be necessary. Dont...

Ash was used for bodywork on car frames as it is tough & flexible, anyone who has ever worked on a Morris traveller will know they are designed to rot. In a boat it will rot out in no time, the guy who built that boat from it will learn an expensive lesson. The only other timber that rots faster...

Couple more points, A few years back a friend was looking to set up a new business, full of ideas & enthusiasm, got quite far advanced to the point of taking on a shop that she had found in just the right location. At the time she was doing craft classes, one of her pupils listened to her...

I would never use Ash anywhere near a boat, it is not durable & rots with alacrity as soon as it gets damp. Surely there must be a boatyard up your way? worth checking out the WBTA wooden boatbuilders trade association to see who is near you. Oak would be ok if a bit heavy. Other cheap option is...

This year after a big machining session i had a pile of big dustbin sacks full of cherry sawdust & planer chippings, I read somewhere to mix with compost to grow things. So a big bag of compost was mixed with it & it filled four large containers in which i grew potatoes. Best crop i have had in...

Back when i was a small child my Dad showed me a book, What wood is that by Alfred Schwankl, published in 1956. It is extremely thorough & backed up with plates with samples of veneer, 40 different species. I still have Dads copy & still refer to it occasionally.

I bought an Extech dual mode moisture meter last year for use on boats wood & grp, can be used with pins or pinless. Cost was about 40 quid, its been reliable & seems to be accurate. Pretty robust too!

Fillings in teeth i didnt want but got them anyway. G Clamps etc are something many woodworkers collect willingly me included. As for air rifles a guy i know has over 400 air guns & similar number of air pistols, absolutely obsessed & just has to buy them. He never sells any, He & his wife...

I suspect it could be a screw head slotting machine from a gunsmiths. Alignment of screws is critical for aesthetic & practical reasons so screws were made with long blank heads that were screwed in, marked then heads cut & profiles & slots cut in. A tool like this makes such a job easy.

My dad used to collect plates, every month a new one would arrive from Braford exchange, Bradex or Franklin mint. After he & mum died we cleared the house, it took weeks & we kept finding the poxy things everywhere. Scores & scores of them, all utterly worthless! I gave the lot away. As for me i...

My son & i slabbed some up a few years ago. Often trunks tend to grow in a sort of spiral fashion & we had a 4 ft section of one of these cut by the local parks dept. It was cut through the middle then quartered & sawn as best we could do to 1". We air dried it in stick under the house for 3...

I was self employed for most of my working life starting in 84, Its a different world today. I was a boatbuilder & at that time there was plenty of work locally on both grp & wooden boats including a lot of restoration work which i loved. A few things i quickly learnt. Dont underprice yourself...

My first Thicknesser was a Multico L3 bought from a secondhand tool dealer on Canvey back in 84, It had been in a workshop fire & written off. I gave £150 for it, gave it a new switch & motor & its still going strong today! In a few years it will have to go as once the current boat project is...