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Hello, Birch ply is a staple of painted furniture, use it and know you've done the best job. Rebating MDF drawer fronts and fixing the sides with screws or nails is doomed to failure. MDF is hopeless with fixings into its edge, and drawer fronts yanking on them will expedite the failure. Mike.

Hello, You could do this, but is the extra time fitting the hardwood strips to MDF going to outweigh using birch ply in the first place. And how are you going to join the drawer fronts to the sides? Ply would make that more solid; weight in the drawers and a poor MDF to MDF joint is likely to...

Hello, Nothing to worry about, it'll do that. It is so flipping dense, it will almost never have a uniform moisture content. The inside is going to be wetter than the outer skin, so will always have a lot of wetness permeating back and forth. Dry the outside rapidly with a bit if direct sun for...

Hello, That's funny, I do it the other way! (With a pin gauge) Short runs, starting at the near end and pulling. It amounts to the same thing, though. Mike.

Hello, I think you can be surprisingly accurate with the wheel, if it matters. For stopped marking, I push away from the boundary closest to me and stop before I reach the other end. Then I pull away from the boundary furthest away, almost all the way back. It is quite easy to start with the...

Hello, Where do you get brass coloured Corian? :D Mike.

Hello, The Veritas wheel gauge with micro adjust is the one you want. No problem with tap and try, back and forth. No neoprene ring judder, if that is a problem. The micro adjust collet lock thingy is brilliant. I defy anyone to set a traditional wooden gauge as accurately, as quickly. And the...

Hello, They were the most sensible design of a simple gauge and i can only think that patents or something stopped copiers after they were ceased by Stanley. They command stupid prices, second hand now, but I think they should be the starting point for home made gauges. Mike.

Hello, Bugger, what have I done? Welcome back Jacob. Mike.

Hello, TBH I'm surprised Jacob lasted so long! Don't get me wrong, I actually liked the fellow in a sort of way, but cheeses he could be brutal. And he never needed provoking, he always went out of his way to rub people up the wrong way and then argued interminably if they tried to defend...

Hello, Wealden TS blades are excellent, and every bit as good as Freud. I would question a general purpose blade though. What are you going to cut at near your saws capacity? It suggests you might want to rip at neatly 4 inches??? Then get a rip blade. And what will you crosscut at that...

Hello, The man is filing something but not a chisel. TBH the low grade files shown in the picture are made of something like toffee, so likely ineffectual on mild steel for long, let alone tempered HCS. I assume the compiler of the book wanted a picture of someone sharpening a chisel, picked a...

Hello, Let's face it, it is mad isn't it! The book is just plain wrong and it is an editing mistake showing a man filing something (not a chisel) and whoever compiled the captions didn't know anything about woodworking and just put a caption with the wrong photo. It is just misleading and...

Hello, Post the outcome here when you do, it will be interesting to see. I will eventually get around to doing a set, but I have to finish making my Ashley Iles chisel handles first. I have just reshaped a tenon saw handle, have an old Ulmia mitre saw to refurbish and some storage to finish...

Hello, Simplify, simplify, simplify! If you make your own mortice gauge, who says it has to be adjustable? The pin spacings, that is. How many mortice chisels do you currently use....three? Make a gauge with pin spacings to match your mortice chisels. Foolproof and quick and simple. Make them...

Hello, Here is what I'd do; if your motor speed is 2800 rpm at 50 Hz, set the pulleys to give a spindle speed of about 1500 rpm. When your VFD is set to 50 Hz that is what the drill will run at, a good middle speed. Increase the VFD to 100 Hz the spindle will run at 3000. Fast enough for...

Hello, It is his money, why shouldn't he? I can't comment on the Hamilton one as I've never used one, i really like wheel gauges TBH, Veritas micro adjust ones the gauge of choice. However, if that is the sort of tool you like, the Hamilton looks fine. You could make your own, though and make...

Hello, I converted my Elliott Progress to run on a VFD. easy enough to do and works well. However, I still think a motor change is the way to go if cost allows. I couldn't find a single phase motor and NVR switch (the higher current draw on single phase means the original switch is usually not...

Hello, Those bases in the photos don't look thin to me. I would guess the timber started life as 2 inches thick, so might be something like 1 3/4 inch thick when planed, certainly no less than 1 1/2 inch, which is thick enough for the sofa. Almost any timber would do at that thickness. Mike.

Hello, Yes, it is a bit vague and it seems it varies with circumstances, but gosh only knows what circumstances! In school, where I suspect the full H and S spectrum is applied, any fixed machine ( bolted to a bench etc.) needs a switched isolator, even if it can be unplugged from the wall...