Search results

My father was a wartime mosquito night fighter pilot and when hostilities in Europe were over he was sent to India with mosqitos. There they were unable to fly them in action because the glue that held the planes together couldn't cope with the heat and humidity, when subject to the g forces...

Thanks Pete, you've saved me from possibly making a big mistake. Martin

I'm trying to make what I call a swany whistle, though it may be called a slide whistle. I've just got from Amazon a set of 300mm bits. I also go a 12mm centre drill. I held my Oak piece in the chuck and made a centre hole, then bored an 8mm hole all the way through a little bit at a time and...

I have twin 4 year old grandsons who I make toys for. My most successful is a paper dart launcher. I've made wooden helicopter spinners and periscopes recently. I also have a 2 year old grand daughter I have made a pull along duck and wiggly dogs. If you are interested in any of the pictures...

I recently rediscovered UKworkshop’s forums, when the morning email arrived with the latest updates. For me reading the views, advice and banter has been a welcome alternative to my missed Sunday mornings in the Red Lion, where most of my weeks socialising used to take place. As the locals...

As for straight line drilling in a lathe then a 1/2" lamp standard bit through a hollow tailstock will generally give good results. I used to regularly bore holes of 1 1/4" diameter using a similar method, daed straight up to 30" long. Hope this helps, xy A very long time ago (in the workshop...

Unlike most of you I'm a bit of a bodger, though I had success with a similarly frustrating problem. I was given an old SDS drill so I could dig up a lamp post in the garden. The drill packed in and after checking the leads, brushes and internal connections I couldn't trace the issue. I was...

I also want long bits, so I can make slide whistles on my lathe, out of oak from a tree in my garden. I want to end up with a 12mm hole but presume I need to increase the diameter in stages. The problem is that all the long bits I've see have deep flutes, which I would have thought are likely to...

What a wonderful thing google translate is!!

This question reminded me that getting hold of deckchair canvas at a reasonable price and quality is difficult. Our local market never has any and on line the prices are ridiculous. Any suggestions? Martin

When I set up workshops in my D&T departments all the graduate lathes were always soundly bolted to the floor. I now have one, which I saved from a skip, it just stands on the floor but it likes to jig about a bit when I turn from a log. I would really worry if it had wheels. Martin

Thank you for all your opinions, especially that its not just my beans! I think I'll add the shavings to the compost heap and not be so impatient. This is a wonderful forum, I wonder if there are any questions that don't get thoughtful replies. Thanks Martin

I have no idea what design of the fence you have in mind. However I used rare earth magnets with a class of GCSE students some years ago and we found that while the magnetism was exciting, the magnets were very brittle and if the screw in the countersunk hole was tightened a little too much they...

This is a highly untechnical question, do any of you put your turning shavings onto your gardens? I heard that woody stuff could go onto compost heaps, so thought that a mountain of oak shavings I was making could go on my raised beds as a mulch. This year my crop of beans has been miserable and...

Re pole lathe, I would think that there complete kit could be made from old logs. Cheers Martin

I use a very old 3 phase Union graduate with an inverter from single phase to 3 with variable speed, which Bob Minchen, of this parish, made for me. I use the variable speed all the time. I have been able to make anything I want, from big bowls from logs to whistles. If I was skint and didn't...

Thank you for your encouragement Richard. Success, a full octave! Sometimes I wonder if what I want to do is as interesting as I think! I followed the drift of what you said, suggesting that the longer the barrel the more chance of achieving an octave. I used a piece of Turkey oak (from a tree...

I really enjoy using Sketchup and have found it very useful for calculating dimensions, if I want to alter proportions of an item that has lots of components. The last time I used it was to work out how to make a wooden land camera to fit on an old magic lantern. (I found making the camera much...

Has anyone made a swanee whistle? What is the minimum of equipment I need? I have a graduate lathe with a patriot chuck and various bits, the only really long ones are either flat bits or boring bits, that an electrician might use. I’ve watched a couple of YouTube clips but it would be nice to...

I'm still at it, I turn a few bowls but mostly toys.