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Skipdiver, if you have a way of spinning the 1.25" joining tube and it has enough meat on it I'd suggest that it would be better to sand down the joining piece rather than trying to fiddle with the ID of the main tubes. It's much easier to fettle outside diameters than inside. If the joining...

I was going to say that I've turned HSS (OK tho not pleasant) with carbide, so drilling should work - but just went down to the workshop to check before posting. I picked up a random bit of HSS and had at it with a solid carbide spot drill. Couldn't get a bite at all. Perhaps it depends on the...

OK, thanks, sorry I misinterpreted your post. Weird how these regulations are framed! I'll have a look at adhesive removers now... REgards, Rob.

Thanks for further replies. Coley - your warning duly noted! I used to use DCM in industry many moons ago and is is indeed nasty stuff, it will be an out of doors job. Treeeeee - Starchem Synstrip looks just what I need - thanks. I had a look at the MSDS and it is 80% DCM, 7% phenol (carbolic...

Thanks guys. What I'm aiming to do is get an old (maybe early 1800's) door back to bare wood - it's been painted and repainted many times, so quite a lot to scrape off. I'll give Morrells a try - thanks for the pointer. I actually know someone who is a professional art conservator, maybe I can...

Back in the day I used to use dichloromethane based paint strippers - unpleasant on the nose, but very effective. Since the ban there have been a number of 'new improved' products which claim to be as good or better, but my experience of the ones I've tried hasn't been good - they come nowhere...

Thanks for all the replys guys. I hadn't anticipated that my question would result in such a wide-ranging discussion about morticing methods, but it's been a good read and I've learned a lot - in theory at least! I think the main point I've taken from this is that there's no clear answer for...

In principle you can cut any metric thread on a lathe with an imperial leadscrew (and vice versa) if you have a 127 tooth changewheel, as graduate_owner says. Reason being that an inch is (by definition) 25.4mm and 127 and 2 are the only prime factors of 254. Whether you can source the wheels...

Thanks for all the advice - though some of the later discussion was over my head, I have read all and shall inwardly digest. An ebay search on pig stickers yeilded this amongst other things, but the actual chisels seemed a bit pricey - certainly nowt there for 2 quid or so. I'll get a couple...

I've been chopping mortices using the Paul Sellars method with ordinary chisels - I don't get quite as neat a result as he does for some strange reason :? I've been looking at proper mortice chisels on the Axi site - there's quite a price spread, eg for a half inch chisel it's £11.50 for Axi...

Many thanks for your detailed advice ED65. Most helpful. I'll post before/after pics in due course - if it turns out OK! Rob.

Well, I've been doing some other stuff, so my wife has taken over this task - she's sanded down two joists (thirteen more to go) with a delta sander, but she's finding it hard going. So she had a look on t'interweb and decided she needs a Festdrool Rotex. I'm going to set her on cutting M&T's...

Thanks both - exactly the sort info I was after. At the moment the billets are showing 25 -28% on the moisture meter on the freshly sawn surface. I seem to remember having read somewhere that I need to get that down to 12% or so before it will be stable. Does that make sense? Rob

Thanks Phil. I have sawn the logs down into billets about 4 inches square by a yard or so long, and sealed the endgrain with paraffin wax - I'd ordered it before I saw your reply and thought I may as well use it. Though from what you say maybe PVA would have be better, as more 'breathable'...

I've rescued several good straight logs of cherry , about three foot long each and seven inchish diameter from the firewood pile. They've been left outside ,subject to all weather, for two years or more. All I actually want from them is some 2x3 chunks about 12" long, but they do need to be...

It seems to be pretty close-grained - it certainly sanded to a satin-smooth finish without any obvious pores and I didn't grain-fill. I don't actually know what it is - a dark hard chunk from a box unhelpfully labelled 2010. It may be Indian Rosewood. But seasoned at least! Thanks for your...

Hi Timber. Just looked at the thread chart on my lathe - it does 4TPI. If all else fails, I'd be happy to have a go at this for you. I've made custom metric taps before, but never had to cut an ACME tap, so cost to you would be material and postage - what I'd get out of it would be some new...

Thanks profchris, new batch in progress. R.

Thanks for replies both. It's a sort of plinth thing which will be screwed to a wall, so it won't be handled once mounted and maybe I could get away with overcoating. However, the project is partly about teaching myself new techniques - I'd really like to be able to achieve a glassy French...

I tried finishing a piece with Rustins Button Polish t'other day - it gave a lovely shine to it, but 48 hours later it is still a bit tacky to the touch. After a bit of research I belatedly understood that shellac polishes have a limited shelf life. There is no 'best before' date on the bottle...