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Thanks for further replies. I now have a tub of oxalic acid, and a bag of ferrous sulphate is on its way. I'm not too worried about the toxicity of the acid - if any very tall person starts chewing on my my joists though I'll try to stop them :wink: I need to experiment and will report back -...

Thanks, precisely the kind of info I was after. This opens up a field for experimentation - presumably almost any iron salt, not just the acetate would do. My first thought was to try the oxalate treatment to lighten the existing stain, then iron (and coffee if necessary) to match on the rest...

Thanks Phil, I'd never have thought of that possibilty. I'll take a sander/angle grinder to it and see what happens. Robin.

Thanks for the reply adidat - I'd assumed that the staining around the nail holes was because of the reaction between the iron nails and tannin in the wood, so would extend to the depth of the holes. But maybe it doesn't work like that? Robin

I've stripped the plasterboard from my living room ceiling to reveal the joists above. I'd like to leave them exposed, but at some time in the history of the house the ceiling must have been lath and plaster - there are many nail holes in the joists where the laths would have been attached. The...

When I was in a similar situation I was advised to go with a stick (MMA) welder - I ended up with a Parweld 160 which cost £197 inc VAT from weldequip.com. It is rated for a 16A fuse for the full 160A output - I run mine from a 32A socket because I have one, but according to the weldequip...

For some reason which I don't understand the recommendation for metalcutting countersinks is to go with an odd number of flutes. This has been borne out by experience for me - I have three, four and five flute cutters and the three-flutes are the easiest, followed by the fives. The four flute...

I have the Axi version of what's basically the same machine - on the first one they sent me the infeed and outfeed tables weren't coplanar, they formed a slight V which led to the sort of problems you are describing. I just sent it back, and the second one was spot on. So I'd just return it -...

Hi Mark. Do you really need these custom made? There's a pretty wide range of off-the-shelf knobs available, eg http://www.wdsltd.co.uk/categories/65/hand-knobs-thumb-screws/155/ball-knobs/. Regards Robin

Thanks for the links to suppliers of m/c wax Phil - I ordered up a block which arrived a couple of days ago. Apologies if the reference to solder was unilluminating - I was just trying to reinforce the point that you can't, in principle, predict the melting point of a mixture by averaging the...

Bugbear is right - it's much more complicated than averaging the two 'melting points'. Think of lead - tin solder, which liquifies at a lower temperature than either lead or tin (183C for the eutectic mixture). What actually happens is to do with the balance of affinities of the molecular...

Hi. A couple of newbie questions... I buy unprocessed firewood from a farm which has a huge pile of tree fellings in their yard. Sometimes there are quite substantial logs of stuff which seem (to my naive eye) too good to burn. The latest is this: Questions are: (a) can anyone identify the...

I had a very similar, tho not identical, Weller iron many moons ago. It too was just a plug in the wall- socket job, with screw fitting tips, but it had a selection of tips for different temperatures. Somehow the tips regulated a temperature control mechanism in the iron - I don't think I ever...

Michelle, I think the answer to your 'is this price right' question is probably no. 20 quid is too cheap for a fabricator earning his crust from his trade! 150 on the other hand is taking the mick. Looking at the vids you linked to (interesting stuff - I know nowt about bending wood, but...

Did this work out? In general, single wheel knurling isn't a good idea on a small lathe because of the stress it puts on the spindle bearings and the cross slide feed, maybe OK in alloy tho. I'd be interested to know. A scissor (straddle) type tool might be a better option if you can find one...

Way to go I'd say. I don't think you really need a lathe or mill to make one, just does it quicker. Half inch ally plate is 17 quid a square foot at my local hobby engineering shop, I'll be off to pick up a piece tomorrow. Half inch is probably overkill, but their bizarre pricing makes it...

Doug - thanks for the pointer to your facebook pages, which I had a look at. Nice work! My table won't be half so pretty, but you have answered a lot of the questions I was going to ask. Sunnybob - when you put it in square footage 100 quid does seem a tad excessive. I'm certainly going to make...

Thanks for all your replies - all very helpful in clarifying my thoughts. It sounds like the split fence is worth the extra effort - I hadn't thought about profiling taking material off the whole thickness of the piece, I would have tripped up there, so thanks for that marcros. Sunnybob - I had...

I'm planning to make a router table based on some 19mm melamine faced chipboard I scrounged from a kitchen refit. There are loads of plans (too many!) out there I know, but it would make life easier if you guys could advise on features which are actually useful, given that I'm going to try and...

I've just been doing some weeding out - found this set of Silverline taps and dies. I was going to freegle them, but yours for the cost of postage if you're interested - I think I know where the missing bits (tap and die stocks and a couple of taps) are. Metric 3 - 12mmm in coarse and fine...