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When you say a vice that 'fits the Fobco Star' do you mean one that is the right size just to sit on the table or one that can be fixed to the table through the slots? If the former there are many, if the latter I've yet to find anything that doesn't need a bit of thinking about - the ribs on...

It sounds like an ambitious project - that's a wide range of things to do. I was in a similar position a few years ago, but the house 'in need of renovation' had a 400 square foot basement for use as a workshop. So I bought machines to fill it. The things I actually use most are (a) a cheap...

A horizontal mill is doubtless the machine of choice for cutting gears, but (pace hemilaga) it can certainly be done on a vertical mill, which is a more versatile machine for general use. As deema says you will need to budget for some sort of indexer - to give you an idea of what's involved...

Thanks James, looked at Toolstation, not in stock for delivery but 1 in stock from my local branch in ... Morecambe. Last time I looked at their site I was in Leeds apparently. But Wickes have them locally (Derbyshire) and for delivery, so have ordered. Bob.

Other brands worth looking at include Fobco and Meddings. I have Fobco Star (probably 50 years old) for which I paid £150 about 5 years ago - they seem to be going for 250-300 now though, so a bit above your budget, but if you can stretch to it worth the money IMO. Mine runs whisper quiet, dead...

After the death of a freebie from Axminster (which proved surprisingly useful) I'm looking for a cheap,compact 12V cordless screwdriver - the type with the battery in the handle - to replace it. For occasional use only. There's a bewildering array of these things on Amazon, ranging from £20 to...

I'm only an occasional woodturner, but I use my ProEdge quite a lot for general sharpening/linishing. One thing you are doing wrong, which no-one seems to have commented on, is going from 120g to 1200g in one jump. All that does is polish the grooves left by the 120 (that's where the heat comes...

Assuming you don't need the chuck to turn when mounted on the tailstock and have an MT tailstock taper couldn't you just drill and tap a blank arbor M12 to take the male thread on your adaptor? The arbors in the link only go down to MT2, but MT1's are readily available if that's what you have...

Thanks hugov. Sounds like they will be OK for my purposes, and at £24 (Zoro) for a box of 50 cheaper than Abranet. I'll give them a go. Bob.

I was looking to restock on Abranet discs to use with my ROS and came across 3M Cubitron discs, which I'd not heard of before. Anyone out there who has tried these and can give an opinion about how they compare with Abranet? From the bumf it looks like they're aggressive and not suited for...

Thanks for the info Adam - very relevant to me as well as I'm grappling with a 19th century house built of limestone (no DPC obviously) which needs to breath. However, for the record: isn't quite right. Hydraulic cements (eg Portland) are so named because they set by the hydration of...

Well, the Taiwanese/Chinese 920 lathes were cloned from the 1970's Austrian made Emco Compact 8. Which used metric 60 degree leadscrews. Tony at lathes.co.uk says "As an economy measure, instead of the proper Acme thread usually found on leadscrews, that on the Compact 8 employed an ordinary...

I think you may be overestimating the difficulty of making the part. Steve Bedair documents his mod here . It doesn't look too hard - just a matter of machining a lump of brass to size, which could be done on the lathe if you don't have a mill, then drilling and tapping a hole. He actually...

Maybe not worth the risk on a nice piece then - I remember the stripped pine craze (late 70's -80's?) when people took their painted pine doors to 'professional' strippers who used hot caustic baths - sometimes they came back OK, sometimes (very much) not. OK in general for metals though - but...

The primary active ingredient in oven cleaners (ones that actually work anyway) is sodium hydroxide (caustic soda) - cheaper to buy it pure and make your own solution (10-15%). It works well as a stripper (though won't deal with acrylics) but can damage wood - if you're not careful to clean it...

Not an engine, but this has 7000 parts - - it took the guy 16 years to make it apparently. Skill and stamina iideed! Pointless in a way, but rather beautiful. I wonder how I'd feel if I'd put that time into making something. A bit empty when it was finished I suspect. Rob

I agree with TFrench that CPX is unlikely to be an insert code - if it is, you may have a problem as in the ISO system X is used to designate a custom design. Can you measure the angle of the cutting 'point'? That would be helpful in trying to ID the inserts. It would also be useful to know the...

Ooh, a sharpening thread! If you really want to learn the true secrets of master sharpeners you could do worse than look at this . If you can't spare 11 minutes to watch the whole video, fast forward to 6:00 when the most important things are revealed. MikeJ460 - there's no straightforward way...

I've used Cookson Gold in the past, they have a good range of 9/18ct gold and sterling silver findings. Bob.

You could try The Multi Metal Shop - they're new boys on the block and are currently (or were fortnight ago at least) offering free UK mainland delivery as an introductory offer. I recently bought 300mm of 1.75 inch brass bar from them - £44 delivered, order placed 10th Aug, despatched RM 48...