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Because I’m cheap/skint my philosophy is if I can reasonably make it myself, I make it myself. If I can reasonably repair it, I repair it. Reasonably is the key here though. Do I have the time, skills and materials to make or repair it? Is it going to end up costing me more than just buying a...

I thought we had a leak a few years ago as I could hear constant dripping so I took the floor up in the spare room. No leak to be seen so I put the boards back in, hit a pipe and covered the ceiling in water. Rang a plumber. Charged us £80 for ten minutes work as it was 8pm on the Sunday before...

I built my workbench about a year ago. I was expecting it to be all singing all dancing but the type of work I have been doing is jigs and tools for my other hobbies (sculpting, leather work) and smaller furniture projects such as stools so I haven’t bothered with a ‘proper’ workbench and it’s...

Never wear gloves, roll your sleeves up, keep your hair (if any) away from it. Maybe take your watch off if you’re really nervous. I have the occasional rag or piece of steel wool wrap itself around the chuck but never had any close calls with a body part. Like another poster said, I sometimes...

I really struggle to find YouTubers I like, but the ones I do like I watch all their stuff. I find I get irritated really easily if I don’t love the presenter but there’s a fine line between dry enough to send me to sleep and too enthusiastic. That said my partner thinks the ones I do like are...

This is true. Vacuum removes the air incorporated in to the resin when you mix it and before you pour it. Pressure pot compresses any air in the mixture in to tiny, evenly distributed bubbles. Casting guys tend to do both.

I’m in the process of making my first ‘real’ bench. I’ve knocked up a few cheap light assembly benches in the past which I’ve always left at previous houses and which I wish I’d kept given the price of materials now. I’m using the old pine joists from a house remodel. They were huge when I...

I’m at work but in between meetings I’ll be out in the shed cutting and/or laminating boards for my workbench.

I’ve essentially bolted a length of flat steel to the side of mine which I also hoped would lock it and stop the infeed table wobbling. What actually happened was the left hand side of the infeed started moving towards the cutters 1mm or so by itself while the fence kept the right hand side in...

I don’t sell abroad in the majority of cases because it just adds extra steps for something to go wrong. That’s on top of expensive shipping costs and eBay’s fees. I used to be able to make good money on eBay for things I was only really looking to get rid of. A few times recently I’ve had to...

I bought one of these a month or so ago against the recommendation of some on this forum. I think I probably got one of the only ones that was okay out of the box. After a bit of fettling and a fence upgrade I’d managed to plane and thickness a workbench worth of old hard yellow pine absolutely...

I had a chain bracelet lying round that I thought was gold, but I stupidly followed some advice on the internet and used a homemade cleaning solution of vinegar, baking soda etc and it turned parts of it pink indicating it was brass. I read this is the zinc dissolving and leaving a layer of...

I spotted a Record Ridgeway number 5 jack plane in a local antiques shop. Decent condition and I’ve quite enjoyed cleaning up my other planes and I need a jack plane so considering buying it. I found a bit of info online, Ridgeway seems to be an old Sheffield company who were bought by Record...

I found a bandsaw on FB marketplace recently. A few weeks old, used once, asked why he was selling and he said he’d bought a larger one instead. Fair enough but why sell it for 2/3 of the price instead of just returning it? Looked through his listings and he’s sold dozens of similar tools...

Maybe I need to rethink this again then. The short length of the bench was mainly due to space restrictions.

I’m finally in my workshop and need a surface to work on. There’s no reasonably priced options available locally so I’m back to building my own bench with the timber I have. I think I’ve probably watched every bench building video on YouTube by this point. I’m working my way through Chris...

I’m after a bandsaw for my small space, so it’s looking like the Record Power BS250 or the Axminster AC1950B. I currently have a Rexon BS2301A. Theres very little info about it online aside from a few okay reviews (one of which is me, on this forum, seven years ago). I took it out of storage...

Some good opinions in here and I’m back leaning towards building my own again. Beech or Ash might just about fit the budget if I’m smart about it. They’re small and probably have their uses but I think something more suited to my space and able to handle the odd big project (assuming prices come...

I have the opportunity to buy one of two ex-school workbenches being sold locally. I’ve attached photos of the one that‘s in better nick. They’re only small, but my workshop is only 8‘ x 10’ and will probably only be used for light woodworking so would free up a bit of space for something like...

I think I got the Lidl chisels last time they sold them which I think was about 2016. I haven’t seen them since. Same with the pull saw which I’ve abused so it’s seen better days. The chisels are great though.