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You could consider a plasma cutter for the metal, though I'm not sure how economic the CNC ones are (if you're dead set on CNC).

My father made this table in 200-year old oak (form a barn that had blown down) using a mortising attachment in a pillar drill. So it's hard work, but possible... (he didn't make the chairs). So this might be your cheapest option if depending on how "infrequent" your use will be.

I have an experience that makes me think if you can start the hole true it tends to stay true. About thirty years ago I was making some organ parts that needed a 2mm stainless steel wire inserted about 60mm axially into the end of a 9mm wooden dowel, . I did this in a Hardinge lathe. Being in...

well, Imperial spanners/wrenches (xx inches across flats rather than Whitworth sizes) are still useful for American machinery products, whereever they are in the world, as well as most British cars designed/built before the mid-70s. But I think there's a bit of a glut of them, and they're not...

We had a whole new system installed about 12 years back and got this error from time to time (with a GlowWorm boiler). On investigation we had several of the issues others have mentioned, and fixed them, but it still happened from time to time. Eventually the penny dropped that the expansion...

If you are considering donating them to charity you could also consider these guys: Home - Workaid (though it's a bit of a hike from you and I'm not sure how far out they collect)

Thanks @MikeJhn. I'll start saving up :)

I'd absolutely go down that route. Around 1970 my father acquired a big Holbrook lathe with a huge three-phase motor and used a device that had a couple of large chokes to convert from single phase to three phase successfully for many years. You might want to check that the inverter provides...

As someone who has a boxful of biscuits I'm intrigued by the use of the word "still" in the subject of the thread - wondering what people using now to do similar joints? (I am soooo out of touch lol)

We had a bunch a few years ago that got in through a tiny hole where a steel beam met an external wall. They ran down the sides of the I and had a merry time above our kitchen ceiling. Horrid noise on the plasterboard... They do seem to like chewing electrical cables (once each lol). More...

Thanks everyone. @homeinthecity I wasn't aware of St Albans Wood Recycling but if I get there before you do I'll report back :)

Just a thought. If you're taking it apart and splitting it longitudinally, you could consider re-assembling so that the strips have the grain curvature in alternating directions. That way, although each strip will still curve with humidity/temperature, its neighbour will do so in the opposite...

For the last 10 years I've been helping to restore (and enlarge) a pipe organ in India. During one trip the church had employed a couple of carpenters to renew their large teak doors & I engaged them to make a new back for the organ (see picture). They made their own clamps by two or three...

Hello! - I'm Tim - glad to have discovered this forum in a random search about an old vice (there's a pun in there somewhere!). I'm an occasional amateur organ-builder and as-needed handyman, with a tiny workshop in a (purpose-built, brick) shed in my garden. (In a past life I did some...

Try these guys: The Vice Works I just got new jaws for my Paramo No. 5 (and soft jaws too)