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Eucalyptus is fun to turn, but moves an awful lot. It will split horribly if you try to dry thick blanks whole, but if turned wet, they warp like crazy. I can try and find a picture of a eucalyptus bowl I have made. The top started flat and ended up really curved. I think the colour is great too.

Some bowls (apologies for the non turned tables!) for a work craft fair

Your website was one of the accounts I read before making it. Many thanks - very helpful. Not trying to claim this is anything novel, just a nudge to anyone out there like me that has been thinking about trying one. Far easier than I expected and more versatile. Trueing up chuck recesses for...

Pretty much everything I make is twice turned from green wood, so leaving a neat centre pin is difficult. I can also only manage a 16" bowl over the bed, so it is nice to be able to make full use of the rotating head now. Will see how annoying it is to leave on. Worst case it will just need the...

I find having to take the chain off to sharpen it a right faff. I have one of these for sorting out really bad damage or doing long milling chains: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Oregon-Sharp-Electric-Chainsaw-Grinder/dp/B073XS9GWQ/ For a quick tickle I actually find the easyfile quicker. Does the...

That is very interesting. Maybe I shouldn't have been a ckeapskate and should have bought the proper thing! I guess if it still looks like glare after 6 months of use that is a pretty solid recommendation. Doubt a hard wax oil alone would have survived as well!

I think you misunderstand the aim of these products. These are top coats to add durability to be used over existing finishes. In the case of the epoxy table I had already used 2 grades of polishing compound, much like cutting polishes are used over car paint by detailers. Any change to the shine...

Definitely a surface coating to applied over an existing finish. Not something to go on bare wood. The camera on my phone is a bit rubbish, so difficult to get a good comparison. I tried it over some osmo on a turned bowl as well, and it improved the colours and gave it more of a "wet" look...

It is something that is likely to become more commonly used in the future. Some of my colleagues have worked on the characterisation and environmental assessments of nanoparticle protective treatments. The physics / chemistry of them definitely works, the unknown is what is in the bottle you buy...

A simple T valve controls vacuum level. So far tried several bowls with it. Hold big things really firmly and not blown through the bottom of one yet! Not a huge amount of point to this post, other than to say if you have wondered about making one, go for it. I don't know why they aren't more...

Recently got myself an old vacuum pump for some resin stabilisation. Worked great for that, so I decided to have a go at a vacuum chuck. I bought a rotary adapter (holdfast) for £50. I looked at vacuum chucks. They seemed excessively expensive, so decided to make one. Took a small faceplate...

So in the absence of any wise advice, I decided to give it a go with a mid range car product (Gtechniq crystal lacquer). It is a ceramic formulation. On exposure to air, silica nanoparticles polymerise to give a higher shine and a very thin tougher layer. Tiny bottle of clear liquid the...

I find for 2 strokes that don't get through vast amounts of fuel Aspen is amazing. Synthetic alkylate fuel that doesn't contain benzene or other nasties, so no headaches after using it all day, and never goes off so will start first time even if it has been left with fuel in for months.

Electric should be fine so long as you don't mind the extension lead. Agree, just as lethal as petrol. If it is any good at cutting wood, it will be far better at cutting flesh. I would get the armoured trousers as well - people tend to treat electric saws with a lot less respect than petrol...

Ok. Sounds as if anything is a lot better than nothing. Was going to put 90mm in the walls and the roof panels have 80mm. Not planning on heating, but I really want it not to suffer from condensation and be bearable in moderate cold. Depths of winter things are going to be cold whatever.

I like the idea of the glass fibre strands. Seems a good way of minimising the cracking. Not sure if the floor levelling is going to work. I have given up entirely on the idea of level - 1 section has a 12cm fall over 3m... If I can get it (nearly) flat I will feel that is a massive success!

Unfortunately replacing the slab isn't an option - I have to make the best of what there is. To be honest, given it is on incredibly heavy clay, that amount of movement is actually quite good. Looking back, current superstructure there for at least 60 years, and slab possibly since the 40s. I...

Thanks for that. I was wondering if I had missed something massive when I kept seeing all these things about minimum thickness. I guess both those points could be fairly easily addressed. First by taking the battens out after it has set and filling in the holes, and the second by the brick mini...

I am slowly in the process of rebuilding a fairly large shed (many thanks to previous posters for advice about insulated roof panels). The old concrete pad is mostly intact, but there is quite a lot of unevenness (up to 40mm in places where 2 different concrete pours have moved independently)...

Just wondered if anyone had tried any nano or ceramic finishes? I have seen them mentioned on youtube a lot and there are loads for cars, but there seems to be very little about them for woodworking when they are not trying to sell you something! Someone on here said they were considering...