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1) Life is complicated. 2) There's nothing produced that someone won't make cheaper and worse. 3) Sometimes, innovation works and it can be made cheaper and better. 4) You have a choice. You can buy a product or service guaranteed to meet a given standard, or one that isn't. 5) Researching the...

That's the point of having appropriate standards.

****Pedant Alert**** It was Henry Maudslay who developed the first practical screwcutting lathe in the very late 1700s, building on work done by Jesse Ramsden and others in the mid to late 1700s; Joseph Whitworth came up with the first standard for screwthread diameter, pitch and threadform in...

Just remember not to over-do the p**s-up too soon. Remember it's deflower the virgin and sacrifice the goat. Don't overdo the mead and get it the wrong way round. It IS a turning point, though. The prospect of the nights drawing out and spring being on the way does give hope. I can understand...

https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/threads/tier-4.127272/reply?quote=1418726 *sigh* Sadly, I know exactly what you mean ....

I strongly suspect that quite a lot of people will publicly express the 'right' opinion, whilst doing something entirely different themselves. My old mum had a health scare (not Covid) just at the start of the first lockdown. That entailed me being carer, and therefore driving to and fro, doing...

Couple of years ago, Paul Sellers said he particularly liked Groves saws; they promptly started going for silly money. (Groves saws are very good, but they're not five times better than everybody else's.) Then every chancer on 'a certain internet auction site' started thinking ALL old saws were...

If, as Nigel says, those planes are supposed to be bevel down, it might pay to check the bevel angles on the blade and ensure that they're less than the blade bedding angle. It may be an optical delusion, but the second and third photos seem to suggest that the back of the bevel is rubbing and...

One thing that might help is to turn the blade the other way up - bevel facing up, not down. It's a low-ish angle bed (not ultra-low, but low-ish), so an iron sharpened with the usual 25 degree grind and 30 degree hone may not have much of a clearance angle under the blade with it assembled...

There are several types of sharpening stone - oilstones of various types, diamond stones, water stones, abrasive films, ceramic stones - they all work. Which one suits you is a matter for you, really. The one thing to remember with tool sharpening is that whatever method you use, you get better...

Something that can help a lot in such spaces is to paint the walls (and ceiling, if there is one!) white. It makes best use of what light is available. Amazing how much unpainted brick garage walls seem to absorb light. If the workshop's already crowded, and the walls mostly - erm -...

Well - you learn something every day. I didn't know girls had batteries.

Most metal stockholders offer a cutting service. If you talk to your supplier, they may well be able to supply brass tube in lengths to your requirement, by the thousand if needs be. Ask them about deburring, as well. If your current supplier can't or won't, shop around. Not really much point...

All sorts of factors influence timber selection, but big ones for most of us are availability and cost. The pro cabinetmakers may seek out special boards of rare and exotic timbers (provided they can pass the cost on to their customers), but most of us can't really justify that. We just look at...

I think you've pretty much answered the question! According to Simon Barley's excellent 'British Saws and Saw Makers', Joseph Tyzack and Sons started making saws about the late 1870s, and continued until 1924; so that's the possible date range. Their works was located between Bowdon Street...

Best car I ever owned was a 2002 Vauxhall Astra estate 1.7 diesel, owned from nearly new. Had hoped to get 10 years, but ended up with 17 years of pretty reliable service out of it - 55mpg, economical servicing and repairs once I'd kicked the main dealers into the long grass; pretty much...

"Bearing steel" is a rather vague term, but given the context I think it might refer to the grade of steel commonly used for making (some, not all) rolling element bearings. It's basically a 1% straight carbon steel with a tiny bit of silicon and manganese, and about 1% to 1.6% chromium added to...

If you're prepared to go vintage, try searching a well-known internet auction site for 'Brades hammer', 'Whitehouse hammer', 'Stanley hammer' or similar. Brades was the trade-mark of William Hunt and Sons, whose factory at Oldbury in the West Midlands was known locally as 'the Brades', were...

May I respectfully suggest that both 'The Anarchist's Toolchest' and 'The Essential Woodworker' should be high on the priority list of any aspiring hand tool woodworker. 'The Anarchist's Toolchest' is the only book I know that gives a list of necessary tools to do a fair range of furniture-type...

Just to add to the above - unless you absolutely have to remove screws in order to effect essential repairs, leave them be. From the photos, it looks like you can clean, refinish and put the chest back to working order without dismantling it at all. Don't risk more damage unless you're forced to.