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In general, some’s good, more’s better.

Definitely saw setting pliers - I have one that I used to use years ago on B&D circular saw blades, long before the advent of TCT blades. I’ll dig them out and post a photo

Even the cheap digital ones are intrinsically more accurate than mid-range mechanical equivalents. The design and manufacturing processes just lend themselves to producing accurate instruments in quantity. I have 3, all Chinese, and, because I’m a cheapskate, none of them cost more than £15...

Trend do these in the shorter lengths. The head is smaller in diameter than the normal washer-head screws. Hope that helps

Drilling the right size pilot hole is essential. You need to measure the core diameter close to the flange, as most of the inserts (that I’ve used, at least) have a definite taper to the body. Most of them are made of one of the zinc-based casting alloys (mazak etc), and are pretty weak. As...

While you’re at it, you could always fit a new head as well. Then it would be a proper Grandfather’s Axe😊

Yes, about 6 months ago, I replaced my (rather asthmatic) Axminster shop-vac style extractor with one of the twin-motor Camvac units. It’s connected via 63mm rigid ducting, blast gates, then 63mm Id flex ducting to the table saw, router table and disc/belt sander. It works very well, is...

Do you have the manual for the saw? If not, I can send you a copy. There is (should be) an overload cutout, black button to the right of the on/off switch. Has that been triggered? Press it in to reset. HTH

Floating chipboard floor on 75mm of foam insulation, then underfloor heating, then laminate flooring. You’ll lose about 110mm of height, but gain a lot of heat!

Wealden. Good quality bits, sensible prices and fast (free) delivery. I have a set (Axminster) 1/2” router. Two thirds of the bits still have the anti-corrosion goo on them. Buy bits as you need them, buy good quality, and thus build a set that suits your needs.

....which is 20% ??

A bench for our front porch. It is fitted inside the letter box, so it stops the mail scattering across the porch, and provides somewhere to sit while you put your outdoor shoes on. Made from oak solids, and oak veneered MDF. The lid lifts to get at the mail, on concealed Zyssa hinges, and...

Nilfisk - I’ve got a baby one that has worked well for 10 years plus, or Stihl - very popular around here.

That’s the depressing point though, Phil. Just a few quid more! No great surprise, sad to say, when you have major building companies lobbying to remove basic insulation, and a government trying to remove, or at least emasculate building control.

Some years ago, on a visit to the Laphraoig distillery on Islay - one of the few distilleries that still does a substantial proportion of its own malting - one of the part asked the distillery’s Head Brewer, leading the tour, what was his favourite whisky. Rather than the expected “Laphraoig...

The smoky flavour of some whiskies (some of the finest, IMHO) comes not from the charred barrels, but from the smoke from the peat fire used to dry the malt. The index of ‘smokiness’ is phenol content - a rather effective antibacterial. So I always view the consumption of well-peated malt...

How about removing all three vertical rails and re-fixing them all away from their current fixings, and correctly levelled?

If you rout out a further recess around the mortise, the shoulder on the legs could be square. An easy routing job as you have the hub positioned on the lathe, and much simpler cutting the tenons and shoulder.

We did a self-build house about 8 years ago - used a timber-frame package from Potton. The frame arrived as factory-made panels, 140mm studs and OSB panel, with120mm of foam insulation between the studs. The outside was covered with a metallised Tyvek vapour-control membrane. Once the panels...

Plus, of course, a dust extractor. Shop vac with power take off.