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Hi Lurker, Any chance you can tell us how you cut the thread. What I mean is did you use the thread cutter in a drill, or by hand, or on the lathe, or something else? Sorry if I'm just being a bit daft. I'm seriously tempted myself, although I see the M33 ones are a bit more pricey...

I'd just screw some sheet material to each of the ends (and the back if you have enough). It probably needn't be that thick, but I'd go for half inch at least. It will also help keep some of the shavings out of whatever you put on the shelf. Cheers, Dod

There never is definitive proof in science, but if you live in Holland (for example) then the merest possibility of sea level rise is something worth taking action about. Similarly over here I think that the issue has moved on from "Have we caused global warming?" to "How are we going to live...

Wizer, Nothing new here, but a few years ago I was at a brand new building in Newcastle University, where they had installed (at vast cost) a huge array of solar panels. This did wonders for the green credentials of the building, and had a display in the lobby that told you how much power they...

...although decades on we're still pondering what to do with all the waste it generates. Anybody fancy burrying it in their back garden for a few million years?

Excellent suggestion Philly, I'm a little wary of getting it tatooed onto my forehead :shock: Dod

Just a thought re side or top hinges, with top hinges a failure of the closing mechanism will still leave the "door" (mostly) closed, this may not be the case with side hinges. Dod

I've just remebered that there is one tool I forgot to mention, although I only really use it in the processing of logs prior to turning, and most often to get them into a form which I can then bandsaw. I use my super cheap power hand planer quite a bit to make flatish faces on stuff and find...

Hi Tusses, It sounds like Rob is a bay window man..... I'm inclined to agree with you that the "typical" T4 layout may not be the ideal, some time ago we had a T2 with a layout a little more along the lines that you're looking. I suspect that the differing layout of the base vans has a lot to...

Cornucopia, I quite like the contrast between the spalted and unspalted wood, such as you have in those logs. I recently cut up a few pieces which were similarly bits of fresh wood and pits spalted. I tend to dry mine before use so it will be next year before I start to get aroud to any of...

The only tool I'd really recommend is a bandsaw, although I have used my drill press a couple of times for turning related stuff. This has generally resulted in throat related issues as mentioned above, or at least it did the last time. I used it to drill holes in the seat of a rubbish stool I...

Fret ye not, I'm sure they did it by accident. :? I put all (well most) of my shavings on the compost heap, and it does an OK job of diluting the grass clippings. It's not an ideal solution as the production of grass clippings and shavings is far from synchronised. Cheers, Dod

Hi Sim, You say I suspect that you have more specific objectives: You may want to ask yourself if you want to make a table which incorporates a drawer and the top of which is a chess board. You probably also want it to look "cool" (in whatever way you choose to interpret "cool"). These...

Lime trees? I've had quite a few bits of branches trimmed off lime trees, and I doubt that you'd need huge bits for most carvings. Cheers, Dod

I have a Record BS250 which will cut 9 inches, and I'm pretty impressed with, but I do find myself wanting more depth of cut at times. Certainly one could always have more but many a time I've spent a good couple of hours attacking logs with either a hand power planer or a bow saw to get them...

Cool :D

Rob, I've heard it suggested that when using a dowel plate it is best to start with a dowel a bit bigger than the one you are after and cut it down progressively (i.e. start with an 8 mm dowel, then 7 mm, then 6 mm). No doubt a bit more work, but apparently a better dowel. It's only fair to...

I'd make a tentative vote for sycamore, but I've never used any parana pine, so it's hard to say. Weigh the pieces and calculate their densities, if you're in luck then the two woods will be sufficiently different in density for it to be apparent Parana pine: 0.54 g/ml Sycamore: 0.61 Soft...

Cerdeira, If you have pieces of all three infront of you then I think it's fairly easy to tell them apart, although I expect that it would be quite a bit harder if you just had one piece of oak and wanted to know which it was. The red oak I've seen is redder (and also softer) white oak rather...

Chems, I'd recommend a planer/thicknesser as being a better bet than buying ready planed timber. Principally because you can allow your timber to aclimatise to the conditions that it will finally reside in before machining it. Personally I would be concerned that planed timber might not still...