Recent content by ToolbeltDandy

Hi. The walls are solid brick. The house is part of a row of cheap terraced houses built in around 1910-1920 in case that is informative. I only have a cheap Draper damp detector and haven't attempted to ascertain dampness by any other method. We don't have accurate hygrometers. We have the...

My mum has issues with damp walls. They've been injected twice but still the walls are damp, some areas appearing darker than others and some walls only detected as damp using a conductivity-based detector. My understanding of the treatment that should have happened is that a chemical mixture...

I'm helping a friend with a fairly basic woodworking operation. I need to inset a round metal doorbell push button into a piece of wood and I'm going to use a plunge router with a straight bit and a guide bushing. The problem is creating the template. The template needs to be 2.5 mm wider...

I would like these heavy duty bags for my bike but they're expensive and I think I could make my own much more cheaply. I was just hoping to get some advice regarding what types of timber would be suitable and whether other types might be rendered suitable by a protective coating. Thanks for...

It's difficult to tell because of your poor grammar, but was that meant to be a snide remark? I say again: will the longevity of the boiler be increased, unaffected or decreased by infrequent use? In case the boiler design is relevant, it's a Glow-worm Betacom 24.

My mum in an effort to reduce the chances of her boiler breaking down fills her sink for dish washing with water she boils on the stove. In the winter she has the heating on but not usually for very long. I was wondering whether trying to use the boiler as little as possible actually has any...

I live in a rented apartment and one of the curtain rails has an issue in that the curtains can just slide right off. I'm guessing that the system was designed so that this doesn't happen. What seems to be missing? I have a couple of pictures (click to enlarge). Thanks. What is this piece?

My glass blender has a crack in it. I'm not sure when or how that occurred. It does not seem to leak but nonetheless, if anyone has any suggestions on how to repair the crack I'd be grateful.

I tried to use a router sled (with a bowl shaped router bit) to plane/thickness some pieces of timber salvaged from some pallets (I saw a cool project I wanted to emulate but without buying a thicknesser). The problem is that I would "plane" (can I call it that?) one side of the board and then...

I'm just trying to learn a little about woodworking but I'm having problems with my plane. I only own a single plane (it's an Axminister No. 7). My problem is that when I try to use it, the blade is pushed back in relation to the breaker so that the breaker ends up in front of the blade. I think...

I received an old Black & Decker Workmate free via Gumtree. It's usable but the handles have both broken. Does anyone have any idea how I could effect a repair? There are small holes through the diameter of the handle as shown in the photographs - they go all the way through. Can the old handle...

Manufacturing in China doesn't automatically mean poor quality; it depends on the quality control instigated by the company in question. Buying unbranded stuff on Ebay from China in my experience means little or no quality or control. A company has the opportunity to maintain quality if it...

Also, if you follow the link, it says the fires were limited to the products of one particular (now bankrupt) company. What did you enjoy about the links to the disasters?

The forum software appears to make provision for YouTube links but something must be broken. When typing a new message there is a YouTube button, two buttons to the right of the URL button. However, I can't figue out how to make it work. The following possibilities are incorrect...

Oh no! I posted the wrong link! I meant to post this one (the one before it in the playlist)!