Home DIY

That is beautiful and relaxing.

Nice

That's a render - also they are making the stretchers/aprons and legs as separate pieces so need joinery to hold it together - probs domino's or dowels - or maybe they are making a tenon/lap joint thing with the layers of ply (which is an argument for that layered element construction)

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We've got a Howden's kitchen. Happy with it, quality seems good, wasn't too expensive.

The obvious problem is having to buy it through a trade. OK if you've got a friendly builder, but they are very opaque on pricing and quotes seem to vary constantly based on whim from what I've read.

I didn't know this when we got ours but I don't think we got ripped off.

I'm considering them for our next place as the cabinets come pre-built which is a bonus.

Cheers Fox useful info. The guy from Howdens came to measure up today and he used to work for Wren so you can guess which way he was leaning. Interestingly he said Howdens don't work on commission.

Trying to figure out the best spot for the vice is. I'm right handed and it has a swivel base.

Two spots are the left hand corner or 4/5ths of the way along to the right. I'm probably just overthinking things but a man needs a hobby. The corner would give me more options on where to stand but just have the feeling it would also be in the way more.

Is there anything to consider or a general rule I'm not aware of?

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I like to situate mine so that I can clamp a long piece in it on either side. Obviously not everyone has the luxury of that much space.

Not sure if that's a composite image rather than a photo

The pattern in the ply looks a little repetitive, making me think composite.

I'm actually considering just photoshopping my desktop too. I'm gluing in between Teams calls at the moment.

Anyone have a 1/2 to 1/4 inch collet for a router that they don't want?

Bauker/toolstation have given me an adaptor that doesn't fit/work...

I have been umming over this for a year, I figured that base allows for pegs/bolts and therefore a couple of positionsstations could be accommodated.

Swapping out a Yale cylinder lock. Easy job really, unless the cylinder is stuck to the existing cylinder pull (and replacing it without a cylinder pull would be fugly).

Of course, in the few days it'll take me to source a new cylinder pull (ordered one from eBay just in case) I bet the cylinder gives out and we're locked in/out.

That looks really nice. Once I started doing them that way it made sense :)

Did the new cylinder not come with a plain, round bezel (the one I just replaced did)? Fit that until the pull comes? Or do you have no other way of pulling the door shut?

I say this, as if you've bought from eBay, the Royal Mail delays mean I have about 7 items now outstanding going back to 9th Jan.

It did, and I'll fit that if I end up with no choice, but I'll wait it out as it'll look ugly otherwise.

I was only spurred into doing this as cylinder on the outer door (which we share with the upstairs flat) stopped working earlier this week and my upstairs neighbour fixed it and it reminded me that the cylinder on our own front door is a bit sticky. I'd expected the existing cylinder to not be wedged into the cylinder pull and I'd be able to reuse it.

No problems with Royal Mail for me, other things ordered have arrived on time, this one is due Friday so we'll see.

Also all of the local locksmiths / key-cutters were closed today so we (in our flat) are still sharing a single key (not that this is much of a problem in Corona-times).

the reason howdens quotes vary so much is that they leave it up to the builder to put their cut on top. So howdens charges the builder a specific amount, then the builder adds their fees on top, but unless you have a very good relationship with the builder, you never really know how much you're paying for the materials and how much is for labour.

I watched exactly the same video before embarking on our rewire - ended up finding the best result for the lath was accurately cutting box hole so that the box sits tight in it, then using expandable foam. Spraying lots of water first so you get a really strong adhesion with the foam and also pullin the cables pre-foam.

Once hard, cut back the foam to below the surface and filler.

Our flat is approximately 60% foam now. The rest is filler....

I have experience of fitting both

Quality wise I have had many more issues with Wren than Howdens. You also have the added headache (from a fitters perspective) that once you have identified an issue you have to wait for a replacement, with Howdens you just take it to your local depot and sort out the return on the way in the following morning. On one or two occasions the defective part from Wren has been replaced with another defective part multiple times which was a major arse ache for me and my clients.

Overall I would go with Howdens. But if there is a style you like from wren it will still be good there just may be some more bumps along the way.

How old is the house?

Old coal gas pipe?

For a wood working work bench you generally put the vise on the side you normally plane towards. Only vise I Have that is anything like yours is freestanding for blacksmithing.

The obvious problem is having to buy it through a trade. OK if you've got a friendly builder, but they are very opaque on pricing and quotes seem to vary constantly based on whim from what I've read.

Pricing is dependant on how much the tradesman uses Howdens and how good they are at flirting with whoever is on the desk when they place the order. The guys who use them the most get the biggest discount its also worth considering what their markup is - some guys will have a ridiculous mark up. Ask to see the Howdens invoice generally speaking if they are taking the piss they will be cagey about showing it to you.

I have a spare ¼" collet that fits a ½" router. PM me and we can arrange to post it if you want.

An adaptor? Even if it worked I'd be VERY worried about using it.

Have you tried a new sponge?

This. I used a builder who had just done a massive order with magnet and they did a ‘deal’ on a few extra cabinets for me. It was fractionally more expensive than IKEA I had spec’d and supposedly easier for them to install / better quality. I don’t think it was or is but I went with it for ease.

Plane towards? Ok, the vice was a Christmas present so haven't got round to doing anything with it yet so will have a think.
Cheers for the pointers on Howdens Vs Wren. I heard there had been issues with fitters at wren being of questionable quality, some great and some not so great. The builder has been using Howdens for years so he should get a discount. As my Dad has used him amd.recommended him hopefully he won't be sticking too much on

Right handedness probably isn't much of a consideration with an engineering type vise?
Personally I'd avoid 4/5 from the left as it looks like there is limited space, which might be an issue with a long workpiece.
Back in the 1980s there were a lot of 'conversions' of school woodwork benches to mixed material CDT by bolting an engineering vise to each end. It didn't seem to be a problem for either left or right handed students, but having a wall or cupboard (or another pupil) in the way was more of a problem.
Fitting wood vises to metalwork benches was more problematic, but assuming 1/4 of students were left handed seemed to work given 1/2 were equally useless with either hand...