Home DIY

twin track

Very neat job.

^ What is eating half of the CD/radio cassette player? I cannot unsee it.

Good spot.

My guess is either a personal photo or some seriously shit CDs.

I tried to find on with LLL free-standing letters, but to no avail.

(I Google imaged it)

Was given a bit of marble at the weekend for the outdoor kitchen. Ordered some cladding and made a few final tweaks to this this eve… happy with the way it’s turned out so far.

1 Attachment

As @hugo7 says, twin track. Specifically Altra twin track from Ironmongery Direct.

I'll upload a photo after I finish fitting mine in a week or two (im awaiting the shelf boards which my father in law is kindly machining from redwood)

I have a dewalt but over killed it. You can get very neat smaller drills from dewalt. Make sure you include a battery AND a charger if you don't already have one.

For some reason, one of my local (Swiss) DIY stores has Makita LXT 5Ah batteries for the equivalent of about £60, which is cheaper than they seem to work out when bought as part of a tool set.

When I’ve been looking recently, £68~ was the cheapest I could find a 5ah makita battery. But then FFX had a sale and I nabbed 2x 6ah batteries for £149.

Be careful as there are lots of knock off makita batteries around - and while compatible, aren’t of the same quality and won’t last as long. I’m also unsure if they have the same overload protection.

I wasn’t sure about some of the sites selling the Makita batteries for £20 less than everyone else. Looked a bit suss.

The knock off batteries don’t give anything like the same run time. My brushless combi drill chewed through a 4ah knock off in about 30 mins.

But it doesn’t prevent pipe work from moving in the wall no matter what the regs say

Regs say "to protect the pipe from structural movement". Which is "from movement in the wall".

Not protecton of the pipe from movement within the wall.

Your original reply missed the important detail of not filling completely around the pipe. @sacredhart was correct in calling it.
The gas pipe has an end feed elbow extending into the sleeve, so whilst it's unlikely, it's still possibly a leak source now or in the future besides the pipe itself aging. If the proposed seal up is better sealed than the inside of the property, any gas will leak inside.
Unlikely a fire risk, as you need a decent flow of gas for a flame. But a slight leak build up can cause a house leveling explosion

Yeah, I’ve seen the knock offs. These are definitely real though, they’re from one of the biggest DIY chains.

Be careful as there are lots of knock off makita batteries around - and while compatible, aren’t of the same quality and won’t last as long. I’m also unsure if they have the same overload protection.

I have an LXT alike Lenoge branded 1.5ah battery.
There doesn't seem to be any low voltage protection built in, or its very low. The tools slow down and die, rather than stop while still working acceptably like the makita battery.

My first decent cordless set was a Dewalt Screwfix deal on a drill driver pair taking the now defunct 14v batteries. It came with just two batteries and at 1.5ah each, they quickly showed their limitations when I had to fit our deck. I upgraded after a few years to an 18v drill and driver with the fattest batteries and they now lie in wait for big jobs. But the drill driver I use most now is a little Milwaukee that takes the small batteries and which has interchangeable heads for getting into tight corners. It’s easy to underestimate the advantages of ‘handiness’ in a power tool. The lower voltage tools now deliver more than enough power for most jobs. Unless you’re constantly drilling into concrete.

Thanks for all the advice folks - excited to upgrade beyond Argos' cheapest!

Yep, I agree with this. I have the top whack Makita drill, affectionately known as a wrist breaker, so powerful that it comes with a foot long side handle to try and control it, I also have a decent 18v impact driver, however I find myself using my wifes 10v makita stuff for most things, surprising how much they can do.

If you’re starting from scratch, dewalt is the most cost effective way of getting good tools.

The joiner on our job has been using Erbauer for a couple of years and highly rated it.

But it doesn’t prevent pipe work from moving in the wall

No, pipe clips do that.

let’s talk real life her instead of theoreticals

Gas regs are reactive not proactive generally so there will have been real life incidents investigated which resulted in these regs.

You can disagree all you want

It's the regs and therefore the law that disagrees with you.

but even if he sealed it what’s it gonna do?(sic)

Potentially leak gas back into the building causing an explosion/ death.

I see far worse on the job regularly from “qualified engineers”

Not sure why you have used quotes you are either qualified or you aren't. Dont work wih those engineers then. And don't use them as your benchmark I would suggest.

wouldn’t be worrying about triviality like this.

This is a worrying statement given the points raised so far. The regs are law and to primarily protect life.

You are an example of the worst type of tradesperson. You don't know you limits, have no respect for the rules, law or the safety of your customers. And you are judging yourself against the worst work you see. Stay away from gas and leave it to the pros.

You’re one of the hero’s of the trade and us mortals aren’t worthy.

You’ve nit picked on something that is a triviality from a single point, while using a lot of what could happen. Since your such an amazing trade man you should have specifically answered the original point you understand the trade as well as I do and of the risk involved and what’s safe and work we do.

You’re last statement is nothing short of nonsense, but what ever makes you feel better.

This is the little beast I have.

Wanted one of these for ages, but due to a job change I don’t really have the need for one any more.

I got excited when Milwaukee brought this out:
https://www.bigredpowertools.co.uk/milwaukee-m12fddxkit-0x
But for some bizarre reason they put the forward/reverse switch on the top. Tbh this video sums it all up well and his other videos are great too - he’s one of the only tool reviewers who focusses on actual use over power numbers and garage tests.
https://youtu.be/mcXBdPVu8W0

Great review. I can see how the reverse switch on top would be annoying if you were using it all day every day for fine install work. But as a handy all purpose drill driver for the DIYer its power and price make it a no-brainer.

I assume they’ll make an undated version at some point and if it’s decent I’ll probably find it enough justification to jump on the m12 platform. But for now I must resist!

I have the CXS and TXS. Both great for the work I do but not something I would recommend for a DIY purchase because of the requirement for Centrotec bits and the limited chuck size/torque.

Festool have a mid sized percussion drill driver that's probably better for a 1 drill approach but then a reasonable collection of centrotec bits could be £300+ on top of the drill.

Is there a flat friendly wood saw / table for cutting accurate pieces? Something small and compact? Not sure what I'm asking...

I had to cut a shelf to size and ended up using a dremel... Let's just say it's not the cleanest of edges.