Home DIY

I blame that YouTube dude who restores rusty shit.

Good to have an endorsement for those Irwins.

On the subject of tools, this seems like a very good price.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/KNIPEX-00-20-11-Assembly/dp/B001094GLY/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=KNIPEX+Assembly+Set+00+20+11&qid=1634649747&qsid=262-2650228-4352735&sr=8-1&sres=B001094GLY%2CB00403UBWA%2CB07VCBFDLL%2CB01DJWWKM6%2CB00V3A2YVY%2CB00ID7DEBO%2CB003A63U5S%2CB085WCJ8CB%2CB005EXNT2Y%2CB0001D9J08%2CB01M7PIQBO%2CB06W9NRKR5%2CB00DRVML4W%2CB07VCBFSVX%2CB0052DVYF0%2CB06X95WY1M%2CB0159O0ZRE%2CB005KH87IA%2CB005EXNT38%2CB06X1FGPJ9&srpt=PLIERS

They’re much better out of the box than the Magnusson ones you mentioned. Lidl do a better set than the Magnusson one.

Odd paving issue. We had some paving done a while ago and it was a good job. This year the slabs have been turning green. This isn’t overly unusual but the speed of the green appearing has been. I power washed the slabs and the green appeared back within a few weeks. It is oddly patchy and I cannot work what is doing it and why it is patchy. The new paving is now starting to be affected which is very annoying. The pics should show the new and old paving.
I have hypochlorite and have used it in the past but it’s the speed of the green appearing that has me confused. Any ideas why this is happening and any ideas how to stop it?
I’m not overly keen on using hypochlorite regularly as we have a cat.

4 Attachments

That’s a hard no from the cat.

@Sharkstar you shamed me into trying to cleaning the poor fellow up.

Regretting my 400/1000 whetstone choice now as I could really do with something coarser to start. But hey-ho work with what you got.

Still a way to go. But better.

4 Attachments

I have this set, upgraded years back from whatever shitty pliers I had at the time. Honestly a game changer, the side cutters are still sharp AF and the jaws completely undamaged. The long nose pliers are still straight as, and have good holding power (shit ones bend at the tips and you can’t use them delicately).

Annoyingly now I have to get insulated tools on top of these.

I have the Irwin Marples split proof bevelled chisel set. “Not as good as they used to be” according to the old blokes in the workshop but they said that of almost everything. They sharpen and hold their edge more than well enough for anything I’ve ever used them for.

Flattening the back is key for any chisel. Didn’t take too long with the set IIRC.

Cementitious paving slabs are cheap.
They have a myriad of tiny surface hollows, which form a great habitat for algae.

You might be able to prevent re-growth with severe power washing followed by
applications of a sealer. Any sealer readily available through B&Q or equivalents,
is likely to give a pretty thin coating, densely trafficked areas will soon wear through.

Hypochlorite would prevent algae forming I suspect but it isn’t good for the feline.
Are there any cat friendly alternatives?

Everything steel looks better without rust, unless you’re a steampunk fan. Did you get it off with formic acid? Wild guess based on the finish.

Flattening backs on rough-machined chisels is a bit soul destroying. I use an Atoma coarse diamond stone now which makes it quicker.

With hypochlorite it's a function of contact time and concentration of the hypo.
I suspect you are unable to kill off the deeper embedded algae, which then finds a protective surface free of any other life forms.

There used to be an industrial biocide, Tego51, that was preferred by Catteries, as it was cat-compatible.
As far as I know the company that sold Tego51 has been sold at least twice since I knew them. Maybe check the Diversey UK website to see if it is still available or has been superceded.

Thanks for that. I will have a look. Ideally I would like to clean them and seal them but I have doubts about any sealing.

Just ordered £400 of stuff to do a quality electrical installation in the shed with underfloor heating, spotlights, sockets, outdoor sockets, outdoor lighting. Exciting times. I have notified LABC who said they'd send out an electrician to test the work. Hopefully it all goes smoothly. Anyone ever done the DIY electrical notification thing before?

Did you get it off with formic acid?

Citric acid and a toothbrush. Although I left it in a bit longer than planned.

Decided to fix some 180 to my work mate which made better progress on the back. So will try and have another sesh on that then go back to the whetstone.

Not sure why I'm bothering. Would be quicker to drive to Screwfix.

Look after it and keep it sharp and it will always be useful.

I was doing a bit of tidying in my office workshop yesterday and found a honing guide you are welcome to have if you want it. One of those where you set the bevel angle using the protrusion length of the chisel through the jaws.

As long as you could post that'd be really cool. I'm doing full time childcare at the moment and live outside London, so can't really pick things up that easily anymore.

No problem. I’ll find a jiffy bag for it. PM me with your address.

The old lift while opening trick doesn't seem to apply to ikea drawers. Any idea how to remove non-destructively?

I haven't yet found a YouTube video that matches this runner style.

1 Attachment

The ones at ours have a catch underneath the runners next to the front?

There's this catch (edit: maybe not a catch?) either side but it releases nothing the ways I'm doing it.

1 Attachment

Looks like this? https://www.google.com/search?q=removing+ikea+drawers+kitchen&oq=removing+ikea+drawers+kitchen&aqs=chrome..69i57.6396j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#kpvalbx=_TGt1YY6iFrLmgwfoqJOIDA26