Home DIY

Oh yeah? Be interested to know more. I’d say my soldering is passable

I'm sure there's many reasons why they can fail, but if it appears completely dead it could be that the vibration has caused the very fine wire that forms the motor windings to break between the circuit board and the motor. There's a bend there that can be a weak spot. That wire can often be resoldered, although you may need to take one turn off the motor to have enough slack to do so. I've saved my Bosch this way, twice.

I’d go at it with nylon pads on a die grinder, down through the grits. An elbow saver.

To be honest if I had a tool that vibrated so much it broke itself I'd replace it with one that was better designed. Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome is a painful, life changing condition and one that better designed tools protect you against.

I do it by sanding from 120 - 400 grit with an orbital sander. The surface it leaves is like the normal surface of MDF and takes paint very easily.

I always knock the edges off too, very sharp mdf edges don't take paint well and chip easily.

I've been told in the past that burnishing it with a high grit sandpaper works but I can't see working through the grits like that would be quicker than preparation tape.

The tape lets you knock the edge off the corners. I also has the added benefit of providing a little protection when you're moving the sheets around before installation. I find the last point to be pretty invaluable as I do most of my cutting (apart from scribes etc) in my workshop and the tape makes the edges that little bit stronger and less prone to damage in transit.

I hadn't heard of it before. I guess it's new(ish). Certainly the burnishing is time consuming and the equipment is bulky when you consider the vacuum as well. I should give the tape a try sometime.

Door hanging question time again!

(Which basically means "help me, @Bobbo, I don't know what I'm doing, in spite of your really useful post")

I'm hanging a solid core blank fire door in a steel frame.

The frame is plumb. ish. To the extent that I can't change anything about it anyway.

The door is big & heavy, even when I cut it down to size - I'll probably be screwing handles onto it to make it easier to move around.

I'm planning on following Bobbo's guide, except I am probably not going to bother recessing the hinges in the door (and definitely not in the steel).

My question is - at what point should I drill the frame? I'll be using Tek screws, which I could drive straight through, although a small guide hole would help with accuracy.

Should I attach the hinges to the door, then find a way to support it so that the frame is lined up?

I usually do it the other way around. Once you can get the blank in the frame, situate the hinges on the door edge and use a crowbar or pry to lift the door until you can mark the hinge positions on the frame edge. Then remove the hinges and use them as a template for your pilot holes. Now put them back on the door edge, line the door up with the frame, use a crowbar or pry to lift it (by standing on it). Fix the hinge to the frame edge.

This works better if your hinges are recessed in the door edge at least because you otherwise need the door + full width of the hinge to fit in the frame opening.

I've got some stainless steel cabinet legs that I want to paint black. From what I've read stainless steel needs to properly primed first so looking at getting some Etch primer and then a satin black car paint from Halfords. Anyone done something similar and will the above do the job?

To be fair, the wire that is breaking is about the thickness of a human hair. I think it just work-hardens as the result of millions of tiny movements and then fractures. TBH, I think those tools are incredibly useful for some things, but there are better tools for most things and they're also incredibly noisy, so I don't use mine much.

Aha! @Trunkie I found the repair vid, although it's in Russian. @Bobbo the broken wire is shown at about 2:30.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQekVmqcA9s

Anyone heard of or used 'excel' power tools before? Contemplating a gamble on this: https://tools4trade.co.uk/products/excel-165mm-plunge-saw-kit-1200w-240v-with-2-x-700mm-guide-rail

At that price, I would go with the Mac Allister. The Excel only has two knobs on the base, compared to 4, which makes me think there is no adjustment to take up the play in how it sits on the rails. You want a snug fit but still able to slide along them. With no adjustment, it'll either be too stiff, and you'll shift the track mid cut. Or it will be too loose, and the saw will wobble about on the rails, meaning no straight cuts. Both outcomes resulting in potentially dangerous kick back from the blade catching in the cut if not straight enough.

https://www.diy.com/departments/mac-allister-1200w-220-240v-165mm-corded-plunge-saw-msps1200/3663602797579_BQ.prd

Plus, if it breaks or is shit, you can walk back into B&Q and dump it on the customer service desk.

Sigh. Fresh coat of paint after primer/sealant has just pulled all the old paint off. Think we'll have to take this wall back to plaster, fix our leaky gutter, let it dry for like a year and then repaint. Anyone else had this happen to them?

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Sometimes the plaster was painted too soon after plastering and the paint is not properly bonded with the wall. If this is the case you can use a sharp scraper and remove the paint leaving just the plaster. It does need to be dry before you try to paint it again though so you are right about fixing any exterior problems and waiting for it to dry.

I'd not even considered the need for multiple knobs

Just a generic, would work out who makes it (insert name of random Chinese factory?) and see if you can find reviews on the other versions of it.
Track saws are super handy. Generally with cheaper saws, so long as it works and your not expecting commerical hours of use out of it, will be fine. Just change the likely naff blade it comes with for a decent one. Someone on here recommended some dewalt extreme blades for a rip snorter, life changing, so much quicker, quieter, no kick backs and a cleaner cut.

Always more knobs. I didn't either until I realised what they were for on my Titan. Made it much better once dialled in. Not before I ruined the rubber edging strip on the track though.

Depending what look you want Simonez(sp?) Tough Black doesn't need a primer and is... well tough.

It's the sort of stuff bull bars on cars are painted with so if you want a glass-like finish it's probably not the right choice.

You obviously still need to key the surface and clean thoroughly.

I want a kind of black anodised look so was thinking of a satin finish car paint. Doesn't necessarily need to be super tough.

Mainly suggested it as you don't need primer.

But if it doesn't need to be tough and you have a particular finish in mind, maybe consider vinyl wrap.

looking at getting some Etch primer and then a satin black car paint from Halfords.

Should be fine. UPol #8 acid etch primer would work fine with stainless and it's available from Halfords. It's a bit evil though, so outside with a mask would be best. If the stainless is polished it'd be worth giving it a key first too with some abrasives.

On the MacAlister (and the identical Titan) the two outer knobs adjust the track clearance, the front inside one folds out an anti-tilt device to keep the saw on the track when doing angled cuts, and the rear inside one is a crude anti-kickback device that most people immediately remove because it is bloody annoying.

Yeah i just watched pete millards review - seems pretty good (even though he reviewed it £80 just a couple of years ago...)