Home DIY

Agreed, but my folks were originally trying to buy me a suit for a lot more.

You could always get a Karl Holtey.

Tried from the source yet?
Shipping might kill all the savings, I didn't check.
https://www.leevalley.com/en-ca/shop/tools/hand-tools/planes/block/47881-veritas-low-angle-block-plane

Googled, shat pants

Just been in the workshop to get the motorbike out for a quick spin and checked on my lie-Nielsen collection:-
Low angle block plane (with leather pouch)
Rabbit plane
Scraper plane (not sure I’ve used this)
Low angle jack plane
Large router plane
Bronze 4 1/2 smoothing plane

Looking at the prices now I might bring them into the house!

I use camellia oil to keep the rust at bay

Sounds a bit.... Teenage boy.

I just wipe my planes down with 3in1

Fair enough. Maybe it was just me then.

So fresh pants have just opened up as an option for a sort-of birthday stocking filler?

Would like to remove this platform in the garden - looks like about 10cm combined slabs/concrete laid on mud. Is it advisable to break it up with a sledgehammer or would a proper breaker be required?

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Depending on how solid it is I would get an sds and drill to create 4x3 slabs that you then put a bar under to lift. Then break those down into more manageable bits.

If that makes sense.

Ideally a two man job.

That does makes sense thanks - been looking for a reason to get an sds and it would be a better long term choice than hiring something more specialized.

Luckily the other 50 sqm of paving slabs in the garden were just slung straight on the ground!

I've always found breakers to be unnecessarily slow and loud on that sort of stuff.

Pickaxes just ping bits into your face.

Stitch drilling the joins would make it easy top split it into liftable chunks.

Using a bolster & lump hammer would keep all the bits together, and save on cleanup faff.

Stitch drilling

That's the phrase I was after.

hey folks - any chance on a tip for a good carpenter in north london/walthamstow?

I’d just slide a crowbar under the slabs and smash them with a sledgehammer. A breaker will be noisy, slow and take forever.

Yeah I'm torn between building one myself or buying off the shelf as I can then crack on with other projects. Maybe build my own in a few years...

I reckon a good long pry bar or even maybe a mattock will lift those without any real fuss. If it sinks into the ground just stick a brick or a spare slab under it.

Thanks all @TW @Trunkie @rhowe

Will gather up some levers and hammers and see where we end up

or put a picture on freecycle and see if anyone wants to remove them for you? loads of people want old slabs for shed bases etc.
potentially saves you the bother of destroying them and hiring a skip.

Will reducing the size of an extractor hood's vent pipe from 150mm to 100m at the point it exits the house cause problems, if 99% of the rest of the pipe run is 150mm?
Is it a lowest common denominator type thing?

Asking as there's a hole in the wall from the old mains powered but not above cooker extractor fan in the kitchen at the mo, and think it's that smaller than standard 100mm size.

Wouldn't have thought so

You'll restrict the flow of air so the extractor won't work as well. It'll still work though.

Has anyone had experience with Solar panels? With energy costs rising we're considering having some installed.

If I was putting solar panels in, Id use them only to heat a unvented cylinder. Absolutely pointless putting the money into the grid as they give you fuck all.

I was wondering if I could put some on the flat roof of our shed to do just this.

Probably make the money back in ten years or something

Need to trim down a bit of height from some end boards. What's the cleanest way to do this? I have some pull saws, though the blades need replacing to get the best results. Ican get a very clean line but rarely get a straight one on longer distances. I have a dewalt circular saw with a ripping blade I use for quickly chopping through thicker bits but again, a straight line over a long distance seems ambitious for my abilities.

In the near future I'll also need to scribe some other boards against a wonky wall.

What are my options:

1.
Get a finer blade for the circular saw like this:
https://www.screwfix.com/p/dewalt-extreme-circular-saw-blades-190-x-30mm-24t-3-pack/24169
or this:
https://www.screwfix.com/p/dewalt-tct-saw-blade-216-x-30mm-60t/8078v
and a guide rail like this:
https://www.screwfix.com/p/dewalt-dws5021-xj-1-x-1000mm-guide-rail/56652

2.
?

The floor I'm scribing to is pretty flat - with 5mm tolerance I'd say. The flooring I'm going to put down around is a layer of underlay, then 7mm cork so would cover up any imperfections at the bottom.