Home DIY

Which grit combination did you go for on the stone? I bought the Veritas system to sharpen my plane irons, which it does very well. It works well for wider chisels but smaller ones can slip around. Of course, they have a dedicated chisel attachment that centres smaller chisels on the guide but I think that’s extra.

For sharpening I have the unbranded versions of these:
https://amzn.to/3bcsdiI

400, 600, 1000 grits should work for most outside regrinding an edge. I decided to get 240, 600, 1200 as this works for me.

I follow this with a polish using autosol on leather or MDF depending on what I can find in the garage.

Takes under a minute per blade for regular re-sharpening. I'll get a tormek if I ever buy a lathe.

Blade guide I have the cheap one from b&q but usually freehand it.

220/600. The red and black. You always end up wanting more but that combination has worked out for a lot of professional use.

It's time consuming if you've damaged a cutting edge because the lower grit is not 'that' aggressive.

I do find it slips on the smaller Veritas plane blade I have. I'll have a look for the adaptor.

It makes a big difference when you have a reliable guide. The Tormek is one of those tools I have never regretted buying. There are cheaper versions available now, I guess a patent must have expired.

Bought one yesterday too, game changer

Thanks @nefarious @Airhead! The cost of the duo+guide are roughly where I'd ended up at in the "seems expensive but should last long enough that I'll forget about it" bracket.

For years at home/on site, I’ve been using a single sided Eze Lap followed by a leather ‘Power strop’ which is just a stack of leather discs on an arbor that goes in a drill, with some polishing compound the final buffing leaves a fantastic edge. I have a motley assortment of old Marples and Japanese chisels.
There’s a Tormek in my mate’s shop I use every now and then too.

I would recommend the power strop.
If they still make them, got mine from Tillgear.

Oh dear.
She’s obsessed.
In the bathroom this morning she pointed at the Screwfix catalogue and said ‘tool catalogue’ then looked through it trying to find the sanders.

Just turned 2!

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@absurdbird my 3 year old is the same, big fan of the tools.

Thats a lovely floor. Mind me asking what it is. Is it hardwood or wide engineered boards?

I just sent my 2 yr old nephew some PB Swiss stubby screwdrivers for his birthday. Not sure if I'm going to get in trouble with the parents as I'm not a parent and have no idea how dangerous a 2yr old can be with metal things. All I know is that he follows his grandad around shouting 'fixing! fixing!' so thought he best be equipped to actually help.

no idea how dangerous a 2yr old can be with metal things

Trust me nothing could go wrong

mini_com is very good at not hurting herself with real tools (will be 2 this Thursday). It's the damage she can do "fixing" other things in the house. Maybe follow it up with a voucher for a new telly/some painting and decorating.

Bosch do some very cool lookalike power tools. mini_com has almost exact replicas of my drill and electric screwdriver. Convincing to the point I have picked up her screwdriver instead of mine on a few occasions.

His older brother already has the drill!

@ILb

Has anyone bought/ built garage type shelving recently?

@hugo7 I think?

The one I bought was for a kids bedroom. It was extremely cheap and was almost the exact size we needed for the location.
See here: https://www.lfgss.com/comments/15874144/ and here: https://www.lfgss.com/comments/15899525/

I would say that it is perfectly usable if screwed into a wall, but dicey if not. So it depends on your requirements and how picky you are. It is currently holding up a load of photo alums, books and a printer out of children's reach and survived a 2yo having a cheeky climb.

Also I might sound stupid, but I didn't realise how short it would be as I was so focused on finding something with the right footprint, so you might want two to make 1 and a half - if that makes sense?

I second @andos here.

What's the floor? Ash?

nice flooring

Thanks guys
I think it must be a very flattering photo.
It actually looks pretty bad.
It’s a pine faced engineered board that I sanded the original lacquer finish off I did it the weekend Wills snd Kate were married and finished it with white osmo. In the intervening years it has been mopped and scrubbed so much that it is now just bare wood.
When my current program of renovations is complete (🤣) I’m planning on finishing it with lye and scandi mopped on soap finish.

Mini Bird’s elder brother (just turned 16!) used to follow me around with a similar toy tool kit.
At the time I told my mate (who runs a posh building firm) about it, he said ‘that’s no good you want to get him a corporate lawyer kit’

Edit; - he’s about to start Chemistry, Physics and 2 Maths A levels so I think he swerved the builder genes - although he’s great at digging a footing for a wall and mixing up render.

Nice! I didn't really know you could sand the lacquer off engineered flooring.

Maybe I'm looking at the wrong flooring suppliers but most of the samples I've had for engineered flooring don't seem to be flush edged which yours look to be. Most of an annoying rounded edge which looks too "engineered" ironically.

I didn't really know you could sand the lacquer off engineered flooring.

I used a Bona belt sander, they’re pretty gentle if you learn how to finesse them. The finish veneer needs to be thick, and not all engineered flooring is made equal.
I think there may have been a chamfer pre sanding. 🤷

Anyone know if there is a special name for this type of lipped o-ring for a push down bath plug.

The ones I ordered are just round and too small for the groove.

Cheers.

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Anyone know if there is a special name for this

I don’t. But I replaced just the pop up plug bit in my basin for £FA.

Like this. Check you size first.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/38mm-Replacement-Sink-Basin-Waste-Plug-Cap-Easy-Pop-Up-Click-Clack-Chrome-/273432051203?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286

Like @absurdbird says, it's unfortunately a false economy (in both time and £$€) trying to service easily replaceable parts. I am trying my best to repair rather than replace in my Reno, but some stuff feels like it's designed to be nigh on impossible to fix easily.

I've had to order new u groove bearings for a top hung door because it's easier than changing the track. Having to wait for them to arrive though.

I've done a lot more repairing in the last year, some good making too though.

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Yeah, sad.
Built in obsolescence is depressing.
Repairing your leaky kitchen mixer tap with a 20p O ring is fucking golden though.

The replacement parts or whole thing are so cheap (and often shit) that repair is pointless or impossible.
I called an appliance repair guy out to fix a Miele oven, he said it basically wasn’t worth the repair, I asked which he recommended- ‘the cheapest one that works, they’re all crap and break in 5 years’ he said with a devastated look.

I used to manage a 1929 apartment building in the States.
I was the live-in Super. 🙂
I could still buy parts for the concealed shower/bath mixer valves from the same company in Michigan that made them 70 years before; valve seats, washer jumpers etc.
I was keeping these 1930s bathrooms working.
Same with the apartment door locks, I could order new cylinders and whole mechanisms, exact matches for the originals.

Mind you that was 20 years ago, and things were very different then.