Archive for January, 2016

Learning a new skill – Welding

Learning a new skill - Welding

Perhaps you had a New Year’s resolution to learn a new skill such as welding, there’s a few courses and classes you can take. Once you have completed your welder training, you still have plenty to learn. Much of your

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Chris Edwards on Wood Turning

Chris Edwards on Wood Turning

Today’s guest interviewee is Chris Edwards a wood turner from my old home town of Bath. Chris makes furniture, lamps and candlesticks from a variety of woods, such as sustainably source English walnut, Burr Oak from the Stourhead estate and

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Drills only used for 10 minutes

Drills only used for 10 minutes

Whilst listening to the Restart Project podcast I heard a comment that the average drill is only used for 10 minutes in it’s lifetime and hence was a prime candidate for a sharing economy approach to tools. Given that I

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Repoussé Medal

Repoussé Medal

I’ve started reading on a new metalworking technique, new for me that is, the technique is a few thousand years old. That technique is “Repoussé” which is forming shapes in sheet metal by pushing from the reverse. It is often

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Abandoned Projects?

Abandoned Projects?

A twitter discussion with Inderpreet Singh about an ever increasing pile of shelved projects lead me to ask: Question: When is it ok to abandon a project? Here were the responses: Boris Adryan …when the cost/benefit ratio is extremely skewed

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A study in plywood, Obelisk #3

A study in plywood, Obelisk #3

In the Summer of 2014, I was sorting some wood in the shed and noticed the lovely grain on some of the offcuts of plywood. One piece was a strange obelisk like shape and was not large enough to make

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New tools

New tools

For Christmas I received a generous gift of a pocket hole jig, drill and clamp. Unfortunately the provided depth stop was the wrong size as it was intended for a much smaller drill. Rather than send that back I thought

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