Tools you wish you'd bought sooner...
Discussion
They are responsible for my newfound skill - hanging doors. I had a joiner round to hang one, he had a couple of those bags, and showed me exactly how to do it. It took him maybe 15 minutes and £35 to do it - nothing but a chisel, air wedges, and a hand wood plane. Solid oak door.
Now I can actually do it myself - it leaves dust and wood chips everywhere, but I can now get a very nice fit - before I had stopped even trying because it always ended up a total mess.
But I asked if he was OK with me watching and if he could tell me what he was doing and why, and honestly the £35 was worth it just for the lesson.
A sharp chisel, a sharp plane (I use a cordless one), and a couple of air wedges, and Bob is your dusty, covered in wood shavings uncle.
Now I can actually do it myself - it leaves dust and wood chips everywhere, but I can now get a very nice fit - before I had stopped even trying because it always ended up a total mess.
But I asked if he was OK with me watching and if he could tell me what he was doing and why, and honestly the £35 was worth it just for the lesson.
A sharp chisel, a sharp plane (I use a cordless one), and a couple of air wedges, and Bob is your dusty, covered in wood shavings uncle.
guindilias said:
They are responsible for my newfound skill - hanging doors. I had a joiner round to hang one, he had a couple of those bags, and showed me exactly how to do it. It took him maybe 15 minutes and £35 to do it - nothing but a chisel, air wedges, and a hand wood plane. Solid oak door.
Now I can actually do it myself - it leaves dust and wood chips everywhere, but I can now get a very nice fit - before I had stopped even trying because it always ended up a total mess.
But I asked if he was OK with me watching and if he could tell me what he was doing and why, and honestly the £35 was worth it just for the lesson.
A sharp chisel, a sharp plane (I use a cordless one), and a couple of air wedges, and Bob is your dusty, covered in wood shavings uncle.
I am going to sound like a right plonker here but I picked it up and started to think where it would be useful. At no point did i think "these will be great for the 8 doors i am installing that I have on my trolley here."Now I can actually do it myself - it leaves dust and wood chips everywhere, but I can now get a very nice fit - before I had stopped even trying because it always ended up a total mess.
But I asked if he was OK with me watching and if he could tell me what he was doing and why, and honestly the £35 was worth it just for the lesson.
A sharp chisel, a sharp plane (I use a cordless one), and a couple of air wedges, and Bob is your dusty, covered in wood shavings uncle.
So I'm gonna head back for a couple of them before I start. Sound perfect for the job.
He also had one of these for the initial rough fit - https://www.screwfix.com/p/board-door-lifter/20360
Does what it says, lifts the door so you can scribe the hinge recesses and get a good idea of what needs planed.
Does what it says, lifts the door so you can scribe the hinge recesses and get a good idea of what needs planed.
Pheo said:
smack said:
A mate in the States just posted a new ad for a ladder:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RI2BnJ3W1vE
Warning, contains violent use of a ladder.
What a brilliant ad! Also clever ladder, that makes even more sense over here where we have smaller homes!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RI2BnJ3W1vE
Warning, contains violent use of a ladder.
Someone could make a few quid importing them into the UK and selling them here I reckon!
Drumroll said:
Saw an AA patrolman use one to open up the top of a door to get a wire in to unlock the door. The danger is in distorting the door you can break the glass.
AA man bent BOTH doors on our MK5 Golf after we locked the keys in. I ended up having to break the window anyway as the keys were in the boot and the car was deadlocked so no pulling the door handles. After that when it rained it pissed water in from the door frames. Ende dup having to take out the glass and bend them back 
Those air wedges are great. I've used them several times for hanging doors, and once even lifted a wardrobe with them! I was fitting new laminate flooring in a woman's bedroom. Removing the solid wood triple wardrobe from the room was not really an option (same went for the massive metal bedstead as well)...
Anyway, got so far on with the flooring then slid the wedges under the wardrobe, lifted it just enough to stick adhesive felt pads under the feet and slowly but surely manoeuvred it up onto the new flooring and carefully slid it into position. Amazing how resourceful you sometimes have to be when working on your own, and equipment like this can be a real godsend.
Anyway, got so far on with the flooring then slid the wedges under the wardrobe, lifted it just enough to stick adhesive felt pads under the feet and slowly but surely manoeuvred it up onto the new flooring and carefully slid it into position. Amazing how resourceful you sometimes have to be when working on your own, and equipment like this can be a real godsend.
shih tzu faced said:
Bill said:
Well, I've finally worked out what the fuss about multitools is....
When you need one, you just need one and nothing else will do! Extremely useful and loads of different attachments for jobs you never even knew needed doing 
Teddy Lop said:
I have similar to this on the van:
https://www.laddersandaccess.co.uk/product/werner-...
Its great because its mostly all the ladders you need in one, but be warned debris can get in the sliders and mechanisms so wouldn't recommend it for plastering etc. Also you can buy several single purpose ladders for the same price so it's mainly saving van space that earns its keep.
Brilliant ladder. Wonder how much postage from the US would cost...https://www.laddersandaccess.co.uk/product/werner-...
Its great because its mostly all the ladders you need in one, but be warned debris can get in the sliders and mechanisms so wouldn't recommend it for plastering etc. Also you can buy several single purpose ladders for the same price so it's mainly saving van space that earns its keep.
Whilst wondering that, I found this: https://www.laddersandscaffoldtowers.co.uk/acatalo... which looked good value - has anyone tried one?
skwdenyer said:
Brilliant ladder. Wonder how much postage from the US would cost...
Whilst wondering that, I found this: https://www.laddersandscaffoldtowers.co.uk/acatalo... which looked good value - has anyone tried one?
I've tried one, although not with the optional working platform.Whilst wondering that, I found this: https://www.laddersandscaffoldtowers.co.uk/acatalo... which looked good value - has anyone tried one?
Found it a useful ladder but quite unwieldy for use indoors. The stabilising bars at the bottom only just fitted on the staircase I was working on which made it quite awkward. The photo shows them on an indoor staircase that is obviously very wide which isn't the case in most UK houses. Probably more suited to outdoors I would say, or indoor areas where you have plenty of space around you. It was nice and stable in use though, and got me into places I would have struggled with otherwise.
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