A common theme coming through here - either everything is done by somebody else (that's my approach) or everything is tackled as DIY with some exceptions, predominately plastering!
I understand how things are done in terms of carpentry, bricklaying and the circuit theory for electrics and plumbing - but I'm just no good at it. It is, however, mostly common sense applied with knowledge.
Plastering on the other hand is a dark, mystical art - how the hell do they do that???
Good thread, I'm certainly not the best hoping I can learn as still a bit younger than most of you lot
Got someone to do the plumbing recently but got a problems with some electrics. I know it's dangerous so reluctant to try it myself. Might take a look at few of the videos and then decide.
I'll give most things a try except serious electrical and any gas, hate bodges tho so if its beyond me I go elsewhere.
So I have a rangemaster oven with a cracked glass top, and the replacement top, but can find nothing on the internet about swapping it over.
What would you do?
Appreciate that it's clearly too late but based on my recent experience, don't buy a rangemaster in the first place. Crap product trading on an established name. Poor build quality and not fit for purpose.
Utter useless at pretty much everything. Can't even take out a finance loan agreement without cocking that up (currently on hold and listening to 15 mins of classical music)
I'll have a go at most things but know my limits. Way back when I was an apprentice the EITB thought it a good idea to teach us a bit of electrical installation. At the end of the year I got C&G Part 1 in it. As far as I know it doesn't really qualify me in the slightest to do anything electrical but I know not to bodge and if in doubt leave to my brother in-law, who's a spark.
I did a plastering course with Able Skills in Dartford. I always thought it a black art but after doing the course I found out it was one of the most knackering jobs known to man. A bag of multi is 20KG you will need more than one bag to do a room or ceiling that bag get considerably heavier when mixed, then you have to spread that mix over the walls and repeat for a top coat. Also an incredible amount of clearing up. You need arms like Pop-Eye doing that for a living. I'd starve if at I had to that for job but I quite like skimming a wall or ceiling from time to time, very satisfying when finished.
I also have a couple of "O" Levels, (proper school qualifications for the younger ones reading), in woodwork and metalwork which come in handy when I want to make a wooden box of no particular use or a crap ashtray.
I'll have a go at most things but know my limits. Way back when I was an apprentice the EITB thought it a good idea to teach us a bit of electrical installation. At the end of the year I got C&G Part 1 in it. As far as I know it doesn't really qualify me in the slightest to do anything electrical but I know not to bodge and if in doubt leave to my brother in-law, who's a spark.
I did a plastering course with Able Skills in Dartford. I always thought it a black art but after doing the course I found out it was one of the most knackering jobs known to man. A bag of multi is 20KG you will need more than one bag to do a room or ceiling that bag get considerably heavier when mixed, then you have to spread that mix over the walls and repeat for a top coat. Also an incredible amount of clearing up. You need arms like Pop-Eye doing that for a living. I'd starve if at I had to that for job but I quite like skimming a wall or ceiling from time to time, very satisfying when finished.
I also have a couple of "O" Levels, (proper school qualifications for the younger ones reading), in woodwork and metalwork which come in handy when I want to make a wooden box of no particular use or a crap ashtray.
I'll have a go at most things but know my limits. Way back when I was an apprentice the EITB thought it a good idea to teach us a bit of electrical installation. At the end of the year I got C&G Part 1 in it. As far as I know it doesn't really qualify me in the slightest to do anything electrical but I know not to bodge and if in doubt leave to my brother in-law, who's a spark.
I did a plastering course with Able Skills in Dartford. I always thought it a black art but after doing the course I found out it was one of the most knackering jobs known to man. A bag of multi is 20KG you will need more than one bag to do a room or ceiling that bag get considerably heavier when mixed, then you have to spread that mix over the walls and repeat for a top coat. Also an incredible amount of clearing up. You need arms like Pop-Eye doing that for a living. I'd starve if at I had to that for job but I quite like skimming a wall or ceiling from time to time, very satisfying when finished.
I also have a couple of "O" Levels, (proper school qualifications for the younger ones reading), in woodwork and metalwork which come in handy when I want to make a wooden box of no particular use or a crap ashtray.
Ever thought of becoming a funeral director?
I'd just made a cup of coffee when I read that. Glad its too hot to drink, I'd of snorted all over my key board.
Utter useless at pretty much everything. Can't even take out a finance loan agreement without cocking that up (currently on hold and listening to 15 mins of classical music)
I was trying to book a holiday to Holland yesterday. They give you the sound of a song bird warbling in a forest, while you are on hold. After 15 minutes of it I was imagining taking out the bird with a catapult......
Still live at home so Dad tends to fix most things, i suspect i will be next to useless when i move out next year. Have got myself a 3d printer in the last few months so am looking forward to attempting to fix things by modelling and printing out the replacement parts
I'll have a go at most things but know my limits. Way back when I was an apprentice the EITB thought it a good idea to teach us a bit of electrical installation. At the end of the year I got C&G Part 1 in it. As far as I know it doesn't really qualify me in the slightest to do anything electrical but I know not to bodge and if in doubt leave to my brother in-law, who's a spark.
I did a plastering course with Able Skills in Dartford. I always thought it a black art but after doing the course I found out it was one of the most knackering jobs known to man. A bag of multi is 20KG you will need more than one bag to do a room or ceiling that bag get considerably heavier when mixed, then you have to spread that mix over the walls and repeat for a top coat. Also an incredible amount of clearing up. You need arms like Pop-Eye doing that for a living. I'd starve if at I had to that for job but I quite like skimming a wall or ceiling from time to time, very satisfying when finished.
I also have a couple of "O" Levels, (proper school qualifications for the younger ones reading), in woodwork and metalwork which come in handy when I want to make a wooden box of no particular use or a crap ashtray.
I do remember this at school, hammering a 6 inch circle of copper for hours on end, on the back of a sand filled leather bag, with a ball pein hammer. I began to lose the will to live and go to school about this time. By the time I'd finished the ash tray I think everyone had given up smoking.
I am still wondering how I take this forward in my life!
I'll have a go at most things but know my limits. Way back when I was an apprentice the EITB thought it a good idea to teach us a bit of electrical installation. At the end of the year I got C&G Part 1 in it. As far as I know it doesn't really qualify me in the slightest to do anything electrical but I know not to bodge and if in doubt leave to my brother in-law, who's a spark.
I did a plastering course with Able Skills in Dartford. I always thought it a black art but after doing the course I found out it was one of the most knackering jobs known to man. A bag of multi is 20KG you will need more than one bag to do a room or ceiling that bag get considerably heavier when mixed, then you have to spread that mix over the walls and repeat for a top coat. Also an incredible amount of clearing up. You need arms like Pop-Eye doing that for a living. I'd starve if at I had to that for job but I quite like skimming a wall or ceiling from time to time, very satisfying when finished.
I also have a couple of "O" Levels, (proper school qualifications for the younger ones reading), in woodwork and metalwork which come in handy when I want to make a wooden box of no particular use or a crap ashtray.
I do remember this at school, hammering a 6 inch circle of copper for hours on end, on the back of a sand filled leather bag, with a ball pein hammer. I began to lose the will to live and go to school about this time. By the time I'd finished the ash tray I think everyone had given up smoking.
I am still wondering how I take this forward in my life!
Memories are flooding back - particularly woodwork.
The first one that springs to mind is when I attempted to make one of those different coloured block fruit bowls. I meticulously assembled the thing, glued everything in place, mounted it on the lathe and offered up the chisel to start smoothing everything. The bloody thing shattered into several pieces, in fact the same number of pieces as blocks that I had used.
The other example was a major project in the second year at secondary school (thankfully I could drop woodwork at the end of that year and focus on engineering). I had this wonderful idea of making my mum a tea trolley. I designed it (based on one I saw in a shop) with a top and a middle shelf, four legs and castors to move it about. But I couldn't get it to stand without wobbling, so I took a bit off one leg, then tried it. Still wobbled so I took a bit off another leg. Still wobbled. I continued until I managed to get it all level - trouble was the top was now only about18 inches off the floor! I wish I had gone for the three legged approach!
I'll have a go at most things but know my limits. Way back when I was an apprentice the EITB thought it a good idea to teach us a bit of electrical installation. At the end of the year I got C&G Part 1 in it. As far as I know it doesn't really qualify me in the slightest to do anything electrical but I know not to bodge and if in doubt leave to my brother in-law, who's a spark.
I did a plastering course with Able Skills in Dartford. I always thought it a black art but after doing the course I found out it was one of the most knackering jobs known to man. A bag of multi is 20KG you will need more than one bag to do a room or ceiling that bag get considerably heavier when mixed, then you have to spread that mix over the walls and repeat for a top coat. Also an incredible amount of clearing up. You need arms like Pop-Eye doing that for a living. I'd starve if at I had to that for job but I quite like skimming a wall or ceiling from time to time, very satisfying when finished.
I also have a couple of "O" Levels, (proper school qualifications for the younger ones reading), in woodwork and metalwork which come in handy when I want to make a wooden box of no particular use or a crap ashtray.
I do remember this at school, hammering a 6 inch circle of copper for hours on end, on the back of a sand filled leather bag, with a ball pein hammer. I began to lose the will to live and go to school about this time. By the time I'd finished the ash tray I think everyone had given up smoking.
I am still wondering how I take this forward in my life!
I remember the hours of pointless hammering too. I swear we had weeks of that followed by weeks of buffing it up. My mother has still got the ashtray I made her. None of my family smoked so I had to call my one a peanut dish. I also made a tea pot stand made from scaffold tubes cut and brazed together to form a base. It looked as bad as it sounds. We then progressed to making a tea caddy spoon, brass handle and a copper bit soldered on to form the bowl. That was awful as well.
Pretty useless at DIY but as I'm dad and the only male in the house I am the fountain of all Home Dec knowledge. If we get experts in then I will do the prep for the room. I can fill holes, sand floors and I'm fantastic at knocking down walls.
With the modern age of equality upon us, I was getting a bit sick of doing all the prep work. Eventually the wife noticed and offered to strip wallpaper from a bedroom. Within 5 minutes of starting with the wallpaper steam machine she had tripped the electrics, busted the machine and almost electrocuted herself as she was holding the steamer upside down!
I made a clock which I still had until the wife decided, rightfully, it was disgusting. Still kept better time than the shitty dun elm mill ones she keeps giving chances to that go through batteries like I don't know what and fail at their primary function of time keeping.
I also made an ashtray in pottery or whatever it was called in the 90's as well as some truly unique and I'm proud to say genuinely beautiful goblets and flower vases. They got chucked after using them as a stash vessel at my parents house.
My masterpiece though, my tour de force was a Charlton Athletic key ring made out of not a lot of copper and survived until it found it's way into the pile of stuff to be flogged at the last bootsale we did. Got a quid for it
I'll have a go at most things but know my limits. Way back when I was an apprentice the EITB thought it a good idea to teach us a bit of electrical installation. At the end of the year I got C&G Part 1 in it. As far as I know it doesn't really qualify me in the slightest to do anything electrical but I know not to bodge and if in doubt leave to my brother in-law, who's a spark.
I did a plastering course with Able Skills in Dartford. I always thought it a black art but after doing the course I found out it was one of the most knackering jobs known to man. A bag of multi is 20KG you will need more than one bag to do a room or ceiling that bag get considerably heavier when mixed, then you have to spread that mix over the walls and repeat for a top coat. Also an incredible amount of clearing up. You need arms like Pop-Eye doing that for a living. I'd starve if at I had to that for job but I quite like skimming a wall or ceiling from time to time, very satisfying when finished.
I also have a couple of "O" Levels, (proper school qualifications for the younger ones reading), in woodwork and metalwork which come in handy when I want to make a wooden box of no particular use or a crap ashtray.
I do remember this at school, hammering a 6 inch circle of copper for hours on end, on the back of a sand filled leather bag, with a ball pein hammer. I began to lose the will to live and go to school about this time. By the time I'd finished the ash tray I think everyone had given up smoking.
I am still wondering how I take this forward in my life!
Anyone else try to make those ninja throwing stars in metalwork at school?
I'll have a go at most things but know my limits. Way back when I was an apprentice the EITB thought it a good idea to teach us a bit of electrical installation. At the end of the year I got C&G Part 1 in it. As far as I know it doesn't really qualify me in the slightest to do anything electrical but I know not to bodge and if in doubt leave to my brother in-law, who's a spark.
I did a plastering course with Able Skills in Dartford. I always thought it a black art but after doing the course I found out it was one of the most knackering jobs known to man. A bag of multi is 20KG you will need more than one bag to do a room or ceiling that bag get considerably heavier when mixed, then you have to spread that mix over the walls and repeat for a top coat. Also an incredible amount of clearing up. You need arms like Pop-Eye doing that for a living. I'd starve if at I had to that for job but I quite like skimming a wall or ceiling from time to time, very satisfying when finished.
I also have a couple of "O" Levels, (proper school qualifications for the younger ones reading), in woodwork and metalwork which come in handy when I want to make a wooden box of no particular use or a crap ashtray.
I do remember this at school, hammering a 6 inch circle of copper for hours on end, on the back of a sand filled leather bag, with a ball pein hammer. I began to lose the will to live and go to school about this time. By the time I'd finished the ash tray I think everyone had given up smoking.
I am still wondering how I take this forward in my life!
Anyone else try to make those ninja throwing stars in metalwork at school?
No but I did make a tea caddy spoon,that took me days on end, bloody planishing the damn thing.
To give my mum credit she pretended to be thrilled with it and did keep it in the tea tin, along with another spoon that could actually pick up and hold the tea leaves!
I think metalwork was the reason the suicide rate rocketed in our school.
I'll have a go at most things but know my limits. Way back when I was an apprentice the EITB thought it a good idea to teach us a bit of electrical installation. At the end of the year I got C&G Part 1 in it. As far as I know it doesn't really qualify me in the slightest to do anything electrical but I know not to bodge and if in doubt leave to my brother in-law, who's a spark.
I did a plastering course with Able Skills in Dartford. I always thought it a black art but after doing the course I found out it was one of the most knackering jobs known to man. A bag of multi is 20KG you will need more than one bag to do a room or ceiling that bag get considerably heavier when mixed, then you have to spread that mix over the walls and repeat for a top coat. Also an incredible amount of clearing up. You need arms like Pop-Eye doing that for a living. I'd starve if at I had to that for job but I quite like skimming a wall or ceiling from time to time, very satisfying when finished.
I also have a couple of "O" Levels, (proper school qualifications for the younger ones reading), in woodwork and metalwork which come in handy when I want to make a wooden box of no particular use or a crap ashtray.
I do remember this at school, hammering a 6 inch circle of copper for hours on end, on the back of a sand filled leather bag, with a ball pein hammer. I began to lose the will to live and go to school about this time. By the time I'd finished the ash tray I think everyone had given up smoking.
I am still wondering how I take this forward in my life!
Anyone else try to make those ninja throwing stars in metalwork at school?
That was the reason I only had a small bit of copper left for the keyring after my shurrukens were confiscated. I drilled out the middle, jigged the pointed stars out symmetrically and Mr Coleman having watched me work on these gems, gave me a fatherly wink, and took them away never to be seen again. In fairness he gave me a good grade for the keyring but I know it was really for the potential I'd shown as an armourer
I like to think I'm pretty good, my wife's opinion is very different, particularly after she just avoided being decapitated by the curtain rail I supposedly put up. Now I'm allowed to use a paint brush and banished from using electrical tools
Still live at home so Dad tends to fix most things, i suspect i will be next to useless when i move out next year. Have got myself a 3d printer in the last few months so am looking forward to attempting to fix things by modelling and printing out the replacement parts
Offer to give your dad a hand on the odd occasion and watch what he does. It will save you a lot of money in the years to come.
Still live at home so Dad tends to fix most things, i suspect i will be next to useless when i move out next year. Have got myself a 3d printer in the last few months so am looking forward to attempting to fix things by modelling and printing out the replacement parts
Still live at home so Dad tends to fix most things, i suspect i will be next to useless when i move out next year. Have got myself a 3d printer in the last few months so am looking forward to attempting to fix things by modelling and printing out the replacement parts
Offer to give your dad a hand on the odd occasion and watch what he does. It will save you a lot of money in the years to come.
Great advice. I learnt so much off my old man doing this, especially working on cars.
I also learnt stuff off my Grandad who was an engineer. I always remember him telling me not to force things (I've never had a huge amount of patience) and walk away from something you're stuck with, have a cup of tea then go back and try again.
I'll have a go at most things but know my limits. Way back when I was an apprentice the EITB thought it a good idea to teach us a bit of electrical installation. At the end of the year I got C&G Part 1 in it. As far as I know it doesn't really qualify me in the slightest to do anything electrical but I know not to bodge and if in doubt leave to my brother in-law, who's a spark.
I did a plastering course with Able Skills in Dartford. I always thought it a black art but after doing the course I found out it was one of the most knackering jobs known to man. A bag of multi is 20KG you will need more than one bag to do a room or ceiling that bag get considerably heavier when mixed, then you have to spread that mix over the walls and repeat for a top coat. Also an incredible amount of clearing up. You need arms like Pop-Eye doing that for a living. I'd starve if at I had to that for job but I quite like skimming a wall or ceiling from time to time, very satisfying when finished.
I also have a couple of "O" Levels, (proper school qualifications for the younger ones reading), in woodwork and metalwork which come in handy when I want to make a wooden box of no particular use or a crap ashtray.
I do remember this at school, hammering a 6 inch circle of copper for hours on end, on the back of a sand filled leather bag, with a ball pein hammer. I began to lose the will to live and go to school about this time. By the time I'd finished the ash tray I think everyone had given up smoking.
I am still wondering how I take this forward in my life!
Anyone else try to make those ninja throwing stars in metalwork at school?
I think everyone who did metal work in the 70's/80's must have made Kung Fu stars. One of my mates got caught making some of these, his excuse was Christmas decorations. I don't think stamping Merry Christmas on them convinced the teacher.
I'll give everything a go once, usually balls it up and get someone else in though. Currently re-doing a whole bathroom, it's been a steep learning curve but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
I'll give everything a go once, usually balls it up and get someone else in though. Currently re-doing a whole bathroom, it's been a steep learning curve but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Jesus, a bathroom with a tunnel. Must have been a big job. Well done mate.
Comments
Got someone to do the plumbing recently but got a problems with some electrics. I know it's dangerous so reluctant to try it myself. Might take a look at few of the videos and then decide.
I did a plastering course with Able Skills in Dartford. I always thought it a black art but after doing the course I found out it was one of the most knackering jobs known to man. A bag of multi is 20KG you will need more than one bag to do a room or ceiling that bag get considerably heavier when mixed, then you have to spread that mix over the walls and repeat for a top coat. Also an incredible amount of clearing up. You need arms like Pop-Eye doing that for a living. I'd starve if at I had to that for job but I quite like skimming a wall or ceiling from time to time, very satisfying when finished.
I also have a couple of "O" Levels, (proper school qualifications for the younger ones reading), in woodwork and metalwork which come in handy when I want to make a wooden box of no particular use or a crap ashtray.
After 15 minutes of it I was imagining taking out the bird with a catapult......
I am still wondering how I take this forward in my life!
The first one that springs to mind is when I attempted to make one of those different coloured block fruit bowls. I meticulously assembled the thing, glued everything in place, mounted it on the lathe and offered up the chisel to start smoothing everything. The bloody thing shattered into several pieces, in fact the same number of pieces as blocks that I had used.
The other example was a major project in the second year at secondary school (thankfully I could drop woodwork at the end of that year and focus on engineering). I had this wonderful idea of making my mum a tea trolley. I designed it (based on one I saw in a shop) with a top and a middle shelf, four legs and castors to move it about. But I couldn't get it to stand without wobbling, so I took a bit off one leg, then tried it. Still wobbled so I took a bit off another leg. Still wobbled. I continued until I managed to get it all level - trouble was the top was now only about18 inches off the floor! I wish I had gone for the three legged approach!
I also made a tea pot stand made from scaffold tubes cut and brazed together to form a base. It looked as bad as it sounds. We then progressed to making a tea caddy spoon, brass handle and a copper bit soldered on to form the bowl. That was awful as well.
With the modern age of equality upon us, I was getting a bit sick of doing all the prep work. Eventually the wife noticed and offered to strip wallpaper from a bedroom. Within 5 minutes of starting with the wallpaper steam machine she had tripped the electrics, busted the machine and almost electrocuted herself as she was holding the steamer upside down!
I made a clock which I still had until the wife decided, rightfully, it was disgusting. Still kept better time than the shitty dun elm mill ones she keeps giving chances to that go through batteries like I don't know what and fail at their primary function of time keeping.
I also made an ashtray in pottery or whatever it was called in the 90's as well as some truly unique and I'm proud to say genuinely beautiful goblets and flower vases. They got chucked after using them as a stash vessel at my parents house.
My masterpiece though, my tour de force was a Charlton Athletic key ring made out of not a lot of copper and survived until it found it's way into the pile of stuff to be flogged at the last bootsale we did. Got a quid for it
To give my mum credit she pretended to be thrilled with it and did keep it in the tea tin, along with another spoon that could actually pick up and hold the tea leaves!
I think metalwork was the reason the suicide rate rocketed in our school.
;-)
I also learnt stuff off my Grandad who was an engineer. I always remember him telling me not to force things (I've never had a huge amount of patience) and walk away from something you're stuck with, have a cup of tea then go back and try again.
If is doesn't move and it should - WD40
Here Endeth your lesson.
One of my mates got caught making some of these, his excuse was Christmas decorations. I don't think stamping Merry Christmas on them convinced the teacher.