When should I replace a drill bit or blade?
Reading the symptoms that mean blunt, which items are worth resharpening, and the false economy of pushing on.
beginner20 min4 min read
Tools & Materials
What to buy, what to skip, and how to use it.
511 guides in Home & DIY
Which bath screen should I choose for a shower over a bath?
Fixed, hinged, folding and sliding bath screens compared on the things that actually matter — how much water they hold in, how you get past them, and how they clean.
beginner20 min5 min readWhich clamps should I buy first?
The two or three types that cover most work, why you always need more than you have, and matching the clamp to the job.
beginner20 min4 min readWhich multi-tool or oscillating tool should I choose?
What it does that nothing else can, why the blades cost more than the tool over time, and the features that matter.
beginner20 min4 min readWhich sharpening stone or system do I need?
What actually separates a whetstone from a diamond plate from a pull-through, matched to the tools you own and how often you will use it.
beginner15 min4 min readWhich shower head should I buy?
Why the head can only ever work with the water system it is fitted to, what rubbed nozzles and flow restrictors actually do, and which type suits which supply.
beginner15 min4 min readWhich type of toilet should I choose — close coupled, back to wall or wall hung?
The four common pan arrangements compared on what they cost to fit, how they clean, how they are serviced, and what the wall behind has to be capable of.
beginner20 min4 min readWhich workbench or work support should I get?
Folding, fixed or improvised, the height that decides whether it is comfortable, and what most people actually need.
beginner25 min4 min readWhy do I have to uncoil an extension reel before using it?
The physics behind the two ratings printed on every extension reel, how much the coiled figure actually is, and what happens if it is ignored.
beginner5 min4 min readWhy is my router burning and scorching the wood?
Five causes of a scorched router cut — pausing, feeding too slowly, a resinous or blunt cutter, too high a speed for the bit diameter, and a seized bearing — plus how to remove burn marks that are already there.
beginner20 min4 min readWhy will my SDS bit not come out of the drill?
The one-handed technique people get wrong, and what to do when dry running has worn the holder.
beginner15 min4 min readWill heat in a shed ruin my paint and materials?
A shed in full sun runs far above outdoor air temperature. What that genuinely spoils, what it does not, and where the small number of things that must not live there should go instead.
beginner15 min5 min readAluminium oxide, silicon carbide or ceramic — which sandpaper do I need?
The grain, the backing and the coating are three separate choices on every pack. What each one changes, and the combinations that suit timber, metal, plaster and finishes.
beginner12 min4 min readDo I have to use decking screws, or will ordinary screws do?
What a decking screw is actually designed to do that a general screw is not, and the two features that genuinely matter outdoors.
beginner10 min2 min readDo I need ear defenders, and how loud is too loud?
How to judge whether a tool is loud enough to matter without a meter, the difference between plugs and muffs, what the SNR figure means, and why duration matters as much as loudness.
beginner15 min5 min readHow deep a cut can I take with a router in one pass?
Why routing is a stepped operation, how to judge a pass by sound rather than by a rule of thumb, and why the last pass should be the lightest.
beginner12 min4 min readHow do I build formwork for a concrete pour?
Setting boards to the finished level, staking and bracing so they cannot move, proving the box is square, and the compaction step that decides whether the edges come out solid or honeycombed.
intermediate1 hr 30 min5 min readHow do I check a frame or a room is square?
Measuring the diagonals, the 3-4-5 method for corners with no opposite side, and how to pull a frame back into square before the glue sets.
beginner12 min3 min readHow do I chop a hinge recess accurately with a chisel?
Knife lines, a depth gauge, the series of chopping cuts and the paring that gets a hinge sitting flush first time.
intermediate35 min4 min readHow do I drill a hole in glass without cracking it?
The wet, slow, no-pressure technique for bottles, sheet glass and mirrors — and the far more important question of whether the glass may be drilled at all.
advanced25 min3 min readHow do I drill stainless steel without work-hardening it?
Why stainless goes glass-hard under a rubbing bit, and the speed, pressure and cutting fluid that stop it happening.
intermediate20 min4 min readHow do I find the centre, or divide something into equal parts, without any arithmetic?
Three constructions that replace a calculator: the angled rule for dividing an awkward width, the two-chord method for the centre of a circle, and the mark-from-both-ends trick for a centre line.
beginner15 min4 min readHow do I get the most out of a sheet of board?
Turning a design into a cutting list and a sheet layout — kerf, grain direction, trim margins, useful offcuts, and how to work out how many sheets you actually need.
intermediate30 min5 min readHow do I get the plug of wood out of a hole saw?
The disc jammed inside the cup, four ways to get it out, and the cuts you make before drilling so it never happens again.
beginner8 min3 min read
Going deeper: MaterialWorld
Material properties, comparisons and suitability — paints, fillers, sealants, timber, tile, insulation.