Several of you have sent in the tip of using sawdust or wood shavings, mixing it with glue to make a putty, rather than buying a commercial putty. So I put my props maker to work. Using all the same wood shavings, but three different glues he got three different results. First a tip he came up wi...
Most of our common adhesives will not work well to put pottery or china together. We need something that will stick to a very porous surface, so none of the "Wonder Glues" will work. Also we do not want a noticeable line, so any coloured adhesives are out. Contact cement would work, but be very d...
After you have mastered the basics of woodturning then your only limit is your own creativity. One of the most challanging projects, conceptually and technically is reversed turning, where you turn both the inside and the outside of spindle like objects. These can be just artistic objects, or bea...
Contact cement is a uniquely useful adhesive. It will adhere to most all surfaces and hence is often the in-between for sticking two different materials together.
It comes in two basic varieties, solvent based and water based, the later often being called "green" or "solvent free". Although thes...
DUST PROTECTION - TEMPORARY DOOR OR ARCH CLOSURE
Often when we are working on home improvements, we need temporary fixes. One that many of us use is that plastic shrinkable window cover for stopping winter drafts.
One plastic covering that is less well known is a construction doorway. Th...
One of our viewers suggested using a hair dryer to soften the glue on labels that you find on appliances and other products. It actually works -- just be careful not to scorch the product or peel any paint. Vegetable oil will soak labels off without any risk of damage to the surface below, but ...
Connect to your favourite weather forecaster and look for the following conditions:
Category: Adhesives Product: Epoxy - Wet-Bond
Temperature Limitations: Above +10 C (+50 F) -- although a special product called "Cold-Bond" will work at -6 C (+21 F)
Rain Limitations: Can be applied in r...
For an overview on changing the roof or roof covering on a house and special information on Mansard roof shingles -- follow this link.
The starter shingle
If you put the first row of shingles on the edge of the roof just like all the rest, you will see the bare roof deck through the crac...
There exist special little tile grout knives, which are really just a blade with carbide dust on the edge. They are efficient at cutting out old grout between tiles.
There is a special a power grout remover as one of the accessory blades that comes with the FEIN MultiMaster. Unlike a circular ...
MOLDABLE PLASTIC -- RESUABLE
Utile Plast is a great British product that I stumbled upon -- plastic granules that you put into very hot water - they soften - then you mold them into anything you want. You can shove the soft plastic into a nut and when cool you have a plastic bolt -- or form t...