Wood butcher musings

Vara

Vara

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Joined
20 Feb 2004
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Canterbury/Dover
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Having been horrified by a number of quotes for some storage trays for boat,
I decided to reawaken my O level woodwork skills, last visited 44 years ago (toast racks and boot-jacks a particular speciality).

  • The wood sold in B&Q is rubbish
  • If B&Q cut sheet material for you, check it's square before you pay for it,saves a return trip
  • Evostick wood glue is a very good product, much better than I remember.
  • If you brush the sawdust from bench, make sure that it doesnt fall into the inlet of a 3KW fan heater, the flames, smoke, fumes and general panic are to be avoided.
  • Those clampy things from Aldi at very little money are brilliant.

Having saved myself £60, £40 if you take into account a replacement fan heater, I feel particularly virtuous and am rewarding myself with alcohol (plus ça change).
 
B&Q

My wife was in Glasgow so I asked her to call in B&Q as I needed three feet of dado rail moulding to finish a job. She drives an MX5 so I told her to get an 8' length and take it to the guy who cuts the plywood and get it cut it in two.
'Naw, can't do that love, we are not allowed to cut mouldings'
It was raining and she had 80 miles to go so she did not want to put the hood down. She tried breaking it over the edge of his counter but he forbade that and instead showed her where she could buy a junior hacksaw to saw it in two herself. She has now started her own toolkit comprising said hacksaw and two screwdrivers, and never goes near B&Q without it.
 
My local Travis Perkins will cut mouldings to any shape you fancy. They will also cut 8' by 4' sheets so that they fit in into your car and help you load them as well. They even help you select knot free lengths of pine if you're fussy. And they're cheaper than B&Q. By miles.

What puzzles me is that you often see tradesmans' vans outside B&Q.
 
Ruffles said:
My local Travis Perkins will cut mouldings to any shape you fancy. They will also cut 8' by 4' sheets so that they fit in into your car and help you load them as well. They even help you select knot free lengths of pine if you're fussy. And they're cheaper than B&Q. By miles.

What puzzles me is that you often see tradesmans' vans outside B&Q.
Click to expand...

And that probably tells you something, they have a huge stock covering all trades and frequently have special deals and discounts that make them competitive and if you want a plumbing fitting at 8.00 at night probably more chance at B + Q, I`ll guarentee Travis Perkins will be shut..........:)
 
NDH said:
And that probably tells you something, they have a huge stock covering all trades and frequently have special deals and discounts that make them competitive and if you want a plumbing fitting at 8.00 at night probably more chance at B + Q, I`ll guarentee Travis Perkins will be shut..........:)
Click to expand...

Yup, TP stocking levels at an all time low even some of the basics :mad:
 
Just bought a few strips of prepared iroko to revamp the cockpit grating, cost £60+

I am reminded AGAIN - go to an auction and buy a knackered mahogany wardrobe for £25 (or less??) to chop up and you'll have loads of wood for other jobs later!!
 
Ruffles said:
My local Travis Perkins will cut mouldings to any shape you fancy. They will also cut 8' by 4' sheets so that they fit in into your car and help you load them as well. They even help you select knot free lengths of pine if you're fussy. And they're cheaper than B&Q. By miles.

What puzzles me is that you often see tradesmans' vans outside B&Q.
Click to expand...
I was there on Saturday, looking for a circular neon tube, I also looked at circular saw blades, robbin twots came to mind! £39 for a blade!
I left them to it!
Stu
 
If you must visit the Sheds or the dreaded B+Q, Screwfix is the latters trade price division.

But, ANY reasonably large independent timber, builders or tool merchant is going to knock B+Q prices for six. And the quality in the sheds is imo diabolical downright nasty.
 
Blueboatman said:
If you must visit the Sheds or the dreaded B+Q, Screwfix is the latters trade price division.

But, ANY reasonably large independent timber, builders or tool merchant is going to knock B+Q prices for six. And the quality in the sheds is imo diabolical downright nasty.
Click to expand...

Agrree, B&Q is rubbish for timber as is Jewsons - I now use Ridgeons, better quality timber, much cheaper and they'll cut it to length. Fortunately for me they are only a 10 minute drive away but only available in East Anglia.
I also use Screwfix a lot, some of their power tool deals are excellent value as well as their screw prices but they have dropped some of their Stainless Steel screws unfortunately. And they are on the way to the boat if I've forgotten anything.
 
Some names I am not familiar with, but a quick look a while back told me that Brico Depot is part of Kingfisher (b&Q) The local one opened last year and has knocked Mr. Bricolage into an interior deco shop. Looking VERY carefully in BD's wood yard one can find some useful wood for general household work. For the boat, there are a couple of proper yards that make the UK look a bit pricey. But forget good ply, I get that from the UK.
A
 
Blueboatman said:
ANY reasonably large independent timber, builders or tool merchant is going to knock B+Q prices for six.
Click to expand...

For some reason, my local timber merchant beats B&Q hands down for lengths of timber (planed, CLS, etc), but loses badly on sheet materials like OSB. Dunno why.

Pete
 
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