I managed to break a very similar record vice at school.

Step 1. Admire the cross hatch mrakings on the vice jaws, think wouldn't that look nice on the copper plate I am making into a candle stick holder.

Step 2. Put said copper plate in vice and do up as hard as a 16 year old boy can.

Step 3. Take out said copper plate look at it very disapointedly at the lack of cross hatch pattern (a good vice shouldn't mark the workpiece).

Step 4. Come to obviouse logical conclusion, put copper back in vice and with the help of a 4 foot length of scaffolding tube wind vice up considerably more.

Step 5. Keep winding vice up until the inevitable very load bang when half a vice lands between your feet.

Step 6. Find this incredible ammuzing not helped by the teacher ranting about never knowing of any student managing to break one of those vices in 40 years of teaching.

Step 7. Make candle holder out of piece of copper with a really nice cross hatch pattern on it and present to Mum with a bill for a £100 vice.

Just get down to your local Car boot sale, I always see an old vice when I go, I am sure you can get a decent old vice for very little money. If its lasted 50 years already it definatly will last another.

Ok thanks for the advice, I am convinced that wood is not all bad and am prepared to give it a go.

It needs to look modern so can't go down the belfast sink look. It will be a sink with an integrated drainer should I go for above or below mounted. As I see it over mounted keeps the end grain nicely protected but leaves the rim a perfect place for water to collect. As apposed to the undermounted option nice and easy to wipe down and keep clean but the end grain is exposed to alot more water.

Would love to go on the train but as their is 2 of us going it is well over twice the price on the train.

How stupid do I feel now!!

If you drain the battery down to leass than 25% charge which is generally the point where the voltage drops enough to stop opperating things you can cause permenant damage to the battery.

It really depends on how good the battery is and which particular car. I would have thought 45 mins was pushing it but it depends if the alternator is completely goosed or just not quite up to the job.

I would tray and do the journey in the daylight and would pick a route where I expect to brake down at all times.

You should check with the owners manual or Hyundi as lots of cars are upto 80,000 miles between cam belt changes, no point in changing it early unless it looks worn.

Coleman do an unleaded 2 burner stove. Have had it for about 4 years and it is brilliant, very powerfull last holiday was with a 6 month old so loads of boiling of large pans etc to sterelize things and very cheap to run. I run ours on super unleaded at about £1.20 a litre. 5 litres did us a week with some to spare and as I said it was used a huge amount.

Nice and compact and all the dirty parts are nicely contained inside its metal case when packed up. No large gas bottles to lug around. Does need a bit of pumping to pressurise but its very simple really.

http://www.busyoutdoors.com/shop/outdoor-cooking/camp-stoves/coleman-unleaded-2-burner-stove/prod_476.html?ccSID8643dd60547e611052421a6659ed64d2=cd04e6469a6ded9c656397f76b751f52

Cheers Bigsurfer.

I Live in Littleborough can see the top of Windy Hill from my house, its only got the old snow from a few days ago on it at the moment. They are very good at keeping it open, normally not a problem. If it is closed it will make all the radio travel reports.

Wouldn't worry about it myself just take the normal winter things. Good boots, warm coat, gloves etc. Food drink etc.

If you are getting it for free then can't be a bad thing. I have had the problems of water ingress. Make sure you get the drain plugs under the battery and the brake servo checked to make sure they drain properly.

I have put 30,000 miles on in 2 and a bit years and love the car.

Cam Belt need doing every 60,000 miles or every 4 years. Its a big job as the front bumper, rad etc have to be removed, I did mine myself or its about £350 in a good garage. If your doing it make sure the waterpump is also changed.

Havent bothered with any of the aftermarket clamps since I discovered that a cable tie and an O-ring is all needed. Pass the cable tie through the O-ring and then stretch the O Ring around the hydraulic hose and pass the cable tie back through it so the O-ring is wrapped doubled over hose. Attach the cable tie around the frame job done. Sorry about my description, but I don't know how to post pictures. If your not clear I can email a photo tomorow, it really works brilliantly their is a bit of flex to gueard against damage can be attached to any size and shape of tube. I think it looks really really clean and tidy compared to the aftermarket systems.

Cheers Bigsurfer.

It was lovely yesterday, a couple of inches of nice crunchy snow, loads of grip and no real ice but the mud beneith was pretty well frozen. That was going around from Wardle Res to Calderbrook over the top, so not as high as blackstone edge approx 1200ft at highest point. It has been pretty sunny today and all traces of snow have now gone in Littleborough so my guess is most of the snow will have gone apart fron the shady and high parts that will probably be icy. If I manage to get out tonight I will update.

Cheers Bigsurfer.

Should have added the link

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/44700/Van-Car-Accessories/Mechanics-Tools/Teng-Drive-Torque-Wrench

zen 4 your internet i work from home so need a dependable service. You get what u pay for. But you get real people who are very friendly and helpfull. No expensive premium numbers. I get you line rental through the post office. Never had a problem 2 find out their customer service. Cheers ben.

If you are after brilliant service, being able to talk to a real person that actually knows their stuff then I can't recomend Zen high enough. You pay for the service but that is the case with most things in life. Also no contract period, just a monthly rolling contract. I might be forced by money to swap to anpther ISP but don't relish it at all.

Sorry I know it should have been in the Chat forum.

We have a zafira 1.6 which is so under powered its not funny. That said it is the most versatile vehicle we have ever owned. Can get 9' ladder inside in seconds. My only seriouse complaint about all of these 5 + 2 cars is the safety of the rear 2 seats. Very flimsy anchoring and your head is only inches from the rear window. Basically you r sat in the rear crumple zone. Not good in my view. Think its great but wont use the rear seats on our zafira.

klipshe make a fantastic dock. Got one of amazon the sound is so far ahead of everything i have heard. We paid about £80. Cant recomend it enough.

Sorry should have posted this in Chat forum if it can be moved that would be great.

Cheers Ben.

I have got a 8'4" Bic Magnum which I highly recomend if you are a larger rider 95kg+. The mini mal group of boards are ideal for progressing from a foam learner board while being able to capitalise on the majority of british wave conditions. I am now looking at Longboards but I will always keep a mini mal in my collection for those bigger messier days.

My wife has a 7'9" Bic and she seems to do really well on that as well. The Bic borads are near indestructable, you can run them into the beach drop it on the beach, let the kids sit on it on the beach (providing the fin is pushed home)

Most shops will rent out Bic or NSP boards why not rent one and see what you think.

Cheers Ben.

coleman stoves are amazing. Have had several all have been brilliant. Spare parts are easily available through coleman in the states. Very good service and also a fishing tackle place in kent should b easy 2 find on net. Stoves work out really cheap to run and very powerfull. Always use super unleaded and you shouldn't have any problems with the generator blocking. Coleman fuel works out very expensive. I know have the 2 burner stove which is brilliant and opens up many more gastronomic possibilities. Happy camping.

Get it know. We used to live in a thatched cottage. Heated by a log burner very warm no leaks. We replaced the ridge. If done well last about 20 years a good thatch should last 50 years. The only part that needed attention every 5 years was the joint between the chimney. Cost about £70 every 5 years. No need 4 membrane 2 keep wind water out, but i would look in the loft as they can be very dusty places.

AA all the way, every guy I have ever dealt with has been supperb.

I did get a warning one year that I had called them out 8 times and I only had 2 more call outs before being charged an excess. It was the hazzard of running a classic mini.

They have always been very interested in fixing my car for me not just towing me to a garage. One AA guy spent 2 hours on the drive diagnosing a problem with an imobilizer and he was successfull.

They have built a loyalty that I think would be hard to break know.

I am also 16.5 stone and have had a bic 8’4″ Magnum whic makes quite a good compromise on longboard style riding while still being quite nimble (on a £250 budget) it has been great for me to improve on over the last few years, we went to Hawaii for our honeymoon and had a few different 9′ to 9’8″ boards out their and they were incredible so fast by comparison.

Sponging-Machine I have been living in Littleborough, Lancashire (followed Mrs Bigsurfer and work as an engineer) but I grew up in and around Crediton, we have been trying to move back to Devon for over a year (probably South Molton area)unfortunatly we can not sell our house at the moment even for a very realistic price. So I am stuck with some fantastic riding but at least 3 hours to the nearest decent wave (normally abersoch).

gavtheoldskater – Had a go on a friends paddle board (not a pop out affair) and apart from being a very weird sensation it was great fun, couldn’t beleive how different it felt, you would have thought that being able to canoe, kayak & surf would have made me perfectly qualified but instead it just proved how uncordinated I am. Will definetly be having another go.

Thier is simple nothing better than a relaxing surf on 2 – 3 ft glassy waves at Saunton near sunset on a 9ft+ long board.

If waves were reliable and the quality of surf was good I would very rarely get out on my bike.

Most tanks do have an overflow fitted quite high up on the fuel tank filler. The overflow does drain via a tube onto the road. My old polo and newer passat both have one and if you overfilled the tank it would drain the excess onto the forecort.

In addition some cars are very hard to fill, my polo would click of after 1/3 of the tank and then you had to fill the rest of the tank at about half speed the only way to judge it was to watch the litres.

If your interested in taking the passive solar heating and Thermal mass to its limit you guys should look up Earthship for more detail. A technique for building / living completely off grid in New Mexico. They utilise many of the subjects highlighted above. A number have been built in Brighton and a demonstration project in Fife as well as one recently covered by Grand Design’s in France. Building Regulations and planning permision are very short sighted and very frustrating as they don’t grasp thermal mass as a concept at all.

Personally I think it is a brilliant concept that could and should be used to influence the design of all new / renovated houses.

Its my plan to build one in Devon over the next few years but I am expecting a very long and protracted argument with planning / building regs.

Trout don’t give up with developing new lights, I am convinced that either the light, battery or charger will only last a few months which makes the Bastid light much less apealing. I always prioritise reliability and longevity over simple low cost.

That said money in our household has never been tighter.

The 6er light looks amazing and should our sun ever burn out I will be straight onto you for a replacement.

Is their a possibility of a less powerfull but equally well made light. My logic working that it would be much easier to compete with the DX light if a similar output of light was possible with your great quality but to come in under £150 with battery and charger (not suggesting that you start selling battery’s and chargers smudger seems to have that market covered very well). I guess a lot of your costs are tied up in the housing would I be right.

Keep up the good work and I hope come September I will be placing an order for a 6er.

I ride an old Scott pro flite frame with a Reba Race fork set at the standard 100mm and they perform really well. I have been very impressed by them.

I weigh in at 17 stone and 6’5″ and don’t have any problems so much better than trying to match springs. I am also in the process of loosing weight so can tweak the forks in accordance.

Took a few rides around the same loop to get the pressures right but not really that difficult, their are lots of threads to give good starting pressures. I have the remote front lockout and use it a lot for climbing.

Thanks for the info.

Cheers Ben.

It is repeated on BBC1 presuming that your not in Scotland at about 1:00am Saturday morning so you should be able to record it.

Thanks 4 all the advice very usefull. Apparently it wasn’t such a borring subject after all. Thanks again. Cheers ben.

Just remember that it is incredibly important how well you put a tent up to its waterproofness and wind resistance. I have camped for up to 10 weekends a year for the last 5 years in an unbranded tent that cost £45 from a show and we have on 2 occasions been the only tent standing in the morning after gales out by Abersoch when people in £300 mountain tents have packed up or been blown down in the middle of the night.

Thanks for the responces so far.

Sorry for being thick, but “bigyinn” what are FWIW Vs.