Dear Santa...for my PP Christmas, I would like....

I'm hoping Santa brings me an angle grinder....I've managed without one for years, but there's a limit to what can be accomplished with a junior hacksaw.

What PP related things are you hoping for, or getting for loved ones?

I would not be without an angle grinder.
The blades for cutting metal are fantastic.
However anyone can buy one and this fact makes most physical security measures around the home, caravan, car etc. very vulnerable.
The thin cutting blades cut through toughen steel like butter.

Make sure you try them out before buying one.
The grip and switch varies between models considerably, some are a pleasure to use but many are not.
Some require two hands to switch on and operate while others switch on far too readily and could be dangerous.
... and always buy the best blades which are usually the most expensive.

My PP Christmas present?
That is the excuse I use to buy all the gadgets throughout the year. Perhaps a larger shed would be useful.

I havn't quite decided what I do want for Christmas, but many thanks to Pford and Lime for helping me decide on something I definately don't want.

Kirsty Allsop. and before Penners posts a horrid photo, there's a better one here http://www.channel4.com/4homes/on-tv/relocation-relocation/about-kirstie-allsopp/about-kirstie-allsopp-08-06-24

I'd have said that Suzanah Reid from the news, but I couldn't think of a PP link...

Anyway, on topic, I'd like some acrows for Christmas, however they're spelt. And a couple of extra hours in the day to get on with the works I'm not finding time for at the moment.

Nice thread, Pford! If we're allowed a fantasy then I'd like Chris to get a lovely big pay rise and be able to work from home, permanently. That would just solve everything. Oh, to lie in until 8am, to have dinner at 6 pm - what luxury! And think of the jobs that would get done!

But more realistically, I hope to be organising the purchase of two of these for the porch: http://www.jim-lawrence.co.uk/ProductDetail/5913/Chichester-Pendant

And Chris wants this very badly! http://www.justlawnmowers.co.uk/pages/productspages/Eastwood_EVLS10T.htm

Anna Friel would do nicely.

However, back in the real world.....

Not sure really, some non-rotten French doors that actually open will do for now!

For all those who like tools, agreed an angle grinder is a must but get yourself a diamond disc for masonry cutting. They're not that expensive now and are so much better than an ordinary abrasive disc. I have a stash, picked up as samples when I worked in the industry. My best angle grinder was a cheapie NuTool model, for about £15 it survived a huge amount of use and abuse over many years before finally all that dust got in the bearings and it died.

Ideas for others who like tools:-

No.1 indispensable "new" tool for me is an impact driver - brilliant bit of kit, makes putting screws in so much quicker and easier. I treated myself to this about a year ago when my cordless drill died, very extravagant but it was worth every penny - although I got a manufacturer's return model a bit cheaper (an item that had been sold new and returned as faulty, repaired by Makita and sold again with the same warranty)

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MAKITA-LX...Home_Garden_PowerTools_SM&hash=item5ae33e4ba4

You can get much cheaper impact drivers as well. For jobs like fencing, where I find screws are a much better bet in the long term than nails, they are brilliant.

Also worth a mention, which I've put on here before, is the CEL Multitool. Basically a copy of the brilliant-but-eye-wateringly expensive Fein Multimaster, it's a tool I only use occasionally but which when I want it it is very useful indeed, and is sometimes the only tool which will do the job.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/MultiPRO-24...ef=sr_1_2?s=diy&ie=UTF8&qid=1321348029&sr=1-2

They do a cordless version but as it's for occasional use only I wouldn't bother - chances are you'll get it out after 6 months for some small job and find the battery is dead just when you need it. Also eventually the battery will fail to hold a charge, probably long before the rest of the tool is ready to give up.

And for a cheap idea for someone who's handy then a dead blow hammer is very useful for all those "give it a tap and it'll shift" moments when taking anything mechanical apart. Nice to use, minimises damage and works much better than an ordinary hammer and a block of wood.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BERGEN-3-...t=UK_Hand_Tools_Equipment&hash=item415a0ac753

And for another cheap tool that I absolutely would not be without, this has got me out of trouble more times than I care to remember. You know those "oh b*&^%$ I've just dropped it in that very inaccessible place" moments?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sealey-Te...t=UK_Hand_Tools_Equipment&hash=item43a20a7929

More recommendations for very handy small tools would be gratefully received, by me at least!

Not much I want for Chrimbo, but looking forward to spending it with our bundle that was born in March.

On angle grinders, I got a free one with a cordless drill. Unfortunately, it was also cordless. As such, you so much as show it the job you want to cut, and it slows down. You pratically have to caress the metal to cut it, and it is a pointless excercise.

I got a mains grinder, and works a treat. Especially for tidying up my horrendous welding efforts last year.

A trip to Barnetts in York will usually make me realise there is a tool I cannot live without, so I try to avoid it these days.

The remaining 2 bedrooms & office decorated, the drive drainage sorted and gravelled the old oil tank removed, the brick plinth and assorted other builders debris skipped and gone. I'd also quite like solar PV on the coach house before the 12th of December - assuming Father Christmas has very deep pockets and doesn't mind coming early.

If he really wants to help out then the coach house turned into a nice holiday let and then I'll have a job like Joce wants for Chris so I can run that as a side line and still walk my daughter to school everyday.

Got bad news about two interesting full time jobs recently and the prospect of decorating on a shoestring isn't appealing at all.


On angle grinders - I bought a green Bosch 9" grinder a few years back which has been a great tool. Going around trying them for size I discovered Homebase had a 10% off day and they also had 2 free diamond discs. I'm on the second disc but the tool has survived a lot of work by me and even a few goes in the hands of the builders without skipping a beat. They only managed to destroy one of the catches on the case.
BTW if you're buying power tools I'm a firm believer that a blow moulded carry case is almost as important as the tool - especially if its big enough to accommodate the tool and accessories without having to strip it down. My drill driver has to have the battery and bit removed to go in its case which is always irritating.

As is my wont, I should like to raise the tone of the rather base male contributions to this thread.

I should like a Christmas stocking with something shapely in it - preferably a nice satsuma, right down in the toe.

I should also like an ultra-wide-angle lens for my camera - a 10mm-20mm zoom, which will give a 35mm format equivalent of 16mm-32mm on my APS-C camera.

Not very PPUK, I realise, but I borrowed a lens like this from a friend, last week, when I was doing some early morning photography on the Suffolk coast (20 minutes away - don't you wish you lived where I do?!).

I was very excited by the extra possibilities that the lens offers. I suspect these are rather more attainable than the possibilities that FW is seeking from Kirsty.

Here's one of the shots I got:

Blimey - Penners raising the tone. How novel. :wink:

Lovely picture by the way.

I would dearly love Santa to bring me a decent 3 section aluminium ladder, that way I could retire my dreadfully flexible 2 section wooden one to the kindling pile!

If she's not available I'll settle for the portrait.

Whahaaay! That Diana was a bit of a girl wasn't she? Fancy stripping off in Oxford!

Oh... hang on....

Seems as thought she is very clear in your memory Penners--- I don't remember her, nor does J :roll: !!!!

Johnboy said:

I would dearly love Santa to bring me a decent 3 section aluminium ladder, that way I could retire my dreadfully flexible 2 section wooden one to the kindling pile!

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Would you be so good as to ask him to drop one down my chimney, too?

Moo said:

Would you be so good as to ask him to drop one down my chimney, too?

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And there we go, Moo brings the tone right down again! :lol:

Fnar fnar. 8)

No sooner said than done, Moo - 2006 Christmas stamp:

And while we're on the subject, who's this Santa bloke?
Father Christmas, as far as I'm concerned, and he wears a cloak and hood, and possibly a holly and mistletoe crown

Gareth Hughes said:

And while we're on the subject, who's this Santa bloke?
Father Christmas, as far as I'm concerned, and he wears a cloak and hood, and possibly a holly and mistletoe crown

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Looks dodgy to me. A grown man wearing a false beard as a disguise and dressing up to entice little kiddies to come and talk to him, offering them presents to sit on his lap and whisper in his ear :lol: . Mind you, the whole premise of Christmas seems rather far fetched, young girl says she is innocent as the driven snow, that "an angel" did it, yes right, and if there had been DNA testing 2,000 years ago then things might be rather different. Not that the boy didn't say a lot of good stuff. The world might be a better place if people actually did some of the things he recommended rather than just completing all the rituals. One of which will be the appearance of some shocking multicoloured styrofoam sheep as part of the Nativity scene on our main shopping street, they are there every year, and are enough to make you turn to Islam, Buddhism or something else all on their own.

All I want for Christmas this year is the opportunity to see out of my own windows at some point. They are bad enough at the best of times but with a house full it's hopeless. Hence, I have jumped the gun and the dehumidifier is being delivered as I type.

On the day I would recommend all those with a reasonable sense of balance to get one of those 4 section (11 different ways) ladders that can turn into a working platform with the additional metal plates. It's the best £100 ever spent for the garden and house.

Almost needed another early present. It was an angle grinder to get the padlock of the oil tank recently when I lost the key and the oil was being delivered the next day. Turned up in Mrs. T's jewellery box!!!!. So, no angle grinder needed this year but my own key safe would help :roll: