User:John Rumm

I am an engineer by trade, specialising mostly in software (but like playing with the hardware as well). I work for a software engineering and IT services company Internode Ltd which a friend and I started back in 1991, so I have spent most of my adult life working for myself in one way or another. I have done lots of work on embedded control systems, avionics and defence projects, real time systems, and lots of stuff on communications protocols and data networks. Later I did stuff with financial services software, and helped put together the back end code for some commercial web sites that support financial advisers and related occupations. More recently, lots of business process automation, and management information systems.

My interests in DIY probably stem from every budding engineer's desire to take everything apart and work out what makes it tick (at least these days I often stick it back together again!) I have always been happy to "have a go" and dabble with many DIY tasks, but house ownership, and a growing family have pushed me to take on bigger and more stretching projects and helped further develop confidence. These have including building a workshop, fitting kitchens and bathrooms, house rewires, and a partly DIYed loft conversion. I also like to design and build bespoke furniture.

I would like to say a big thank you to the regulars on the uk.d-i-y usenet group, from whom I have learnt a great deal and continue to do so. I am also fortunate to have a retired time served joiner and builder as a friend, with whom I have ended working on a number of occasions. So I can pass on a few tricks of the trade learnt from an old hand. We managed to get roped into a number of each others projects over the years. All of which can make a welcome change from sitting in front of a screen pushing buttons.

I enjoy creative writing, so I find knocking up sections for the uk.d-i-y FAQ or the wiki can be quite therapeutic.

Articles that I have either authored or had a significant input into include:

Electrical Articles Cable burial Cable crimping Cables Calculating A Cable Size Changing a consumer unit Consumer Units Current activated switch Dimmers & Switchbanks Diversity Earthing and Bonding Earthing Types Easy socket extensions ELCB Earth Leakage Circuit Breaker Electrical Circuit Faults Electrical Installation Electronics repair Extractor fan wiring Floor socket installation Halogen Lighting House Wiring for Beginners Installing an electric shower Mains Voltage Part P Power factor RCD RTL3 Speaker repair Single Shot heater control Structured wiring system Surface wiring tips Taking electricity outside Terminating MICC / Pyro Terminating SWA Thermostat wiring TT Earthing Two Way Switching Volt stick experiments Furniture projects Bedroom study unit Built in media centre Built in office furniture Cabinet clock Chess Board Classic large bookcase and cupboard Coffee table - Limbert style Desk bookshelf Dining chair - cushion replacement Dovecot / Bird house build Face frame cupboard Garden bench Garden Chairs - Template aided construction Knockdown free standing shelf Large Octagonal garden table Library chair Making equally spaced cuts Mini bookcase Napkin holder Oak Drawer Organiser Ornate shelf Portable Wine Rack Small bookcase Spice rack Traditional wooden stepping stool Wicker chair rattan replacement

General Building Bastard mitre joints Building a log cabin Crack repair Cut String Stairs Custom dado router jig Edge drilling jig Floating shelf Hanging a door Hard Wood floor - retrofit Heat loss Large tenon jig Making a framed ledge and brace door Making an exterior door frame Masonry cutting sawbench Metal handrails for garden steps Planer knife sharpening jig‎‎ Raised flower beds Patching plasterboard Roof construction Routerboard Router inlay jig Sawboard Scribed Joints Silicone Sealant Stud wall Swimming Pool Steps The never ending patio rebuild The secret diary of a bathroom refurbishment Uphill opening gate Wedged joint Wedges Plumbing & Heating Systems British Gas WR1 Wireless System Central heating flushing Compression fitting Gas pipe sizing Gas units Honeywell CM927 LCD Screen Failure Installing a concealed shower mixer valve (retrofit) Sizing a hot water cylinder Unvented DHW Vaillant Ecotec plus 624 repair

Hints and Tips Cable rack Circular saw techniques Dead man prop Lifting Prop Newsgroup access tips Windproof Catflap Humour Gas leak The tale of the rubbing pipe Tools Angle Grinder Biscuit Jointer Buying power tools Impact driver Makita HR2450 SDS Drill Armature Nailer Replacement Power Tool FAQ SDS Drill Unisaw out feed table Wall chaser Unclassified Angle Grinder Woodwork Test DIY eBike Conversion DIY Nosh, Hot 'n' Fruity Chilli Con Carne DIY Personal Video Recorder (PVR) Formula examples Home owners hub Inline Sanding Hack Kerf bending steel Wacom tablet upgrade - serial to USB

Picture links to furniture and build projects

Click the thumbnail for a larger version. Then see the File Usage section for a link to the main article about the project.

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