Barry Bucknall: the Father of DIY

[RobertL]

He died in 2003 at the age of 91

I just remember him on TV.

[Andrew]

So did mine.

We had a nice pine kitchen table. One weekend the pine top was removed and replaced with a rectangular piece of new-fangled chipboard, with the corners chopped off at 45 degrees, then covered with a sheet of red formica and black edgeing stuck on with evostick.

if the panelled doors (or ornate balistrades) were just panelled in with hardboord, then they were preserved and protected for future generations. It was the berks who ripped all the cornicing and features out who ruined houses.

Barry was interviewed about 10 to 15 years ago on TV and he was still 'at it'. He showed the interviewer his tea-trolley nicely upgraded with a set of set of big rubber castor wheels that would be more at home on a hospital trolley.

[Andrew]

My grand parents started taking in lodgers when he stopped working but the council made him cover all the doors with asbestos on both sides, overpainted to look like a smooth door.

[Andrew]

MY dad shellaced all the upstairs floor boards before putting non-fitted carpets down.

[Andrew]

Could have been a modesty-thing in the 60's as hemlines started at bum-level.

[Huge]

[Farmer Giles]

I suspect that it was a bit more than that. He died almost 12 years ago, aged 91.

[The Medway Handyman]

[jgh]

God, I'm still taking the angle grinder to that stuff in my kitchen.

jgh

[spuorgelgoog]

Hah, I had tongue-and-groove on the ceiling, which I am slowly converting into pipe and cable boxing-in.

Owain

[Nightjar]

On 24/11/2014 11:16, Tim Watts wrote: ...

I've just ordered some new glasses. According to my optician, the latest thing are the thick black frames that I last wore in the 1960s.

[damduck-egg]

Often those books seemed to be given out as school prizes in the age when pupils ended school at 14. Both my Father and my FIl had such books. A plan for a Rabbit Hutch and Pop Pop boat seem to be compulsory.

G.Harman

[newshound]

I'm amazed that no-one seems to have mentioned the big Yankee spiral ratchet screwdriver (used with pre-drilled pilot and main holes, of course, so everything went together incredibly quickly and easily).

Now, of course, with decent rechargable drill-drivers and twinstart screws anyone can put stuff together just as quickly!

[newshound]

Sorry, I see John mentioned this last night!

[Adam Funk]

That looks rather more sophisticated than the traditional French one.

(Last time I was in Paris, I tracked down & used the last one standing, as shown in the photo there. It was in pretty bad shape & I had to be careful where I stood.)

Ha ha, you said "leakage".

[Tim Watts]

Thank you Finbarr Funk...

;->

[charles]

I still have a small real Yankee screwdriver and a large imitation one. I used the small one last week. It gets to places a power drill cannot reach.

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

Yes, and what made it horrible back then was the un-insulated flooring and draughts everywhere. If it comes back, at the very least the regs will ensure some improvement in comfort. Of course, there will be some slaves to fashion /cheapskates who just adopt the look and think nothing of the discomfort.

Fitted carpet for me, every time. I remember the shitty carpet squares of the 50s and 60s and stand aghast at cheapy crappy imitation polished wood floors, which just look nasty.

[Vir Campestris]

I have a full Yankee and a Stanley Handyman. Put a blind up with the handyman at the weekend, and used the Yankee to assemble some flatpack at work a few weeks ago (1)

I'll admit I did cheat and use a power drill for most of the screws!

Andy