See you at the Bath and West Showground

We shall be exhibiting at the The Motorhome and US RV Show at the Royal Bath and West Showground, Shepton Mallet. September 12-14. Hope to see you there.

The Garden Shed

During a recent IT upgrade at www.toolsandleisure.co.uk I found that I had time on my hands. So rather through boredom, than necessity, I sorted the infamous garden shed. I found a lot of the DIY Hand Tools and accessories that we sell at www.toolsandleisure.co.uk to be extremely handy. These S Hooks are extremely useful for hanging items such as paint pots, the garden hose and accessories. At toolsandleisure we sell 5pc 4.5mm and 4pc 6mm S Hooks for £1.00 each. This turned out to be a very cheap ways to hang items. Having spent hours organising the shed I felt that it was necessary to provide better security. I fitted a 3 1/2" Cast Iron Hasp and Staple These are excellent value at just £2.50 and come complete with all fixing screws so no rummaging around your toolbox to find matching screws. Accompanying this I decided to replace my old flimsy padlock with a new 50mm Iron Padlock. Heavy duty, budget price and comes with three keys. So for a total cost of £7.50 I have a secure, well organised garden shed. Could you do this job any cheaper, let me know?

Proud Sponsors

toolsandleisure.co.uk have become the proud sponsors of www.dtforum.co.uk an educational web forum for GCSE/A Level Design and Technology students. Having been supplying schools with DIY Hand Tools since its conception the directors felt that it was time to give a little back to the educational establishments that it serves by providing technical and financial support for this forum. So if you are aware of someone studying for their GCSE/A Levels and would benefit from a community forum then please advise them of the link: www.dtforum.co.uk

Wet and Dry - How do you use it?

Just one of those questions really, plenty of people ask and I'm sure that the use and way I have used it over the years may differ from others. I generally buy a mix grit pack, coarse, medium and fine like this: 10pc Wet and Dry. It's a cheap pack but it does the jobs and I would certainly not pay 50p a sheet!

If working on metal (after heavy preparation because it will not shift a great deal of rust in my opinion) I will use a rough grit. Plenty of elbow grease later a medium grit followed by a quick fine grit. Then I wet the paper (water but you can use a variety of lubricants) and by using circular motions it will 'blend' in the scratch marks left by other abrasives. Heavily wet the paper and surface several times to get a really smooth finish. Allow to dry fully and it's ready for prime and top coat. If I'm filling a rust hole I will repeat the 'fine' part above, again both in wet and dry forms to blend the filler in with what is left of the metal.

I have also used wet and dry abrasive paper in its dry form on things like MDF, both in the home and model making. I find that it will give a mirror finish to these types of non grain woods or even plastics such as acrylic. It is, for me, a less 'harsh' sanding experience than using sand (glass) paper. Just my thoughts, let me know how you use it and what other ways you have found to use this type of abrasive paper.

BBQ...is it nearly time?

Is the BBQ weather now upon us? I really enjoy a BBQ, great weather, great food and great company. The only thing that provides a small reason for not doing a BBQ has to be cleaning the grill pans and trays. Doesn’t matter how careful you are whilst cooking the grill is always severely charred with grease and other cooking waste. Spid Brushes are a great solution to cleaning these grills and trays. Due to its ergonomic design it can easily get in between all the grill bars and remove all outstanding charred food, thus allowing a small clean in soapy water to get rid of all remaining bacteria. The Hilka Spid Brush has to be the best, it is a name that is synonymously associated with quality and you know that using the brush will complete the job. We sell several Spid Brushes per week and it would be interesting to note how many are used on the BBQ. Thank you for shopping at toolsandleisure.co.uk

toolsandleisure.co.uk - New website launched

At toolsandleisure.co.uk we always listen and respect our customers views and opinions. A recent comment was made about the 'use-ability' of our website. Although customers agree that we are competitively priced for Hand Tools, Leisure Products and Moccasin Slippers, sometimes finding these products was a little time consuming. This week we launched the new and improved toolsandleisure.co.uk website with quick side menus for finding anything from DIY Tools to Panasonic or Duracell Batteries. A new 'look' that offers a professional website for a professional business. Early indications are promising with people 'surfing' more pages to look at our products. Products that were a specific click such as Plastic Tent Pegs and Heavy Duty Shutter Locks are now being browsed and ordered by significantly higher numbers. Our popular sellers, Reflectors, Precision Screwdrivers and general DIY Hand Tools have seen an increase since the re-launch. We hope that you will agree that the changes we have made improves the shopping experience and we hope that customers will visit toolsandleisure.co.uk on a regular basis for their Hand Tools, Leisure Products and Moccasin Slippers. Thank you for browsing.

Non-Slip Matting-multiple uses

At toolsandleisure.co.uk we aim to sell useful and practical products, most of which we use ourselves so can see the benefits. As a keen motorhome enthusiast, come rain or shine we go away. As this bank holiday was extremely wet it gave me the chance to make a few minor repairs to my motorhome. A problem that has bugged me for some time has been the fat splash guards on the cooker and how they will constantly rattle when on a journey. All things have been tightened, which took about two hours, but this did not solve the problem. So how do you stop things rattling? Well the only thing to hand was a roll of Non-Slip Matting, 2 minutes later no rattles. This matting is so versatile and I constantly keep finding uses for it. I use the Non Slip Matting mainly for keeping things in the cupboards from moving around when on the road, yet it keeps my phone on the dashboard and stops internal loose fit carpets from moving.