Real People. Real Places. Real Stories. 

Whether you are creating something for yourself, your loved ones, or your clients, it is a labour-intensive process, one which requires dedication and careful planning. It’s never as easy as it looks, and there may be many hiccups along the way. If you relate to this and would like some valuable insights on how other DIYers do it all, you will love this episode! Though, this is not all that’s featured.  

Other segments in our newest episode 8 feature an enlightening trip to Solway Aviation Museum in Cumbria, nifty tips and tricks to make the woodworking process easier, detailed guides on quick projects that you can undertake on the weekend, and exciting giveaways. You also wouldn’t want to miss out on our interesting interview with Stuart Matthews, who runs the popular YouTube channel - Proper DIY. Let’s dig in! 

Here's everything that you will discover in this episode's recap: 

Learning To Build A Garden Trellis From Scratch With Hannah Ashton
A Date With History - Solway Aviation Museum
Readers' Most Trusted 5 DIY Tips
Tête-à-tête With Popular YouTuber - Stuart Matthews
All About Our Pop-Up At Screwfix
Quick DIY Project - How To Make A Bar Stool
Competitions & Winners
Evolution Power Tools

 

Learning To Build A Garden Trellis From Scratch With Hannah Ashton 

We meet Hannah Ashton, a creator, woodworker, a designer of Functional Arts. Straightaway, she took us to her workshop where the magic happens! Admitting to being an avid collector, the place is lined with tools, paints, and varnishes and her collection is ever-growing. The most important section is the wood area that houses little blocks of wood that she uses throughout the woodworking process.  

It is a peaceful haven for Ashton to make her creations. It’s not just her that uses the workshop, her entire family also wanders down to work and finish their individual projects. Her youngest daughter even made her a wooden hand saw embossed with her business’s logo and carved the Avengers logo in a wood block. It was such a special gift for Hannah, knowing that she has inspired her kids to explore their creativity and be interested in woodworking.  

 

Hannah started out small and some of her first creations were little houses that reminded her of her childhood on the Isle of Wight. It soon progressed to candleholders and vases. As she learned more techniques, she moved on to benches, pegboards, and piano racks, which are quite special. While she was showing us around, we had to ask how she gets inspired. Ashton divulged that her every creation is to solve a problem and to make life easier. The piano racks are multi-functional and they look chic. 

In the garden, where the workshop sits, Ashton has made it her own in terms of incorporating her creations. One of them is a broken chair covered with artificial grass that looks right at home with all the greenery. She has also created a space where people can sit and relax. It features an old bathtub, cut and repurposed into a comfortable sofa and a fireplace that pulls focus, in the best way.  

Moving onto her newer addition - the garden trellis - she built it from cane wood from the local timber yard. They were packing pieces ready to be thrown away but now she has put it all together, stained them and it looks like it completes the space! If you liked what you see and want to build something similar, you can check out the in-depth, 3-part, tutorial here. Hannah takes you through every step and gives more tips to improve your work.  

We were very excited to see her latest addition - the family’s campervan. The excursions and vacations have never been this good. Shedding more light onto the process, Hannah reveals that she worked with a company and made a few tweaks herself. Originally, it was just a panel van and the company put in the chairs, cabinetry, flooring, and the pop top. On her part, she added shelves to the front and top for more space. She is proud of the van and the fact that they are able to take these trips with the kids and be as comfortable as they are.  

She has also wrapped up another project of panelling the bedroom. Despite her fears that it was going to be difficult, it proved to be fairly easy. She went to the local woodyard to cut up long strips of the MDF and then cut the horizontal pieces with Evolution’s mitre saw. It all came together with a dash of paint and strong adhesive! 

When you keep everyone in mind, you cannot leave the most important family member behind. In Hannah’s case, it is their dog, Sky. She has made a dog gate to keep Sky from running out inside the house and the garden.  

It was amazing to see what Hannah has come up with and we are excited to see what she makes next! 

A Date With History - Solway Aviation Museum 

For our adventure segment in this episode, we are wandering outside the typical world of woodworking and visiting the Solway Aviation Museum in Cumbria. Situated amid a vast green expanse, the first thing you see is 24 aircraft on display, among other smaller items. The most remarkable thing about this museum is that it is completely run by volunteers who are passionate about the aviation industry. They work within our workshop to restore damaged or retired aeroplanes to their former glory.  

David Kirkpatrick, the Director of Solway Aviation Museum, told us how originally it was only supposed to be aircraft from the period between the 1950s and 1970s, but when do plans always work out? When they got offers from more different types of planes, they accepted and it has just evolved from there to become increasingly interesting. Shining light on the place’s history, he revealed that the society was originally founded in 1961 with the Royal Observer Corps. The first aircraft collected was the Vulcan Bomber and it was bought for £5000 from the RAF. As the popularity grew, the museum grew from being a small porta cabin to three large buildings where aircrafts parts are held and maintenance is done. At the time of our filming, the staff was working to build jacks and tires for the planes.  

We met some of the volunteers and it was really incredible to hear them talk about the work that they do. It is a varied bunch with different skill sets, such as alarm engineers, electricians, TV engineers, aircraft engineers, and library assistants. People from all walks of life are welcome as the museum trains them to suit the requirements better. You get experience, and the work is fun and rewarding - what’s not to like? 

Being a volunteer, being hands-on, and tinkering around with the many tools acquired is a real pleasure and when you see it reflected in the smiles all around, it’s a cherry on top! 

Steve Lawson, a volunteer, showed us around the workshop. He has been working with the museum for two years now and has been mostly involved with the restoration and maintenance of the aircraft on display. After serving in the Royal Air Force for fourteen years, he gained valuable insights into how planes worked and this has been key in playing his part in the restoration. He’s been around aeroplanes for nearly 25 years, and when he gets to work on them nowadays, it is a great way to relive the olden days. Constantly replacing and repairing the components means that his skills never get rusty, his mind is always active, he gets to be physically active, and most importantly, the community is positive and amazing, and that’s a great silver lining to have when you are retired!  

The best reward is when you see the people coming in with awed looks on their faces and see them around machinery that may have been present in their past. The museum allows the visitors to get inside the aircraft and experience for themselves what it's like, seeing all the controls, and the interiors really helps increase their knowledge.  

Leaving this wonderful place wasn’t easy, but we would like to especially thank the entire team of Solway Aviation Museum for showing us around. 

If this catches your eye and you want to know more about the museum, then we have covered it in length. You can check out the full video here.  

Readers' Most Trusted 5 DIY Tips 

Before we unveil our guest for this episode, let’s see some DIY tips that have been submitted by our viewers and proven to be effective for them. 

#1 - Make sure to look up videos on how to do something. It always helps to have a guide, and you never know what useful information you may find!  

#2 - Always ensure that you have the right protective equipment before starting work, especially where spraying and sanding are concerned. At the end of the day, you only have one set of lungs.   

#3 - Save wood scraps because you never know when they come in handy!  

#4 - Ensure you have steel toe-cap boots. They always come in handy.  

#5 - Trends are great in getting the creative juices flowing and understanding how different textures can work together. However, don't get carried away as the DIY project is to make you happy, nobody else.  

Should you have any tips to share, we would be thrilled to receive them. Simply send us a video of yourself explaining the tip and you may be showcased in our upcoming episode. As an added bonus, we are offering a brand new Evolution mitre saw as a reward for being featured! 

Tête-à-tête With Popular YouTuber - Stuart Matthews 

We were glad to welcome Stuart Matthews to our studios! Famous for providing DIY guides on a vast range of topics, from laying block paving to portable shelves, his no-nonsense, easy-to-follow directions are popular with the viewers and that has resulted in him amassing a huge following. His main goal is to inspire everyone to try!  

With the amount of success that Stuart’s YouTube channel, Proper DIY has received in a short span of time, we were naturally curious to know how he got started on the platform. He said, “A few years ago, I was living and working abroad, and I noticed that in the evenings, I ended up watching a lot more YouTube than television. I thought at that point that it might be quite nice to do the same. I decided to set up the channel as a trial for one year, and then at the end of one year, if no one is watching then I will carry on with my job. Just 1.5 years later, it seems to have taken off!” 

It’s clear that doing what he loves matters the most.  

Since the type of videos he puts out are so varied, we wanted to know where he learned all the skills. The YouTube says, “I think I started fairly young. My dad was a big DIYer because we didn't have much money to bring in the professionals. So, it was natural to come into the system where if something needed doing, you needed to do it yourself. The more you learn, the more confident you get and the bigger projects you undertake.” 

Everyone has a muse and so does Stuart. He revealed, “Most of the projects are what I’d normally be doing anyway. I also try to mix up my content with tool reviews and cool trips and tips. Then, you get the complete picture.” 

Among all the videos he has done, we asked Matthews for his favourite. He answered, “My highest viewed video is how to straighten a fence post in the back of my house. I have got a big, long fence and there was one section going over. I thought I would film a quick, short video. While filming, I realized that I was actually talking to a fence post! I do these crazy things sometimes, but it makes people want to subscribe.” 

We then asked Stuart about his favourite project, and he divulged, “Well if I had to pick one then it shall be a video where I turned a cheap cattle barbecue into a barbecue cart. But, since I don’t require one all the time, I designed it such that I can lift the top off and make it into different things, like a drinks trolley or a potting bench.” 

Wondering what goes on behind the scenes, we asked how his partner isn’t seen in the videos. Shedding more light on this observation, he said, “My wife has always been really supportive in everything that I have done, even as I film and edit the videos, I do ask her advice. You need this kind of support because it can get quite lonely, and you can end up in a workshop and the office, all on your own, all week.” 

Knowing what he knows now and his experience, we asked if he had any advice for people who are just starting out. Sagely, he replied, “Two things - First, you need to start small. Do not think that you would need to start a bathroom or kitchen on day one. Start with the smaller items and gradually build up the skill set. Second, just start. You can’t actually do something if you are just scrolling out there, watching YouTube videos. It’s a practice that you need, and when you do that more often, you become better.”  

Doing what he does, there are a lot of tools involved. We asked him if he prefers one over the other. Stuart replied, “I love power tools but I haven’t got one special tool. I like them when they do what they are designed to do. I don't prefer using too many fancy tools, just the basic ones. However, one tool that is really handy is a mitre saw that will give you an exact cut if it is set up properly and the job is done quicker compared to hand tools. So, half of the basic tools around the workshop will do 99% of the work that you want to do." He also reviewed the Evolution mitre saw, you check out the review.  

After discussing the past and the present, it was time to know about the future - what’s next in store for Proper DIY? He is hopeful and said, “I feel like there is a long way to go. I have just scraped the surface. Sometimes, when I think about the next video, it just hits me that there is so much to teach people, and I am just going to teach people. Let’s see where that goes!  

It was lovely to sit down with Stuart and know more about what he does and how he does it. You can check out the more detailed interview here.  

All About Our Pop-Up At ScrewFix 

ScrewFix Live is one of the largest exhibitions in the United Kingdom, and we brought our A-game to our stall. With a live demo booth, we were able to demonstrate exactly how our tools work, how powerful they are, and what they look like, and drop some great deals! We especially loved interacting with visitors and answering their queries about our products and their projects.  

We caught up with some onlookers and asked them what they loved about the exhibition and our brand. Stuart, a visitor, was pleased to see the sheer variety of products that Evolution offered and liked the display. Mike was thrilled to see that our table saw went through metal like butter and was able to make the cuts precisely. Ray boldly claimed that joining Evolution is the new revolution! 

We always have an amazing time at ScrewFix, and we look forward to another event! 

Quick DIY Project - How To Make A Bar Stool 

A great weekend project, making a versatile and sturdy bar stool is something that your home could definitely benefit from, and it's really easy!  

For a complete and detailed guide, click here.  

Step 1 - The first step for this project is to measure the pieces and cut the seat for the stool. We are taking a board sized 100mmx50mm that will be cut into three pieces 300mm in length. For the construction, we will be requiring wood glue and pocket hole jig, pocket hole screws, that are 64mm long because our boards are 50mm thick. After cutting the required measurements, glue them together and set up your pocket hole jig.  

Step 2 - Moving onto legs, we need four pieces cut to 630mm long. Remember that these are not the ordinary 90-degree cuts so we need to do a double bevel. Tilt your saw’s blade to 5 degrees and start cutting 4 pieces. Ensure that two sides are bevelling down the same way. Sand them down for smooth edges, and it is now time for construction.   

Step 3 - We start by making the two A-frames which will form the bar stool’s frame. With the help of much glue and screws, we now have the base ready. Put these assembled A-frames parallelly and attach the base pieces in between with the help of screws and glue.   

Step 4 - Next thing to do is paint the stool, wax and then attach the seat with some screws. Ensure that you drill downwards towards the legs, not upwards. You are done! 

Competitions & Winners 

With each new episode that we release, the team at Evolution TV loves to spread goodwill by giving away an abundance of giveaways. These include spa vouchers, hotel accommodations, Apple and Amazon products, Evolution merchandise, and much more. You can participate in the contest through various means and increase your chances of winning a fabulous prize. The best chance you have of winning is by subscribing to our YouTube Channel, enabling all notifications by clicking the Bell icon, and staying tuned for new episodes of Evolution TV. Within the description of each video, you will find links to enter the contest. 

Evolution Power Tools  

Another episode has come to a close, and we hope you enjoyed it! 

At Evolution Power Tools, we work diligently to ensure that our clients receive exceptional service and ingeniously crafted products. We are confident that once you start using Evolution power tools, we will become your go-to choice. Our products and commitment are simply that impressive. Visit our store to see our products. 

If you wish to appear in our episodes and have something to show, mention us on Instagram at @evolutionpowertools_uk, and you can be featured. As simple as that! 

It is crucial to adhere to all health & safety guidelines when utilizing Evolution tools. For further information, please contact our skilled support staff located in Sheffield.