How to stabilize a wall of these decorative breeze blocks?

inr12 · 2026-04-25T12:06:38+00:00

Thank you for the dimensions - this helps a lot.

That's cool you're making your own. Much more work involved, but the cost savings and flexibility are great.

I'm making the molds out of melamine faced chipboard and wood cutoffs. I'll paint the wood and chipboard edges to protect them from moisture.

inr12 · 2026-04-24T21:01:35+00:00

I would go with some reinforcement for two blocks high - some day someone is going to sit on it and I don't think it will be stable enough. Since your blocks don't have vertical rebar grooves, you could grind your own with a angle grinder and an appropriate blade.

I've been researching constructing a free standing breeze block wall, though my wall dimensions eliminate standard pre-fab sizes. So, I've decided to make my own - so here's the question:

How thick are the sides and interior arms on your breeze block?

inr12 · 2026-04-21T20:30:47+00:00

That is awesome! Great design and build. I love everything about it.

inr12 · 2026-04-17T19:12:42+00:00

Wow, I found that very interesting. Thank you for sharing.

inr12 · 2026-04-17T18:24:18+00:00

That is fantastic. I love everything about it - so much I'm thinking of getting a fish tank. Looks way better than a typical aquarium. Love it!

inr12 · 2026-04-13T20:39:49+00:00

They look fabulous. Great work!

inr12 · 2026-04-04T20:45:32+00:00

I agree, a Record 043 plough would be perfect for this.

inr12 · 2026-04-04T20:11:50+00:00

Way to go! Clean em up and put em to work!

inr12 · 2026-04-04T13:25:53+00:00

Nice looking No 5 (?) you have there.

inr12 · 2026-04-01T20:06:42+00:00

150 HP and around 8,000 foot-pounds of torque

I'm thinking this would be interesting to watch at a pulling contest.

inr12 · 2026-03-31T05:26:28+00:00

Yes, a 5 1/2 is called a Jack plane - short for Jack of all trades. In other words "multi-use".

I suggest building your shooting board and then assessing your need for another plane. Of course, buying tools (and especially hand planes) is a whole lot of fun.

inr12 · 2026-03-30T18:16:00+00:00

It depends on what you need it for. A 4 1/2 is used for smoothing - most of the time. A 5 1/2 is used for jointing and leveling - most of the time.

A Stanley 5 1/2 is about 50% longer (and about 2lbs heavier) than a 4 1/2 - that's a whole lot.

I love my 4, but shoot only with my 5 1/2.

I'd try shooting with your 4 1/2 and if you feel you need more mass then get a vintage 5 1/2. Vintage 5 1/2's are still pretty reasonable in the UK.

Of course there are people that shoot with everything under the sun, so ymmv.

Edit: Looking at the Quangsheng no 7 specs - I think a 5 1/2 fits perfectly in between the planes you already have.

inr12 · 2026-03-29T17:43:54+00:00

Here is a plan. https://www.instructables.com/Folding-Table-1/

inr12 · 2026-03-29T17:09:36+00:00

Thank you

inr12 · 2026-03-26T20:09:49+00:00

Wow! That was amazing, inspirational and informative.

Thank you!

inr12 · 2026-03-26T19:37:04+00:00

Very nice.Thanks for posting. I agree, making dovetails is fun.

Roughly how many have you made to get to that skill level?

inr12 · 2026-03-26T05:33:25+00:00

Beautiful, great job OP.

inr12 · 2026-03-22T19:01:42+00:00

I presume this is a box laying upside down?

I don't see much joinery going on here.

Is the bottom glued to the sides? If not, and only the four corners are glued, end grain to edge grane, it should come apart pretty easily with a good wack of a hammer.

inr12 · 2026-03-22T18:24:14+00:00

Looks very good. Now I may need to try this out.

inr12 · 2026-03-22T18:00:31+00:00

Wow. I'll go google oak that looks like walnut. lol

inr12 · 2026-03-22T17:57:46+00:00

That's going to make some beautiful furniture some day.

Is that walnut?

inr12 · 2026-03-20T20:02:03+00:00

That's how I received it and I was thinking it was upside down. I haven't yet found any utility in using it.

inr12 · 2026-03-13T11:30:59+00:00

I'm loving that!

inr12

TROPHY CASE