Great Uncle Fred? My Dad is brilliant at DIY and he could have been a washing-machine repairman if he had wanted to be and not a Vicar like he is. I want to help him but he is very impatient because he is so good at everything and I get nervous and do things worse. Maybe you could help me get started and tell me how to saw wood and how to hammer nails? (Andrew, Autumn 2007)

If you don`t mind me saying so, your father is at fault for his impatience. There was a time when he was less good at these jobs than he is now. With a bit of patience almost everyone can be brought up at a reasonable level at DIY. Still, if he won`t be patient, you must be patient with yourself. Practise on old bits of wood. Try and try again to saw a straight line, hammer the nail in straight. Get used to the feel of the things. Let the tools do the work, especially the saw. Grip them loosely but give it all your strength when strength is called for. But you must be patient. Jobs involving saws and hammers get botched because people try to take short-cuts. Leave short-cuts to the experts; other people just get lost. This is perhaps not the best way to tell someone how to do these jobs - without seeing you - but they are actually quite simple. "Let the saw do the work" and "Hit the nail on the head" are, perhaps, the two essentials. I feel pretty sure that if you want to do these well, with or without the support of your learned father, you can do it.

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