From Ash Trays To Pin Cushions...

It's always good when you can find a purpose for an old item, it gives it a new life and saves it from the bin, which is I think anyway something we should do more of, it's not a new thing either, people have been changing things from their original purpose for many years, we tend to call it being thrifty or frugal these days, but it's not new but it is a good idea, it saves things from landfill, it save you money.

So here's something I recently gave a new life to - 

Not that useful these days.

A pair? of small brass shoe shaped ash trays with some nice engraving, they've had some colour added to the inlay as well, they are quite nice and obviously served a specific function, but these days fewer people smoke which isn't a bad thing, but what to do with a couple of old ash trays?

My first thought was pin cushions, my reasoning was that they are small and have a novelty value which is probably why they were ash trays in the first place.

To turn them into pin cushions was easy enough, all I did was get rid of the section on the back that would have held the cigarette, as these are brass I had to use my multi-tool.

Ready for modification - 

Time for some surgery.

It didn't take long to grind away the back section, I used a small sanding attachment to remove any sharp edges and that was it basically, the next step is make a cushion.

Ready for a cushion.

The cushion was made from some old red velvet as it goes well with the brass (better once the brass was polished) and stuffed it with some wadding from an old pillow, I haven't detailed the steps, but basically I stitched a sausage shape from the velvet and stuffed it with wadding, then it was glued into the shoe.

And this is what I ended up with -

I'm pleased with them.

So there we have it, a pair of quirky pin cushions, a good size for a sewing box or bag and a good use of old objects that don't really have a purpose anymore.

Thanks for visiting.

New life into an old box...

I thought it was about time I wrote a post, so here it is and as the title says I'm breathing new life into an old box, an old work box / sewing box to be precise.

Now some people will says that old pieces of furniture like this should be left as they are, and for the most part I agree but not always.

Here's the work box - 

It is a nice little work box on barley twist legs, has the added bonus of a storage drawer and a second shelf so it's useful and structurally sound although old rickety joints are easy enough to fix.

The finish or rather whats left of it is not so good, so it needs removing, which is what I'd just started to do in the picture above.

Before that I took out the old lining, now some will say I should have left it and had it been in in good condition I might have, however it had some staining same goes for the drawer lining, it also had an aroma of old so it had to go.

Removing the lining - 

Was probably quite nice in its day.

The lining came out easily enough, although it did leave some of the old card backing in place so to remove that I used a bit of warm soapy water and a scraper much in the way you do when removing wallpaper, so basically wet the card and scrape off.

Like so - 

It's a bit sticky.

The glue used can get a little slimy and sticky but I've found that it will wash off with soap and water and once done you're left with clean wood, which can be sanded and stained, or re-covered.

I also took out some of the woodwork as it needed replacing because I removed the lining.

Wood out - 

Was never meant to be seen, so they cut costs and used what they had.

With the clean up done it was basically sanding and a fair bit of it, which I did by hand and not using a powered sander the main reason is that over the years I've found the types of finishes used in the early part of the 20th century (which when the box dates to) kind of heat up with the friction of an orbital sander and once they do they clog the sanding pads quite quickly, so I just used some 80grit sandpaper and a cork block, it didn't take long and saved on materials, I could have used a chemical stripper but I try to avoid those where possible.

Top sanded back to bare wood - 

Roughly 10 minutes work.

Sanding revealed a lovely oak top, most likely quarter sawn oak, once the top was done it was just more of the same, so I started with 80grit going with the grain and once it was done I used 120grit and once I was happy it was pretty much done.

All sanded - 

Ready for some wax.

The only repair needed was replacing the wood divider that sits between the bottom of the box and drawer, I used a thin piece of reclaimed oak for that.

And it's all done -

Ready for a new life somewhere.

Once I'd sanded it I wiped it over to clean the wood and then I waxed it with an oak coloured wax which once dry I buffed to a shine, then I coated it with a clear wax and again buffed it to a shine, overall I'm pleased with the results and the box is ready to live on, it is still a useful and compact piece of furniture, some people may say it's not fashionable, it's brown furniture I disagree.

It's a lovely antique oak work box that belongs in a nice room in a house and not in the bin or on a bonfire.

Thanks for visiting.

Up-cycling an old shoe shine box...

A short video where I up-cycle an old shoe shine box into something more useful, in this case an easy to carry sewing box.

The box didn't really need much doing to it, just a new handle and a bit of sanding, I did make a small tray for the inside to add extra storage, all in all I'm happy with the results, and again another object given a new life and saved from the bin and for no cost other than a little effort.

I've found over the years that although an object might need some work the way it was built is much better than modern equivalents and was made from better materials, I guess more effort was put in to making an item that functioned well but would also last for many years and production costs were less of an issue.

Anyway the video is below.

Thanks for visiting.

Cutlery canteen up-cycle...

This is a project I completed a while ago, but I was pleased with the results and it was better than putting the box in the bin, it's worth thinking about other uses for things before chucking them out, especially when peoples finances are, shall we say stretched.

During ww2 the UK government at the time introduced the 'Make Do And Mend' campaign (amongst others) and perhaps in the world we currently live in it's something we should re-visit, anyway, below is a video I made of me re-purposing an old cutlery canteen.

Here's the video -

Turned out nicely, and had I not converted it, it would have ended up in landfill, which would have been a shame.

Thanks for visiting.

Re-purposing some old boxes...

I recently got round to doing something with some boxes I picked up a while ago, there were originally used in the printing industry, and they held monophoto negative plates and other plates.

As everything these days is digital there was a chance the boxes would have ended up in landfill, but I've given them some tlc and turned them into artists boxes, quite pleased with the end result.

You can often find things like this at car boots, flea markets and local market places and boxes are always useful and can be quite decorative, I've added some pictures of some of the boxes I've renovated at the end of this post, sometimes it's not so much renovating the boxes as it is repairing them and making them usable again, maybe repairing splits in the wood, or fixing hinges and if it stops them going in the bin then that has to be good thing, I've also found that old boxes despite any faults are more often than not better built than things you can buy these days.

Here's the video of this particular set of boxes - 

And here are some others - 

This one was an old letter box, probably from the 1950's, a lovely Oak box that just needed some tlc.

The box in the image on the right was another one used in the printing industry, this box held large glass plate negatives, it's a great size for a bookcase as you can see.

So there we are some good sturdy boxes saved from the bin, has to be a good thing.

Thanks for visiting.

Barometer renovation...

There was a time when households would have had a barometer hanging on the wall as a way to tell what the weather might do on any given day, they were also used to forecast the weather as well, in reality a lot of the barometers that were available to buy were I guess treated like a gimmick, perhaps as something one might buy if you had the money, not particularly accurate compared to the instruments used by weather forecasters, but never the less they were interesting things to own.

Most of the barometers I have renovated and repaired have been aneroid barometers, these types of barometers were invented around 1844 by a French scientist called Lucien Vidi, and whilst the movements are largely the same the cases were very varied, often wooden, but sometimes in stone, such as slate, serpentine and marble, some had wrought iron cases (which is what I call them) below is an image taken from a catalogue that dates to around 1950(ish) and although the images are black and white you can get an idea of the variety that were available.

A small selection of what was available - 

Below is a video in which I make a new case for a barometer I purchased, I think it's a better fit for the style of barometer, and I'm pleased with the overall result, including reusing wood from an old pub table and stool set that was destined for the bin, part way through the video is an image of another barometer I renovated, although all that one needed was a refresh to the teak case.

Video -

They are interesting things to own and as the variety of styles is... varied there is something to suit most tastes, and in the case of the one in the video if you have the tools you can make your own case.

Thanks for visiting.

Sewing Box Renovation...

It's been a while since I've written a post on here, the last few have been cross posted from my Youtube channel, so I thought I'd do things the other way round maybe.

I have over the years repaired many things, and this sewing box that I recently acquired was in need of some attention.

Sewing box (cat for scale) - 

The box was made around 1930 / 1940 and it's made from Oak, and has it's original Bakelite casters, a nice thing, it was lined with a silk like material, however over the years it had become badly stained and I think maybe moths had been at it as well, the wood work also needed some tlc, nothing drastic just joints re-gluing and the finish was very patchy.

So as with most jobs like this it has to get worse before it gets better, time to take stuff apart, which wasn't that hard seeing as time had done some of the work already.

Pile of bits - 

You can see the green material, which was glued to very old board, what was also interesting is that whoever made the box had used 2 bits of board to fix the legs to the box part, which meant I needed to find a way of fixing the 2 bits back together, but first sanding the old finish off and removing the years old glue that seemed to be everywhere.

Right most of the sanding done, time to start putting things back together, a good idea when doing something like this is to use a tub with a lid for any screws and other fixings you take off, that way they don't get lost.

First the top section which makes up the box needed to be glued back together - 

I had to do this in stages, but it worked well in the end and once that was done it was on to fixing the box section back onto the legs, to replace the board I removed I cut thin strips of oak salvaged from an old table (made around the same time as it happens) and used these to glue and pin the 2 sections together, I used a load of clamps to make sure there was good contact between the 2 sections.

Many clamps - 

I also used strips of wood as wedges to push the strips of oak into the top section, this was also necessary as the top had a bow in 2 sides which is now gone.

In the image the black lines indicate the new strips of oak that fix the 2 parts together, the bits with red marks we just wedges.

 

I did also need to cut a new pieces of wood for the base of the main box, the drawer and the 2 smaller top boxes as these had been lined with the green silk and none were salvageable, another good tip if you do anything like this is to try and remove the parts in one piece as this will give you templates for any new parts you might need to make, just makes life easier.

Once I had it all glued and pinned back together it was just more sanding to remove access glue and then the wood needed to be stained (I used a light oak stain) mainly because the sanding process removed some of the colour, and after the stain had dried I applied a dark oak wax and buffed it to a nice shine, and then I've applied a further clear wax to help maintain the finish.

And here it is, all done and ready for many more years of service, very pleased with the end result.

Saved from landfill, now just got to sort the other one I have out (some assembly required)

Yes there's a bit more work in this one, but once it's done it should look similar to the one in the picture below, which was another sewing box I renovated a while ago.

Thanks for visiting.

How to tidy up a hole using a forstner bit.

This is a handy tip if you ever need to tidy up a hole in something wooden, in my case it was were holes had been made in the back of an Oak tv unit, I could have made things easier for myself by using clamps, but it worked out in the end.

If you don't have forstner bits then holes saw would work just as well.

Anyway have a look at the video -

Thanks for visiting. 

Simple to make cat scratcher...

A quick slide show of the steps I used to make a cat scratcher, luckily I had some wood which worked well for this as it already had grooves in it, and we always have cardboard about the house and as the cardboard wears out we can easily replace it.

The design is as basic as you can get really, but there's no reason you couldn't make it in a different shape, or with a slight angle or even one that sits upright.

Overall it cost nothing in materials to make, it's all recycled stuff and the cat seems to like it.

Here's the video -

Thanks for visiting.

How to make Rhubarb wine...

Rhubarb wine has become one of our yearly wines, it's simple to make and is usually ready quite quickly, and as we grow our own rhubarb it's also a good way of using it up if you have loads, anyway here's a short video on how to make rhubarb wine, or at least how we do it, it's a simple recipe and works well, the resulting wine is very nice and has a good flavour.

Here's the video -

Thanks for visiting.

Simple wooden christmas tree decorations...

Simple to make wooden christmas tree decorations, these are made from scrap wood and don't require any special tools, they're easy for kids to make as well, and cats seem to approve as well.

These are a good use for some scrap bits of wood, and there are numerous ways you could make something similar to these, they can be painted or left plain and decorated with lights as we have, if you wanted something a bit more natural looking you could use sticks or small branches.

Here's the video - 

Thanks for visiting.

Cleaning up old door hinges...

A short how to on removing paint from door hinges, I use a blow torch because it's quick and I'm lazy, but you could just wire brush the hinges, or use a heat gun (the kind for stripping paint) solvents would work as well, like the liquid paint stripper you can buy, I just prefer this method.

Works on steel hinges, I'd be careful if the hinges are brass though as excess heat may warp the metal, easiest way to tell would be to use a magnet, a magnet won't stick to brass.

After the hinges are cleaned a small drop of oil, or spray of WD-40 will make them work like new and they'll be ready for use on another door, this would work on hinges used on windows as well, and the casement stays, basically any metal that is covered in paint could be cleaned using this method, but make sure you use a well ventilated area when doing this, and be aware that the metal will get hot, so wear good heat proof gloves, or hold the hinge in some grips.

Here's the video -

Thanks for visiting.

Homemade copper slug rings...

A short slideshow on how we made some slug rings to protect our young sunflower plants,and other plants, these are easy to make using just hand tools, and all you need is some old plastic waste pipe (which is what I used) or some other type of pipe that has some flex to it, and some self adhesive copper tape, which a lot of garden centers and diy type shops sell.

You could also use larger sizes of pipe to make bigger rings, basically all you need to do is cut the pipe into sections that are the same width as the copper tape, and then cut them so you can open and close them, then all that's left is to wrap them in the copper tape, easy and they are reusable as well.

They worked well to protect our young sunflowers so we'll be using them again on other plants that slugs and snails like.

Here's the video -

Thanks for visiting.

A video of a much needed repair to one of our sets of wood framed double glazed windows, the repair was carried out a while ago now and is holding up well, and I have since carried out a similar repair to one of the other windows on the house, which is the bonus of having wood frame windows, it's easy to carry out repairs like this, tends to be a bit harder on upvc windows.

You can see in the video that the bead that holds the glazed unit in has started to rot, so this is me carefully cutting out the rotten wood and replacing it with a new piece and making good.

The alternative to doing this kind of repair maybe to strip the paint off the wood and apply a wood plasticiser, there are products you can buy that essential soak into the wood and set hard, they also prevent further damage.

Here's the video -

Thanks for visiting.

Replacing a failed sealed unit...

This is a job I've finally got round to fixing, basically one of the double glazed units (sealed units) in our wood framed double gazed windows failed a while ago, by that I mean condensation was building up between the 2 panes of glass and rather than replace the whole frame i decided to just replace the sealed unit.

I found a company near to us who can make sealed units to whatever spec you want so I ordered one, much cheaper than replacing the whole frame. The sealed units in upvc windows can also be replaced in a similar way and it's cheaper to replace them rather than the whole window frame, how to's can be found online and a few minutes searching will find companies near to you who can make replacement units, you will need measurements though.

Here's a video of the process, obviously this will be different for upvc windows -

Thanks for visiting.

Allotment Update...

This is the first of many visits to the allotment, I had thought I was starting later than I usual do, turns out I'm a bit earlier this year than last year, and as it happens we have started most of our seeds off earlier than we have in previous years.

Doesn't look like much was done, but you have to start somewhere.

Here's the video -

Thanks for visiting.

Harvesting Grey water...

If you want to collect waste water please do some research into it first, there are things to consider in terms of storing and preventing bacteria buildup, filtration and numerous other things, we've installed a simple system that will only be used in the summer and any water will only be stored temporarily, so no longer than 24 hours

For a while now we've talked about trying to save more water, we have 5 waterbutts for collecting rain water, but we felt we could collect the water from showers and baths.

So to that end we've installed a very simple system to divert the water from the bathroom waste to a temporary storage tank (waterbutt) for use in the summer months for watering the ornamental plants.

It's a really simple install, it does involve some basic plumbing however, I've used solvent welds for this as I prefer that to push fit.

The valve we're installing is made by a company called Watertwo and it costs about 30 pounds, and here's a link to their website - https://watertwo.co.uk/the-watertwo-device/

Here's the rough installation guide -

Thanks for visiting.

Glass sphere / crystal ball stand...

My wife has a new glass sphere which she wanted for taking pictures through, it does come with a small glass holder, but she wanted something a little more sturdy so I made a stand for the sphere from a piece of oak.

The wood has some cracks in it, but I used CA glue to stabilise them and although a simple shape it works well, and looks good with the sphere sitting on it.

Here's the video -

Thanks for visiting.

Turning Picture Frames...

This is a project I started sometime ago, but only just got round to finishing.

It turns out that you can make pretty good picture frames using a lathe, although you will be restricted by the capabilities of your lathe, as in how big you can make them, but you could always go the other way and see how small you can make them. They are pretty easy to make and can be stained or painted to suit your needs, and you can make them from solid pieces of wood or by gluing wood together, it depends on what you can get hold of in terms of materials.

Have a look -

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This is not one of my better ideas, but I have always (for some reason) wanted to turn chipboard (particle board) to see what would happen, well now I know.

It's not something I'll ever do again, chipboard or particle board as it's known is horrible stuff to turn for obvious reasons, the end result is oddly pleasing, but the actual turning was very messy, lots of dust so it goes without saying that you need a proper dust mask and eye protection (even when turning proper wood)

The end result is oddly pleasing though.

Here's the video -

Thanks for visiting.