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Tape holder
Its body was made from a plastic pipe, that was part of an intake/exhaust gas boiler shaft. However, not its origin, but its diameter was more important to me, the pipe could go inside the masking tape roll and surprisingly it could store some insulation tape inside. The scrap pipe I had was too long, I had to cut it to size using a hand saw and a mitre box, and next, all the sharp edges had to be sanded down. Once that was done I started drilling holes. As that project was very simple, there were only 2 steps…
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Metal paper plane
I only guess that everyone would like to ask a question: “Does it fly?”. Just in case if anyone does – I haven’t tried. It could and probably would fall down, leaving scratches on the painted surface. It would be also too dangerous for anyone around. It wasn’t my intention to build a weapon, I wanted to make something that I used to make every day when I was a little boy. Only this time I used more advanced material. Childhood memories and the beauty of flying – that’s all this project is about. Recalling happy memories – one of…
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Purple portable lamp
This project is a remake of something that was made earlier and wasn’t used too much. It was called a bottleneck vessel and was made from an old champagne bottle. Cutting and polishing the bottle was briefly explained in that post, so I can now focus on part 2 of the making. The easiest way to insert a cable to the inside, and not do it from the top, obviously, is to drill a hole on the side. Another way is to cut off the bottom as I do every so often. But in this project, I drilled a hole…
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Garden sink
A plastic bucket, a short piece of garden hose and a wooden base create a garden sink, a thing that I urgently needed to stop wasting water. Plumbing and woodworking skills were used to make this project. Preparing the bucket was more challenging than the woodworking part, as plumbing isn’t my favourite thing, and usually, I don’t know exactly what I’m doing. On the other hand, all the wood joints I was going to cut were previously used and tested in the other project (a plant stand), so I had a clear idea of what to do. This sink was…
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Cranberry lamp
Indeed, it looks like cranberries in a bottle, it’s even a cranberry liqueur bottle. Coincidence? – I don’t think so. The contents determined the LED string colour, it could be anything, but for this project, I used red lights. I simply drilled a hole for the LED string, installed a grommet and plugged the lamp in. Power consumption is very low, as this is a USB string, it also doesn’t generate heat. It’s a great present idea or a beautiful decoration for any table/shelf. Here’s the How-It’s-Made part: Drilling the hole was easy and done with the bottle completely submerged.…
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Gin bottle lamp
This is a continuation of my latest project – square gin bottle cut – largely about woodworking as the glass was already cut and ready to go. With the right tool, which was my new bandsaw, cutting the base was easy and accurate. I cut it just outside the line and removed the rest of the material with my belt sander. I also eased the edges with sandpaper, the top one just a bit and the bottom one quite much. I usually do the same for table tops, platforms and such, but I use my router instead of a sanding…
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Square gin bottle cut
Rhubarb gin, very tasty if I may say so, in a bottle that could be used for a few projects. I was lucky with this one as it cracked as planned and gave me 2 parts, the bottom one could be a drinking glass and the top one, probably be some decorative lighting with a wooden base. Thick walls, clear glass, flat bottom. It would be way easier to process it if the bottle was round, but that project was a little more challenging and time-consuming, more rewarding though. As always it was done step by step: removing the labels,…
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USB LED lamp
This lamp replaced my x-mas lights in a bottle one, as it simply burned out after 2 ½ years of use. The project involved cutting a new bottle and making a wooden base for it. The old bottle finished its life in a recycling bin, it was time to try alternative methods and approaches to making bottle lamps. The challenge was always about inserting a wire through the glass or placing it into the glass (bottle) in a nice and only way, which was from the bottom. There were no safety features to be concerned with because it was using…
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Refreshment glasses
The 710 ml Corona beer bottle and the oil bottle were quite easy to cut and they cracked exactly along the scored lines. After they were cut in half I could say that their walls were uniformly thick and it looked like an easy project. I set up my drill press and started the sanding process, as always using all the grits from 40 to 3000. Of course, I set the drill press at a comfortable height and locked it in that position. I was holding the workpieces in my hands, pressing them against the rotating tools and not the…
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Map of Europe
I’ve always been charmed by the simplicity of halftone images and loved the optical illusion they make. There are many free online tools that you can use to convert any image to a halftone one. I got the best results by converting a low-resolution political map which gave me an inconsistent and irregular sequence of dots. The project was very challenging and drilling holes took 3 days! But I was happy that I finally upcycled that old piece of plastic and had an excuse to make a picture frame featuring very special reinforcements. First I squared the plastic sheet off…
