Author Archives: james

Off the scale!

Posted on January 10, 2026 by james

Ok, not quite. I wish I could think of a practical way to extract this heat though, say until the heap cooled to about 50°C.

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Tacwise 191EL nail/brad gun repair

Posted on January 10, 2026 by james

I use my Tacwise 191EL quite a bit for making bee equipment, so I was a little distressed when it stopped working. After doing the easy “check the fuse” type stuff I decided that since it was out of guarantee … Continue reading →

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This little chile lived all Winter

Posted on January 10, 2026 by james

A Hungarian Black, which oddly is not a mind-altering leaf crop, in Frankenstein’s greenhouse. This survived the entire Winter last year and is still going strong even now. Produced a nice crop of chiles, too 😀 Others nearby didn’t make … Continue reading →

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Compost temperature

Posted on January 10, 2026 by james

It’s ok if it’s not in the red, right?

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Laser cut jewellery display

Posted on January 10, 2026 by james

My daughter asked if I could make a little display stand for the earrings she makes to sell and suchlike. “Shouldn’t be that hard,” I thought. Here’s the actual stand. FreeCAD for the win, once again. Just need to make … Continue reading →

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Bait hive floors

Posted on January 10, 2026 by james

I’ve never had purpose-made bait hives. I just use old brood boxes that aren’t really good enough for bees to over-winter in. I paint them a dark green/grey so I can tell them apart from all the others. Then I … Continue reading →

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This is not one of Trump’s hands

Posted on January 10, 2026 by james

It is a normal human adult male hand. So pretty much completely the opposite 😀

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My honey jar box is evolving…

Posted on January 10, 2026 by james

I don’t feel that I’ve reached the final iteration yet, but I wanted to do something that made the box rather more visually appealing. Here’s what I came up with.

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Skoda Octavia lock failure #4

Posted on January 10, 2026 by james

It is done! Well, not quite, if I’m honest, and it turned into even more of a pain before the lock was usable again… I fitted my new lock and reassembled the door, which is considerably easier to do with … Continue reading →

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DIY laser bed

Posted on January 10, 2026 by james

After making a few items with the laser cutter I’ve come to the conclusion that a cutting bed is probably desirable, but I want to see how much difference it actually makes. I’ve therefore had a dig around in my … Continue reading →

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