Category Archives: Projects

How much?! A mind-numbing water leak

Posted on January 16, 2026 by james

Our water supplier read the meter at the start of last September which prompted a letter to me just before they sent the bill saying, “Errr, your bill is going to be quite big. Do you have a leak?”. “Quite … Continue reading →

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And more Speidel apple mill repairs

Posted on January 16, 2026 by james

This time it was a mill that wouldn’t run despite the rotor spinning freely, which suggested an electrical fault. After testing the obvious stuff such as the fuse and power cable it seemed as though there was no choice but … Continue reading →

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More Speidel apple press repairs required

Posted on January 16, 2026 by james

Oh dear! In my hand here is the top half of the bleed valve from the bladder of the press below. It has snapped off inside the rod that supports the bladder, so the actual air release mechanism is still … Continue reading →

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Wasp invasion!

Posted on January 13, 2026 by james

For the second time in three years, wasps invaded around the edge of one of our Velux windows. They’re getting in through the gaps in the aluminium flashing where it fits around the slates in this photo. In fact you … Continue reading →

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Speidel fruit mill bearing replacement

Posted on January 13, 2026 by james

I was delivered a Speidel fruit mill, already heavily disassembled, beacuse it had stopped working. I assume the person who had opened it up thought there might be an electrical fault. I wasn’t 100% convinced though, and the fact that … Continue reading →

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More laser-cut honey boxes

Posted on January 11, 2026 by james

First, one for six standard 1lb round jars for Wivey Kitchen, from Wivey Grows. And then another box for my own honey, this time with my contact details on the back.

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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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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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A new box for honey jars

Posted on January 9, 2026 by james

Now I have the laser cutter, I thought I could make a better box for displaying and transporting jars of honey. Then I found the “laser cut interlocking” plugin for FreeCAD and I was away! This is my first attempt.

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