A new balcony and canopy for the main entrance
Submitted by pekka on Mon, 12/10/2009 - 17:26.We moved in to an old timber framed house six
years ago and I have been renovating it since. This year I got the last
bits finished on the outside, now there is still only some interior
work left.
Last things to be done were the front door and the balcony. The "before" image has been taken on the first winter after moving in and the "after" one just a few weeks ago.
Last things to be done were the front door and the balcony. The "before" image has been taken on the first winter after moving in and the "after" one just a few weeks ago.
Hand planed moldings for my bathroom
Submitted by Pekka Huhta on Thu, 05/06/2008 - 15:32.
I wanted hand planed moldings to my bathroom – actually they were a big part of the design from the start. I actually started the whole project by planing the first moldings, the story can be found at http://www.sihistin.fi/en/woodwork/moldings.html
Starting from the material: I use pine, as slowly grown as I can find, free of knots and cross-grain. Here is an example of what I mean:
Replacing a horn on a smoothing plane
Submitted by Pekka Huhta on Wed, 05/12/2007 - 01:00.The horn on a "continental style" or german handplane is often missing.
Main reason is the force used to plane, but reading from the cracks on
several planes, they also suffer from the same "dropping syndrome" as
the totes on Stanleys.
Replacing the horn can be as easy as this:
Replacing the horn can be as easy as this:
Quick repair: new sole for a reeding plane
Submitted by Pekka Huhta on Tue, 04/12/2007 - 14:31.Just as a quick note: one method for replacing
the insert piece on a wooden plane. (What should the "insert" be
called? If they are "boxed" planes, is the insert piece a box then?)
Half of the insert was gone, but I managed to plane a short length of the appropriate profile with the plane anyway.
I made a slot to the molding for a scraper. Scraper blank came from an old cast steel saw blade.
Half of the insert was gone, but I managed to plane a short length of the appropriate profile with the plane anyway.
I made a slot to the molding for a scraper. Scraper blank came from an old cast steel saw blade.
Hand-planed moldings
Submitted by Pekka Huhta on Tue, 04/12/2007 - 13:50.My house is built 1919 from recycled components,
apparently taken from a bigger house somewhere. For my bathroom project
I decided to add a few new profiles in addition to the vast amount of
old recycled moldings I have scattered all over the house. Just for the
fun of doing it, and perhaps to prove my dear wife that there really is
a point in collecting all of those planes 
A self-made wooden lathe
Submitted by Pekka Huhta on Tue, 04/12/2007 - 01:00.
I had a problem: I needed a lathe for a couple of chisel handles but
had no intention of buying one. My workshop is about 2,3 x 2,4 m big
and already pretty full and I did not want to waste money for something
that could be easily built anyway.
I have used my hand drill for all sorts of small turning tasks, modifying screw heads, polishing anything that could be gripped in the chuck and rotated etc. So the thought of using a hand drill as the motor for the drill was quite obvious.
I have used my hand drill for all sorts of small turning tasks, modifying screw heads, polishing anything that could be gripped in the chuck and rotated etc. So the thought of using a hand drill as the motor for the drill was quite obvious.
Tar, what it is and how it is made?
Submitted by pekka on Mon, 01/10/2007 - 17:04."Stockholm tar", pine tar that is, has been made for thousands of years. The name Stockholm Tar has a centuries old history. Tar was mainly made in Finland (which was a part of Sweden those days) but as it was all sold through Stockholm, the name came and stayed. The poor Swedes had burned most of their forests with their iron industry they came over to the periphery (Finland) and bought our forests in form of tar.
