Wood 'n' stuff

08/03/2026

I've been spending some time trying to save the contents of my Wife's greenhouse now that she's passed away. A lot of the things in there I know what they are, others I've had to use an App to look up. Unfortunately, the existing plastic ID Tags that Michelle wrote on have faded, so I can't see what they are.

Once I've sussed out what they are I'm designing/3d printing new tags from 2 colour plastic that have embossed letters and shouldn't fade.

No, not Wood, but definitely comes under the title " 'n' Stuff " which is what this page is about. 😃

27/02/2026

Well, it's in stalled and working. No more printer p**p on the table.

27/02/2026

Time-lapse vid of how the printer printed the large "p**p" drawer. NB: The printer is fast, but not THAT fast, the print took 9hrs. In the 3d printing world, that's NOT a long time for a print.

27/02/2026

My new monster-sized 3d printer has arrived! As this can print with multiple filaments, it has to "purge" the old colour before it prints with the next colour. As part of this process it "p**ps" to purged filament out of the back. So, at the moment it's not house-trained. Not anymore, I've had it print it's own "P**p Chute" and a large drawer to collect it. (The second picture is roughly how the drawer and chute fit together.)

25/02/2026

Netting arrived. Finished!

24/02/2026

Just weeded one of the planters that I made a couple of years ago and of course one of the cats welcome's the new "toilet". Not anymore. Designed and 3d printed some sturdy post holders and used some reclaimed timber to make the posts. Don't have enough netting to surround it, so I'll have to order some. Temporary measure until the plants grow enough to cover all the ground and then the cat "goes" somewhere else.

20/02/2026

A 3d printer test for a personal project. New filament bought, "Metallic Bronze", not used it before. The left is at the lowest (roughest/quickest) print settings. The middle and right are highest quality, middle with ironing (smoothing) on background and tops of the letters and the right with smoothing just on the top surfaces of the letters.

The project itself will take roughly 17hrs to print. Will keep you posted. 😀

22/08/2025

This new hedgehog house has been delivered to its new home today. Can’t wait to see it in its new environment. These are made to order from repurposed wood for just £40.

16/08/2025

The woodpeckers are first of all cut using the engraver, with the engraving pattern on each side, then glued together and clamped. The edges are cleaned up and a pull cord and spring are added. In the meantime, I’ve made a plaque for him to be attached to and before assembly everything gets a few coats of varnish for protection. These are just £20 each if you’re interested. Collection from New Hartley or I can post at cost.

16/08/2025

I’ve been making woodpecker ‘knockers’ for a customer. This was me testing the ‘knock’!

06/08/2025

We're lucky enough to have some woodpeckers who have been visiting our garden, they've been feeding from the peanut feeders. Our peanut feeders (first two photos) usually have loads of smaller birds lined up at them, but they tend to avoid them if the woodpecker is on it.
My wife asked if I could a couple of different feeders especially for the woodpeckers. I made a natural log feeder (third photo) with some holes in and a slanted top, this prevents the bigger birds from being able to land on it, and the holes are filled with suet and seeds. The other one is an upside down house style (fourth photo), which has a grill bottom and enough space for the big suet blocks to go in. It's fabulous to see the woodpeckers enjoying these and the larger birds can't manage to hang on them.
I can make these to order, the logs on a chain are £12 each, and the upside down houses take more construction so these work out at £25 each.

17/07/2025