I’ve been pulled in to the wonderful world of leatherworking, and to accommodate it in my workshop I’ve made some changes. The most important change is the introduction of a new chair! I’m usually not sitting down while working, but now it is much more important to be comfortable while sewing or tooling leather. I…
A sauna ladle from the past
I was visiting my childhood home in Finland, and while I was sitting in the sauna I realised that my old sauna ladle was still there. It was made by me when I was around 10 years old, and it has been in my parents sauna ever since. I don’t think it was ever properly…
Silfer Works Racing Team – Introducing a new Soapbox Car!
My neighbour told me that there is a soapbox car race planned for the neighbourhood kids in three weeks. I of course loved the idea! Just one problem: We don’t have a soapbox car… It would be pretty tight with only three weeks to the race, but I was sure that I was able to…
Narrow John – A reborn classic from 1963
This is a project that started over 10 years ago, and now I finally had a perfect reason to finish it: my youngest child learned how to ride a bike and I needed a new bike for our adventures. I could have of course used my expensive mountain bike, but that wouldn’t have been fitting…
“Mesla” – an electric trike with two seats – Part 1
I’ve been thinking about building an electric trike for some time already, but I never pulled the trigger on buying the motor and other components as I couldn’t find a reasonable battery pack which didn’t cost an arm and a leg. Also, as the trike is meant for the kids, it would need to be…
Companion firewood holder
I made a hanging firewood holder some time back for my sauna, and I’ve started the bad habit of taking the firewood inside in small batches and placing it on the floor. This had to be corrected as I could easily stumble over them while moving inside. You can find the build log for the…
Metalworker’s Pacifier
I was too cheap to buy a new chip collector, and I didn’t like the fact that I would need to use two hands to release the chips. As I had some leftover neodymium magnets from an old project, I decided that I’ll spend my Saturday night to design one that would fit my needs….
Restoration of an ancient metal brake
I got an old metal brake from the family of an old machinist who had passed away. It stood in my workshop for almost an year, but I finally restored it and added a new handle to it to make it functional again. The brake was painted with machine enamel paint, so it should last…
Project with the kids – Treehouse with a funky ladder
My son asked if I could build a treehouse for him. I told him that I can as long as we use all leftovers from the garage. I mostly managed to do that but I bought some nicer looking boards for the siding after I realised how visible the treehouse was from the street. I…
Trike Trailer
My kids were always arguing about who is allowed to ride the small trike on my backyard, so I decided to make a trailer with a seat for it. Time spent was three evenings, couple hours each + painting. The cost of materials is unknown as I only used whatever I found from the garage;…