[The Apprentice]

Howdy Folks

I am proud to share my homemade flexi drive unit, the ideal tool for the jeweller and or craft worker.

Made from a standard Dyson hoover motor, ofr the shelf flexi lance and a foot pedal.

She is driven via a desktop AC variac which also acts as a speed controller, there is a slight delay at the lower voltages 40volts which aids drill starting with a slow ramp up speed, and can be turned down to almost no voltage and run nicely.

The simple mounting bracket is from plywood to hold everything in place and prevents the outer cable from turning.

Since making my first unit I have now made a second drive and fitted a double switch so I can quickly switch from one to another in a couple of seconds, this saves a lot of time when using multiple cutters, drills etc.

See the item in use here, https://youtu.be/ItU8q_wgAJs

_1030419 by apprentice 01, on Flickr

Thanks for looking, lots more videos of homemade items to follow in the next few weeks and months.

[The Apprentice]

A sellection of hammered copper bracelets that  I made to varying designs, a few have Sterling silver ornaments soldered onto them in the guise of solar esoterics, good for the old rheumatoids they say, not tried it for any length of time but some swear by them giving benefits in those avenues.

A few are made to the byzantium and Persian link technique for something different.

All were made from recycled copper from and old water tank and reclained copper wire from electricl cables, the flat plate versions were cut out by hand using a jewellers piercing saw.

20150101_000528 by apprentice 01, on Flickr

20150101_000608 by apprentice 01, on Flickr





Thanks for looking.

[The Apprentice]

My Mk 1 and 2 of homemade version of a leatherworks leather plough or sometimes called a strap or belt cutter, used for making horse harnesses, I used solid billet brass for the main body then cut, milled and polished it to the final shape.

It has two paralell bars for the adjustable fence to slide along it also a quick lock cam system which locks both the fence and main hold down roller in one operation, there are many old vintage as well as new counterparts on the market today but theyhave become quite expensive, some as much as 500 Euros each.

The total cost for the materials came to around 50 pounds, a huge saving and a much better quality tool than the others I have seen and used over the years, the main aim of this project was the huge savings, it will come in mighty handy for making my own belts and straps in my leatherwork projects to come.

20170502_181859 by apprentice 01, on Flickr

20170502_181930 by apprentice 01, on Flickr

20150101_013628 by apprentice 01, on Flickr

20150101_034946 by apprentice 01, on Flickr



Thanks for looking.

[The Apprentice]

My faviorite subjects at school were woodwork and metalwork, where I was lucky enough to have extra tuition in those subjects and could skip classes and avoid other mundane levels of education.

Here in many of my creations shown is the culmination of those real life skills, that in my humble opinion society is by and large seriously lacking today in young hands, skills that were extant fourty years ago right across the United Kingdom.

My homemade Dutch style greenhouse made predominantly from Western Red Cedar, the traditional timber for a long lasting wooden structure, known for its anti rotting properties.

The whole structure sits on top of two elongated raised beds, leaving a meter wide central well in between, the two raised beds and or boxes were made from recycled scaffold boards, she has a footprint measuring ten feet square, made possible by the Leaning Dutch style construction.

The toal cost for materials including the twin skin plastic glass and two sliding rails for the doors came to six hundred pounds, which is a huge saving from the retail world, a saving of almost three thousand pounds at this specification today.


20160923_122904 by apprentice 01, on Flickr

The entire structure was made on this one hundred pounds budget style table saw, all of the beading which holds the glass in place was carefully cut from the corners of the two inch square sections which leaves behind a corner shoulder at the same time for the glass to sit, then the whole frame is dry screwed together for easy dissasembly as and when repairs are needed.

20150101_000215 by apprentice 01, on Flickr

Showing the internal spaces, she has two sliding doors, one at either end and two internal upper shelves made using standard 2 by 1 inch wooden roofing lathes, on one side shelf I errected an enclosed hot box for bringing on early seedling. 

The floor of the hot box become one of those shelves which allows a through flow of air so things don't get too hot on the warmer spring days, this flow can be regulated by pushing the lathes closer or further apart, it works very well without extra heating needed earlier in the season.

20150101_002242 by apprentice 01, on Flickr

Once the seedlings become plants we place them on another removeable wooden table and then down on the soil once the last frosts of spring have passed to harden them off before planting out, we have had great success doing it this way for over 15 years.


20170501_183127 by apprentice 01, on Flickr

20170414_180138 by apprentice 01, on Flickr

Solid copper watering can by Haws, wooden foldable table shelf is from the fifties.

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One of my other hobbies is keeping Honey bees, here is my homemade Solar wax melter for recycling my wax for making candles and wax blocks for my shoemaking hobby, works great for seasoning my waxed twin cords for sewing in my shoe soles.

It was made from the cheaper grade shuttering plywood to a pattern I saw several years ago, the entire box section is dovetailed together and built around a stainless steel catering tray which sits inside, and is also dismantleable for easy repairs and held together without any glue by a few screws overall.

The lid is made from the same double glazing glass units as my garden mini greenhouses,  the two panes of glass have a 20.00mm gap to allow superb insulating properties, I have recoded a temp of 258 degrees on a sunny day inside, which is more than enough heat to melt beeswax which melts at 140 + degrees.

20150101_015549 by apprentice 01, on Flickr


It has a double compartment in the guise of a cooler lower box at the front where you place  glass bowl containing a little water for the wax to drop through from the upper sealed compartment so it is cooler to handle when emptying the bowl, this is done through a sliding door at the front without needing to lift the lid during the melting process and letting out any heat that has built up inside, she is a superb user feindly addition to my beekeeping tools.

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My homemade kitchen wooden preperation block, made from Douglas Fire blocks, each block is cut and positioned so the end grain is facing upwards for greater durability and then glued together and clamped securly using high strength ratchet straps, then I coated the whole block with boiled linseed oil for a good waterproof seal, which can be cleaned and re-oiled whenever needed.

20150103_012008 by apprentice 01, on Flickr

This is one of the most used items in our kitchen today and should last for many years to come.

20150103_082336 by apprentice 01, on Flickr



Next is my homemade shaving horse or often called in antiquity as the old grey maire, made from a solid plank of English Elm with a unique ratchet style system on the clamping jaw/table, in the form of a solid English oak ratchet and pall stytem instead of the traditinal wooden wedge that is normally placed between the main plank or seat and the tilting table.

A quick flic of the locking pall in the seating plank then you can raise or lower the table to accomodate any thickness of material up to five inches and it will never slip out like a wooden wedge can under duress during use.


20150101_015531 by apprentice 01, on Flickr


If anyone would like more pictures etc to have a go at making any of these items yourself you are welcome to visit or have some layout plans etc.

Please note, non of these items are for sale.

Thanks for looking.

[The Apprentice]

Howdy

How has everyone doing in this mad topsy turvy world, can see a sellection of my latest tools at the link below, it has been a busy money saving summer in the old workshop, where each and every item made brings in huge savings, and when added together give security and peace of mind that one can still function in a world currently in a tail spin.

Here is my new online channel, if you are a follower here, please could you give it a mention to help promote Richies work.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoaSRYR...MdBTkSqpJA

Many thanks in advance

DDS.

[The Apprentice]

Been busy building my own workshop tools and a new YouTube channel of late, in the form of engine and carburettor and other stands.

First is in the form of a universale engine stand for most off road and small road bike engines, with it I can comfortably strip down the engine without it sliding all over the workbench, my new channel below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dI-CXmNcNPE

Next is an engine work stand for Lambretta engines, before and affter shots of what I call my LamboStand,

_1030551 by apprentice 01, on Flickr

_1030541 by apprentice 01, on Flickr

_1030544 by apprentice 01, on Flickr

Next item is a bespoke carburettor stand, another vital tool for getting the settings correct and holds everything secure on the bench.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXejCKaR2uk&t=5s

And finally a bespoke suspension vice for holding motorcycle fron forks/suspensions, a great toll to give both hands true freedom instead of struggling trying to work on them on a bench.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fA8JR7hlabI

If there are any bike riders watching, please ride safe and thanks for looking.

[The Apprentice]

Another engine stand for holding things in situ whilst working, these are a must to prevent things sliding all over the work bench, here she is in the making and finally completed.

https://youtu.be/yi6jGk-KGg8

https://youtu.be/dI-CXmNcNPE

[The Apprentice]

My latest iteration and problem solving conundrum of how to bend metal accurately and easily for my jewellery making projects.
This tool comes in the form of a homemade bending press for forming silver and other sheet metals that we I use.

https://youtu.be/JLnWzerVH60

_1030583 by apprentice 01, on Flickr


Thanks for looking, please share and or subscribe for lots more items in the pipeline.

[The Apprentice]

My latest homemade creation, a brand new jewellers workbench, something that I have needed for some time, it has a set of four inch square legs and a top 2-1/2" thick, the pin and rest was made from recycled metals from a freinds scrap metal bin, the wooden rest or pin is made from English Yew.
Built to last a lifetime and much better than the old Ikea computer dest that I converted earlier.

DSC_4659 by apprentice 01, on Flickr

DSC_4656 by apprentice 01, on Flickr

[The Apprentice]

Recently I made several bespoe designs of handbags, made from leather and wood with stainless steel Torx self tapping screws.
An unusual colletion of materials in a unique design of leather/wood for everyday use, a few different sizes from the every day bag to a small weekend unit.

You can follow the build process in the following video's,

https://youtu.be/uFDkOWlOS04

https://youtu.be/VShmY7vDB_o

https://youtu.be/31eByWFCdec

20190315_124832 by apprentice 01, on Flickr