The impossible hole

This is a story of the impossible hole.

Im not saying it was impossible to make, but before I realized how to do it I was facing a typical situation in my life.
Bad conditions representing something I would not prefer,
and it seemed like there was no way out feeling discouraged about them.

But I could not recommend anyone to do something like this except in an emergency,
 because it is a lot of unnecessary work, 

requires immense focus over relatively long periof of time 

and angel grinders as a tool can somethimes be tricky.

.......

 So I was doing this bathroom tiling in the middle of the woods far away from the closest big hardware store
and it was a tight weekend to wrap up all the tiling.


And because every story needs a villain this is it;

 A box of cheap set of hole saw drills for tiles.
I asked my friend to bring them for me to make few holes.
I mean it was just a black box.
It had no name, no brand.. Nothing, and that is how they where selling it in the shop :)

Usually I work with people who have these tools as well, and because the need for new tools is never ending, sometimes Im satisfied with moderate quality.

The whole bathroom had like a single hole in a middle of a tile, since all the plumming was coming on the surface.
So I was quite certain that these saw blades would do it,
 but this is what happend.

The centering drill got destroyed immediately from trying to get trough.
I had to make those holes with a other dimond, but the actual hole saw blade hardly scratch the surface.
A hi speed drill with a proper cooling with water,
a lot of time,
and still the hole saw blade went in just like a millimeter.

So the question was how to make a hole in the middle of a hard tile with these tools.

The hole should be from 73 to 75mm and this angle grinder blade is 115mm !
First I thought it was impossible to have and impeccable solution for my situation,

but then I realized that I can make the hole with the angle grinder
and I can finish this tiling over the weekend!

 So first I started by using the hole saw drill to draw two circles.
And then I grinded the perimiter with the 115mm blade and made a cross in the middle.
 

It looked like this from behind and I could continue from the back.

 Then I cut off everything that I could to clear it out,

  Cleaned the rest with the blade from behind coming very close to the edge.

And it became like this;

The other hole was easy to do from the border.

 And from behind - what was previoisly known to me as a impossible hole - looked like this!

 Cleaning it a bit after first fitting.

Adding the plaster,

 and putting the tiles to the place they belonged.

These holes became my gift to the house.
I did not charge of the time it took me to make them,
because I felt it was my responsability to have the proper tools with me in the first place.

And suprisingly it became a journey of excitement
to see how I would manage to change my beliefs about the (w)hole situation.

A classic stand

I've been busy working on house renovation and construction lately, but here's a glimpse of especial tinkering. I was asked to make this classic stand and this is the streak.

First this antique piece of wood was selected and cut to the lenght requested.

Then I procecced it by sanding it slightly to rounden it and to get it splinter free. 

Only the finest paper was used to bring out the awesomeness of the wood, the figures of the original round saw blade.The patina was left untouched.

 

The holder slabs were needed to be made well to hide the attatchement and to take any weight neccessary.

 Then I made the bed,

 and sank it in a millimeter under the surface of the wood, so the brass will not touch the wall.

 Then after careful measurements and pre-drilling, I simply attached every screw to its center.

The hooks are new swedish production, but untreated, so they will darken nicely over time.

And rise and shine!A touch of timelessness to a modern apartment.

The Old Market Hall

It's been busy lately doing house construction so here's a story from few weeks ago.

I was asked to do these hanging signs for the Old Market Hall next to Market Square.

First I drilled holes for over hundred sign slabs.

Then turned same amount of brass hooks for hanging them.

After that I changed all the shop keeper signs to new ones that represent a fresh look for the market hall. If you are around there, thake a look of the ALKO sing, it's funny since the L is tilted and it look as someone made it drunk ;)

And the same for outside.

Finally open for the public!
The Old Market Hall was renovated for a whole year!
I was there just few last days :)

Put the mother of all eggs in to a basket

Few days back a friend came over bringing this with him; any idea what it is ? :)

Well of course a giant 18 liter ceramic water egg! 

I got an assignement to make bases for ten of these so this is the story of the prototype.

First of we made a mould from an (half-a-century) old newspapers and tapestry glue.

Then the first models,

And with little adjustement it seems to work out allright!

   Then the same process with hickory board 

and the egglet

.

 

After this the base,

 attached with 100mm screws to pre-drilled holes, no glue needed for this one.

Lo and behold! This egg has more water in it you drink in a week! ;)

Here comes the sun - kitchen talk

This is the story of the making the kitchen for our new place, from the floor upwards.

 So first off we started with taking off these plates and plastering revealing the gorgeous red brick wall underneath, good theme for a kitchen.

 I dissambled this fifties kitchen from a block house in Helsinki to have enough pieces to re-create a retro one.

Then the sink cabinet was piled around the pipes and the floor was painted up.
Almost all of the cabinets got a new plinth and a leveling above to meet the hights of modern standards.

The table tops were finely cut to meet the eclectic walls.

 And then attached firmly to the base (though leaving the leeway for the wood to live their own life).
 

The table slabs got elastic joints and the food closet was restored in to its old place, with good insulations the floor heating going around it though, so it could  be turned to a traditional cool cabinet by drilling ventilation to the outer wall.

Then we had a bee to paint all the closets with new surfaces, bright yellow and white!

Cabinets attached to the walls aaand...

we even got power!  No rush finishing this with battens.

And a lot of light with all these old windows.