Made by Simius

It's been way too long since my last post - my creative side has been on hold for a while whilst I dealt with some other stuff, but...

Here's a clock I've recently restored. It's one I made a couple of years back that got broken (turns out slate and toddler kicking a ball indoors are not entirely compatible).

The slate is just beautiful. I really need to get a proper photographer to do it justice! It was a remnant from another restoration job (the slate-topped drawer unit you'll find on here from few years back) which was just too stunning to throw away. Also way too unevenly cut for more conventional use.

The raw slate is sealed with Osmo Concrete Oil which allowed me to bring out the colours whilst maintaining an almost entirety Matt finish.

It's been a while since I got stuck into a big project and this isn't a new piece but a rework. This is a re-sand and re-finish using Osmo wood-wax

I actually built this about 4 years ago, but a couple of years back whilst doing a refresh I used the wrong product and the finish went 'muddy' ... the beautiful details were hidden behind too much pigment.

I've loved this piece (a 3.9m TV unit, network cabinet and ambient lighting unit) ... but I've hated the finish since I c**ked it up. Now (with it out as we were adding some additional ethernet out to the garage) I'm finally restoring it.

The pics are after the first coat and are still wet, so they are far from finished and wee bit shiny but I am soooooo happy with bringing this bit back to its full beauty (and yeah - it's all recycled scaff planks!)

Well overdue but I finally found some 'mild' weather to get the doors to my huuuge storage (3m long!) finished. The gaps are all now all filled and blacked out to make the wood 'pop'.

All reclaimed timbers - the doors are simply re-sized pallets.

At least some of my tools will be dust free now 😆
..now for the next project...fitting a 7.25m iJoist so I can finally finish putting an insulated ceiling in.

Probably not all that exciting to look at, but it's all progress!!!!

Not quite finished, but getting close ..........

Some really 'simple' pallet wood doors for my workshop. Nothing is really that simple when you're fitting reclaimed pallets into a unit made with reclaimed timbers 😆

The challenge is to get the doors 'precision' fitted when little is square or flat to begin with ... and it's going well!

So far 100% of the timber for the workshop has been reclaimed. I've had to resort to new hinges and catches but that's it for new materials! Even the handles are reclaimed...from a kitchen project over 20 years ago!!

Time to take the clamps off this and see how well my precision positioning has gone 🤞🏼

Excited!!!!!! Just had delivery of a batch of reclaimed 9x2. First job ... strip them clean! Then I get to crack into my latest project 😀

Not everything made by Simius is built to last ... this lovely winter rhubarb and clove syrup for gin cocktails definitely won't be around for long 😉

Some days even your biggest sash clamps just aren't big enough ... (o_0)

This is the biggest 3-way link I've had to do (yet) at a fraction over 2.5m! This table has, as expected, shrunk a little as the wood has dried and settled so I needed to tighten the legs a little.

Thanks to Covid this little beauty has never been used yet - fingers crossed it will be surrounded by family this Xmas!

I love working with reclaimed timbers and the challenges that come with using them - you won't see one of these in Ikea ;)

...got onto the final stage quicker than expected!

First shot show the original finish, sanded and the new finish ... I can't believe how much the Osmo makes the grain "pop"

That's around 30m of sleepers sanded and oiled 😀

Now I just need to strip and service the belt sander I borrowed to find out why the dust extractor decided to stop working 🤨 ... that last stretch was rather a dusty affair 😷

So yeah, really not had a lot of projects on the go recently. A mixture of lack of time and the crazy price of timber at the moment mostly. But ... I have revisited the sleepers we installed a couple of years ago!

These were getting green from moss, they would hold water after rainfall and they were generally looking tired.

Last year I started applying some Cuprinol which frankly was a mistake. The finish looked shoddy after 12 months, the grain in the wood was heavily suppressed and to top it off moss still grew over the surface.

Fast forward to this year, a belt sander, shed loads of sanding belts aaaaand ...... some Osmo Natural Woodstain Oil in March. This has been a mammoth task but with a little elbow grease and some sunny days I'm making great progress.

The difference is stunning (2nd photo shows the sleepers in their untreated state on the right). The Osmo has made the wood brilliantly resistant to water whilst allowing the timber to remain breathable. There are biocides in the product to help prevent rot and any surface growth like moss/greening and it has made the sleepers so easy to clean (A major boon on our veg/fruit patches).

We're also very much in love with the colour which is a massive improvement over the Cuprinol and actually enhances, not hides, the original grain.