Bespoke Make, Restore and Repair Services

08/07/2025

Just been doing a few bits and pieces for a wood fired pizza guy. Started with an "andiron" which is a fancy name for something to stack the wood against to start the fire. Then we made a panel to reduce the size of the oven opening to help contain the heat and use less wood. That led on to a simple bar thingy to help keep the ash away from the pizza's being cooked. Finally it was add a handle onto a paddle for moving the pizzas. For this I added a wooden end and a sliding piece made of wood to keep the hands away from anything hot.

13/02/2024

Thought this might be of interest.

Money?
June 26, 2023 Nztu Media
Now that the Public Journalism Fund's spending has come to an end, which media companies received the most unneeded welfare? Here's our top ten government-funded media organisations for the last three years, and what that money has gone to!

Total - Top Ten Recipients


Media Organisation
What They Got: Total Amount:
NZME
37 Journalism Cadetships for Māori, Pasifika and diverse journalists, an online tool detailing Pakehā land ownership over time, Kaupapa Māori and Audio Innovation role for accessibility for low-vision mana whenua, 15 roles for coverage of remote court proceedings, support for community journalists in provincial newspapers, weekly bilingual section in Rotorua Weekender about iwi issues.

*Includes $635,020 in indirect funding.

$6,880,099.25
RNZ New journalism unit covering topics in Hindi & Mandarin for Asian communities, strengthen Māori knowledge across the organisation, 20 local democracy reporting roles across New Zealand, The Detail podcast, the Party People podcast. $5,800,207.00
Stuff Media Stuff Circuit - project covering more risky topics in New Zealand, Te Reo Māori translator, 20 Pou Tiaki & Community reporters to cover Māori and minority issues, retaining community coverage in Marlborough, The Whole Truth - limited series covering public health, Xin xi Lan - multimedia project about first Chinese immigrants to Aotearoa, cultural competency course for Stuff journalists. $4,806,528.00
Sunpix Tagata Pasifika - flagship Pacific news program, two journalists for Tagata Pasifika, Ifoga - documentary on Pasifika abuse in state care, Maisuka - documentary about Type 2 Diabetes in Moana Pasifika youth. $4,251,360.00
TVNZ
Q&A with Jack Tame - current affairs program, 2022-2023, News 2 Me - news program for children, series 1 & 2, Ohinga 2 - reo Māori-fluent show focused on Māori current events, Manutaki Māori role for cultural competency.

*Includes $264,386 of commissioned projects

$3,187,649.00
Discovery NZ Newshub Nation, 2022-2023 - current affairs programme, Pacific Affairs Correspondent for Discovery NZ TV shows, Newshub Cultural Partnership Navigator to bring kaupapa māori framework to newsroom. $2,356,696.00
Newsroom Newsroom Investigates - (2022-2023) series of investigative news videos, The Detail - near-daily podcast covering news issues (2021-2023), four Te Rito graduate roles for new journalists, Video Content Creator to share news stories wider, Climate Change Interview Series - videos about New Zealand's low-carbon future, Sub-Editor for more online content, four part-time South Island reporters and one Māori Editor, upskilling of two graduate journalists. $2,189,301.00
Great Southern Television The Hui Series 7 & 8 - weekly bilingual Māori cultural affairs programme, The Hui: Summer Edition Series 1 & 2 - six cultural stories and training for four cadet journalists. $1,834,367.65
The Spinoff
Two Sub-editors for fact-checking, vetting, captioning and accessibility of videos, 10-month upskilling program for editors with partner publications, Local Elections 2022 coverage, The Quarter Million - series on royal commission into abuse in care homes, IRL - series covering online life after thepandemic, Nē? - Podcast and articles covering te ao Māori issues, Māori politics and Pacific communities reporters for dedicated coverage, mentorship programme for journalism cadets.

*Includes $544,654 of commissioned projects.

$1,782,353.00
UMA Broadcasting Paakiwaha - bilingual radio programme broadcast on Radio Waatea, about Māori perspective on news and current events, 6.5 FTE staff (editors, senior & trainee journalists) for Radio Waatea. $1,664,000.00

21/11/2023

21/11/2023

I've been helping my sister and her husband by making handrails, fixing garden steps and rodent proofing their dishwasher hoses. They have quite a few sets of steps and felt a bit more security was in order for them. I was quite happy with the way they turned out - not to ostentatious but quite elegant if I say so myself!
Trying to find solid stuff in convenient places to attach them to was a bit of a challenge as it wasn't designed for handrails when the place was built.

21/11/2023

Someone must have dropped this electric frypan. The handle broke (propably Bakelite) and I offered to fix it. After a good degreasing I set up the broken bit to drill & counterbore for a screw. The angle had to be right as it wasn't a square corner. A bit of Super Glue to keep the 2 parts together while I drilled a hole in the other part to tap a thread into it, then when I put the screw in I also super-glued it as well to hold it all together. Another bit of innovation to stop stuff getting thrown out.

21/11/2023

I do the odd repair or make bits as required for UMU Pizza at 469 New North Rd, Kingsland. Great pizza (wood fired oven) and they make their own bases - absolutely great and worth the visit! Anyway, I've made some log sitters to set up and start the fire as well as repair the paddles they use. They get a lot of use and crack after a while. Also made four stainless adjustable feet to lift a chiller box off the bench out of stainless.

09/11/2023

I've just finished repairing a cast iron wall sconce that dropped and broke into pieces. It came from France and there was a pair. Welding/brazing wasn't an option as it would be impossible to retain the aged patina on it. I tried first with a metal repair epoxy that I thought might work (having used it before) so I drilled a hole in the ends of the joints and countersunk it to provide room for the adhesive so the edges of the joins could match properly. Looked good till I did a side loading test and it just came apart! 😟 So I thought I would try standard epoxy glue. Thought that was a winner! NOT!!😡😡Not to be beaten by this lack of success (it has become a challenge I was not prepared to lose) I thought I would try some adhesive I use to anchor studs into concrete - getting serious now - and incorporate a pin in the joins and a plate to reinforce the base. Guess what? It worked a treat!! So then I mixed some acrylic paint and blended the repairs so they are almost completely invisible! I'm sure the customer will be over the moon about it! 😁

09/10/2023

The 1954 Alvis Grey Lady, the gift that keeps on giving! Over the last few years I have worked on this car and now it's nearly finished. Replaced the LH cill, repaired the window winder mechanism, seals, rubbers, repaired lots of the timber frame, made the sun roof work properly, made new qurterlight rubbers (modified a rubber extrusion), repaired the quarterlight glass and frames, rebuilt the fuel pump,paint, refinished the woodwork and so it goes on!

09/10/2023

I've been a bit slack with posting for some time so thought I better post some more things. This is a job I've just finished for a school as they had a grumpy person destroy the gate they had.