Upholsterer's Spring Compressor Lionel made this adjustable chair spring compressor so that he could re-upholster some old chairs as a courteous gesture for a friend. It consists of a wooden base (to protect the chair seat), a hinged metal frame, a threaded rod with a handle on one end and a swivelling wooden disk on the other.      One side of the frame hinges out of the way to put the chair underneath the disk.   The under-side photo shows that there is a wide groove under the disk to allow the webbing to be stretched while the springs are compressed. Photos and description courtesy of Lionel Hartley. Posted with Lionel's permission by The Friends of Lionel Hartley . 

  Hand-cut Painting Stencils   Over the years Lionel has made hundreds of these hand-cut stencils for signage and decorating items that he has made.  In 1987 he had a lie-flat book published for beginner stencillers (The Novice Stencil Handbook, Volume 1).  It contains of some 370 of his individually hand-drawn stencils including alphabet characters and numbers, animals, objects, places-of-interest and signs.  His book is available for FREE download from his website at www.lrhartley.com (or direct download from [ HERE ]. Permission is granted to use the illustrations in the book for personal use. Photos and description courtesy of Lionel Hartley. Posted with Lionel's permission by The Friends of Lionel Hartley . 

Raised Garden Beds  These three raised garden beds were made from re-cycled hardwood fencing.  The rails form frames along the outside of the boxes and metal brackets are bolted at the corners to give it strength and rigidity.  The top of each box is finished with a long plank of 1x4 to form a seat.  Each box is eight feet long and four feet wide. The top of each box is 18 inches above the ground making it possible to comfortably sit (side-saddle) on the edge of the box to attend to the plants.   The palings were cut into 18-inch lengths (with any rotted ends discarded and used as fire-wood), pre-drilled to accept galvanisd nails, and nailed inside the frames.  The boxes were then lined with weed-matting and filled with bails of straw topped with rich garden soil, fertiliser and compost and finally layered with potting-mix and lawn-clipping mulch. Two of the beds are covered with an arched shade enclosure, made from the two halves of a 12-foot circular galvanised-steel trampoline frame

Sandpaper Disk Dispenser  An off-cut of timber rounded at one end, two strategically placed dowels glued in place and a few sanding disks placed (upside-down) form this handy dispender.  The positioning of the dowels was determined by the location of the holes in the disk, and Lionel made several of these for different grade disks and sizes.  The sandpaper is stored upside-down for at least two reasons: it keeps the sanding surface clean but, more-importantly, simply aligning the dowels with the holes in the disk-sander faceplate, the disks fit perfectly on the disk-sander operating surface.  The Grit-size is written on the underside of each disk for convenience. Photos and description courtesy of Lionel Hartley. Posted with Lionel's permission by The Friends of Lionel Hartley . 

Planter Box from Recycled Refridgerator Drawer.  This planter box was made from a plastic drawer that was given to Lionel by his son, David.  He painted it inside and out with Liquidstone Terracotta paint, cut drainage holes underneath, filled it with potting soil and put it on one of the many metal plants stands that he had earlier made.  His wife Rosemary used it (in this case, for string-beans). Photos and description courtesy of Lionel Hartley. Posted with Lionel's permission by The Friends of Lionel Hartley . 

Wooden Furniture Moving Sleigh  This sleigh was made from two straight 6-inch by 6-inch hardwood planks each 15-feet long.  A removable platform of tongue-and-groove flooring was fastened with bolts when required. A hinged welded steel drawbar and metal runners the full length of the sleigh made this a useful way of moving large furniture items behind a tractor, for example, when he was moving his household from one house to another on the other side of the paddocks.  Illustrated is the railway carriage from one of Lionel's playground equipment trains being towed around the paddock by Lionel at a child's birthday party. The sleigh is being towed by a vintage Ferguson TE20 tractor at Eraring that he and a friend (Steve Fitzclarence) had previously restored.  Photos and description courtesy of Lionel Hartley. Posted with Lionel's permission by The Friends of Lionel Hartley . 

Garden Swing Seats  Here are illustrated two of the several swing seats that Lionel has made over the years.  The Green seat was made from wooden slats bolted to a welded wrought-iron frame and suspended on chains from a steel-pipe structure with an aluminium roof. The white seat was made from a metal gate, folded in half and held in shape with welded-pipe arm rests. It, too, was suspended with chains from a pipe framework.  The photo shows his daughter who took the cushion off and used it to sit on while swinging the seat back-and-forth.  The LONDON sign was made by Lionel to complement the playground train. Photos and descriptions courtesy of Lionel Hartley. Posted with Lionel's permission by The Friends of Lionel Hartley . 

Portable Studio/Stage Lighting Stands   These all-metal portable studio stands each take up to 4 flood-lamps or spotlights.  One has has a double power-point at the top of the pole, has a steel 4-point base and extends to approx. 2 metres (7 feet) tall. The other has a tripod base and extends to 3 metres (10 feet). They were built for an annual carols-by-candlelight program. Photos and descriptions courtesy of Lionel Hartley. Posted with Lionel's permission by The Friends of Lionel Hartley . 

Portable Puppet Theatre #2 This folding hand-puppet theatre is designed to unfold and bolt with wing-nuts onto a custom-made wooden folding table.  It has draw-string curtains and a plain black back-drop.  The whole assembly folds flat for storage and transportation. Lionel made the "hamburger" puppet from a plastic pet's squeaky toy purchased at a discount store and cut in two, and then added a body, a tongue and ping-pong-ball eyes.  Backing tracks were pre-recorded with sound effects and narrated scripts written by and read by Lionel and others. Photos and description courtesy of Lionel Hartley. Posted with Lionel's permission by The Friends of Lionel Hartley . 

Hand Sawing Guide This well-used simple wooden 2ft 6in guide has a metal strip along the front edge that locks to the bench.   The two holes in the saw blade align with two insert nuts on the surface of the guide for storing the saw with two thumbscrews when it is not in use. It has a screw clamp to hold the workpiece while it is being cut. Photos and description courtesy of Lionel Hartley. Posted with Lionel's permission by The Friends of Lionel Hartley . 

Extra Large Vernier and Sextant Calipers These extra large calipers were made by Lionel because the commercial ones were too small for a project that he was working on. The Vernier caliper is two foot long (61cm) with a 16 inch throat (40cm). The sextant caliper is 18 inches long (46cm) with a comfortable span of 30 inches (76cm). Photos and descriptions courtesy of Lionel Hartley. Posted with Lionel's permission by The Friends of Lionel Hartley . 

Hinged-top Router Table and Home-made Guides   This router table has a storage box underneath the hinged table top to house the router and a large collection of accessories (excepting the home-made aluminium guides which are stored on top).  The legs can be removed, if required, for transporting it in a vehicle.  Apart from the marine-plywod top, it is of all metal construction, the box having welded seams. Photos and descriptions courtesy of Lionel Hartley.  Posted with Lionel's permission by The Friends of Lionel Hartley . 

Miniature Piano for Marionette  This miniature mock grand piano, that Lionel made for the string puppet "Bert", has a speaker inside to play pre-recorded piano music from an external device so that it sounds and looks like the puppet is playing.  It has painted keys and  a matching piano stool.  The music pages were photo-reduced so that their size is appropriate in relation to that of the piano.    This last photo shows the puppeteer, David, playing it in a public street in Murwillumbah NSW, to give you an idea of its relative size. Photos and descriptions courtesy of Lionel Hartley.  Posted with Lionel's permission by The Friends of Lionel Hartley . 

Row, row, row your boat Now the harvest's done Merrily, picnicky, frollically, peacefully We can have some fun. Moo, moo, eat your fill While the field is green. Merrily, Daisy and Clara-Bell Make some milk and cream. Mow, mow, mow the field Into bales of golden brown, Merrily, wearily, but still cheerily Take them to the barn. Rain, rain, water the field The air's now fresh and clean Merrily making lotsa puddles, Every small boy's dream. Shine, shine heavenly sun Spring is in the air Make the rows of swaying corn Smile from ear to ear. Variations by Lionel Hartley, Murwillumbah Community Centre  Newsletter, July 2008 Posted with Lionel's permission by The Friends of Lionel Hartley . 

The Batrachian Preacher "Every morning the rooster crows…" (Now hang-on-a-minute - that's not how it goes!) Every morning when the rooster should crow, (If we had one, that is, and I ought to know), At the first glimpse of sun (or artificial light Streaming from my window bright) A Loud-mouthed Frog in the drainpipe, sings; It's voice in haunting echo rings Up, up the drain-pipe (or is it down?) He (she?) sings a song to wake the town.     'Though lacking the rooster's plumage rare- Bold colours of feathers, suffused with hue The early-morning voice is there: With a 'croak-croak-croak'… Not a 'cock-a-doodle-doo'! Not sunrise-silhouetted on a distant fence But in a gloomy drainpipe, Hidden from my vision This songster chants his rousing call- Complete with a moral, If I stop to listen. "Just as Apostle Peter was shocked to reality At the prophesied rooster's cry, The 'croak-croak-croak' from the unseen throat Is a wake-up shock

God, make me a little kinder A little more tender and true Not needing a constant reminder Of the things that I should do. God, make me more easy to live with Less ready to get hurt and vexed, More patient and helpful in dealing With the worried, the sad, the perplexed. An eager disciple to follow The steps where my Master has trod Not afraid of the storms and the shadows If my pathway leads straight to God. Lionel Hartley, Good News Unlimited (magazine) 1994 Falsely attributed to Mary Eversley in the Ewell Parish News January 2012 - Page 5 (The monthly newspaper of St Mary the Virgin, Ewell, Surrey.) Posted with Lionel's permission by The Friends of Lionel Hartley .   

Synthesiser and Backing Tracks for Musicians' Jam Sessions Lionel built this valve-operated synthesiser using parts generously donated by the electronics store "Elequip" in Christchurch in the 1970s. Recycled parts included components from an old telephone exchange, a radio station, a 'plane cockpit and the keyboard from an old piano.  The piano frame, strings and tracking mechanism were all replaced with home-made switches (one for each key) made from strips of brass.  It was made to create the sound track for a stage production in the Christchurch Civic Centre. Because it used 251 radio valves, it required several cooling fans and they made too much noise to enjoy the sound directly and so he wired this to an 8-track Akai tape recorder, recorded the sound and then played it back without the synthesiser. He mastered around forty diverse continuous-loop backing tracks using this home-made synthesiser and licenced them for public performance.  The synthesiser was donat

  Barn Conversion - From Barn to Cottage   This redwood vertical-slab barn on the street frontage of the Hartley property at Red Range was quite an eye-sore.  By installing two windows at the front and another at the side, re-lining the floor, installing a fireplace with a slow-combustion stove, adding a water-tank and plumbing, installing a kitchen bench, etc., using heritage colours and several coats of paint, Lionel converted this 110-year-old barn into a cozy cottage. The cottage was also converted for a short time as a shop while the Red Range (general) Store was undergoing a heritage restoration and then converted back to a cottage when Lionel had completed the store restoration. The cottage can still been seen on the main road through the village of Red Range. Photos and description courtesy of Lionel. Posted with Lionel's permission by The Friends of Lionel Hartley .

  House Exterior Restoration This house at Red Range NSW was built right on the street frontage and was looking rather tired. Using heritage colours, and several coats of paint, Lionel transformed it into this:   Photo courtesy of Lionel. Posted with Lionel's permission by The Friends of Lionel Hartley .

Granny Flat Restoration This granny flat attached to our house at Red Range NSW was overdue for a refresher. With a few coats of paint and re-building the window frame and windowsill, this is the result. The arch design was painted onto the inside of the glass. Photo courtesy of Lionel. Posted with Lionel's permission by The Friends of Lionel Hartley .

Wishing Well Garden Ornament This garden ornament was made from a discarded 250-gallon water tank and a wooden framework. The roller was a four-foot section of telegraph pole with a section of pipe wedged in a hole in each end so the roller could rotate. The bucket was made from re-cycled oak with slats cut and re-shaped from a broken wine barrel and the bands were strips of brass from a discarded electrical fitting. This was the first of five such wishing wells built by Lionel over the years. Description and photos courtesy of Lionel. Posted with Lionel's permission by The Friends of Lionel Hartley .

Window Boxes Lionel made these window boxes out of a length of square guttering.  An extra strip of aluminium was riveted along the back and the end pieces were cut from sheet aluminium, each bent to form a foot underneath and riveted in place. Small tallowwood (Australian hardwood) wedges were cut to keep the window box level on the sloping windowsill and provide sufficient friction to prevent it from sliding off. The flowers were planted and cared for by Lionel's wife, Rosemary.   Photos and descriptions courtesy of Lionel Hartley. Posted with Lionel's permission by The Friends of Lionel Hartley .

Windmill Garden Ornaments These reproduction windmills stood seven feet tall from the base to the apex of the roof.  Lionel made these two identical windmills this out of plywood tacked onto a timber framework.  They were originally made as stage props at two venues and one found its way into his parent's lawn as a garden ornament when it was no longer needed and the other to Lionel's back yard. And no, the (green) vanes on one of them does not rotate any more, as the mechanism that rotated that particular one on stage was not suitable for outdoor use and it was returned after being borrowed for the stage production.  The other had a 12-volt motor to slowly turn the blades, the mechanism modified and recycled from a Ford truck windscreen wiper-blade motor. Photo and descriptions courtesy of Lionel Hartley. Posted with Lionel's permission by The Friends of Lionel Hartley .