Long Reach Spray-Can Tool This out-of-reach or high spraying tool allows spraying with a paint-can, insect spray, surface spray, cleaning solution, etc above head height.  It is super-easy to use, just place the spray can in the container at the end of the pole, align the attachment at the end to the spray-can nozzle, lift to desired position and pull the string.  It consists of a fruit-tin fastened to a long aluminium pole with a metal hinged bracket and pull-cord to operate the spray can at a distance.  Ideal for insect spraying of roof eaves or touching up paint on roof guttering or soffit. Photos and description courtesy of Lionel Hartley. Posted with Lionel's permission by The Friends of Lionel Hartley . 

 Sunroom at Rear of House at Red Range. This house at Red Range received morning sun on the front veranda, but by mid afternoon it was the back of the house that received the most sun.   So Lionel sought Council approval and built this sunny extension. The weatherboards from the original wall were moved to the outside and it was lined inside with re-cycled tongue-and-groove oak panelling. Four fixed windows and four double-sash windows on each of two sides (making a total of sixteen plate glass windows) bathed the interior with sunshine. 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 . 

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 . 

  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 .

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 .

Potting Shed Sink Take an ordinary stainless-steel sink bench and make for it a bespoke light-weight welded stand from steel box section, add a drain hose, stand it under or near a water supply and, hey-presto, we have a sink for a shade-house or potting shed. Photos and description courtesy of Lionel Hartley. Posted with Lionel's permission by The Friends of Lionel Hartley .

Overnight Plant Stand  With cage doors to protect plants from wildlife at night   2.4m long. All metal construction (Light-weight welded steel frame with sheet-aluminium cladding). Lower shelf for extra plants or for sorting. Sloped front for extra stability. Screened drainage holes for overflow when watering plants. Carry handles at each end (requires 2 persons). Two generously-sized screened doors with secure latches.   Photos and description courtesy of Lionel Hartley. Posted with Lionel's permission by The Friends of Lionel Hartley .

Digital Piano Cabinet   This cabinet is shaped like an upright piano and not only houses a digital piano, it also has a computer screen for sheet music and midi recording.    Underneath the keyboard is a pull-out drawer with a cut-down laptop that uses the screen above the piano keyboard.    The digital piano is connected to this laptop via Midi USB allowing for both recording and playback in Midi format.   The screen is also a DVD player and in addition has an HDMI Android micro-computer attached on HDMI2 with an air-mouse for displaying sheet music when the cut-down laptop is not in use.   A power strip is concealed below the screen and single switch under the keyboard switches everything off when it is no longer in use.   The chair has since been replaced with a home-made piano-stool. Photos and description courtesy of Lionel Hartley. Posted with Lionel's permission by The Friends of Lionel Hartley .  

  Painter’s Step Ladder Lionel made this painter’s step ladder with a vertical hand-rail for added security, and  paint-can hooks to save getting up and down too often to top-up the paint bucket. It is of all metal construction made from lengths of re-cycled pipe bolted together. Sturdy and comfy to use, with the top rung padded (for resting the user's knees or legs against) Photo and description courtesy of Lionel Hartley. Posted with Lionel's permission by The Friends of Lionel Hartley . 

  Gas bottle lifter and stand Lionel made this  Gas bottle lifter and stand to use a 9kg bottle in place of a 45 or 90kg one. It is of all metal construction with a block & tackle lifting mechanism for the bottle. Photos and description courtesy of Lionel Hartley. Published with Lionel's permission by The Friends of Lionel Hartley .

  Garbage-Bin Lid Lifter Lionel says that when you use a walking cane with one hand and you are carrying a bag of garbage in the other, opening a garbage-bin requires an extra hand ... or perhaps inventing a home-made device to lift the lid for you. Lionel made this twin garbage-bin lifter from some recyled steel offcuts and a length of pipe. The fulcrum (pivot) is attached to a solid metal base and a rubber pad protects the sole of the user's shoe or boot from getting scuffed. It is adjustable for different sized bins and lifts two lids at once.  The bins are easily removed for emptying and, after emptying, easily re-connected for using the lid lifter again. Design, Photos and description courtesy of Lionel Hartley. Published with Lionel's permission by The Friends of Lionel Hartley .

  Door & Paneling Mover (Dolly) This dolly (dollie or dolley) has a single large heavy-weight solid-rubber swivel wheel and an adjustable clamp for moving doors, panelling sheets, large mirrors, bundles of cardbard boxes, long folding tables or trestle-tabletops.  The clamp consists of one block of wood securely bolted to the base and the other adjustable with slots in the base and two carriage bolts with washers and wingnuts. A screw adjustment on the underside means that the swivel action of the wheel can be locked in place to prevent it wandering sideways on sloping surfaces. It has a hole for a rope so it can be pulled along by a second person if required. Photos and description courtesy of Lionel Hartley. Published with Lionel's permission by The Friends of Lionel Hartley .

  Child Safety Gates These child safety gates were designed to fit his rental property doorways with the padded fittings on the ends made to fit into the trim on the door jambs.  Lionel made several of these from re-cycled playpens and they were adjustable to fit any door between 2 and 3 feet wide. They were very lightweight but also very secure once fastened. He also made one with slightly different fittings for use at the top of the stairs. As you can see by the worn paintwork, they got a lot of use. Photos and description courtesy of Lionel Hartley. Published with Lionel's permission by The Friends of Lionel Hartley .

  Mahogany Cabin Trunk This large cabin trunk was made by Lionel to transport a set of handbells. The sides were made from a single plank of recycled mahogany cut into four and dovetailed together to form a rectangle. Then the Masonite base and top were glued and screwed on before the whole thing was cut in two along the sides, separating the box and lid. The brass hinges, safety chain, locks, handle and corner protectors were then added. completing the trunk. When used for handbells it had a foam lining with individual cut-outs for each bell. Photos and description courtesy of Lionel Hartley. Published with Lionel's permission by The Friends of Lionel Hartley .

 Artists' Painting Table This sloping-front painting table was made by Lionel for his wife Rosemary. It has a hinged lid with two shelves for storage underneath and an aluminium beading along the front edge to keep the artwork in place. The frame is welded steel and the shelves and top of varnished laminated plywood. It also has a removable over-head electric light. Photos and descriptions courtesy of Lionel Hartley. Published with permission by The Friends of Lionel Hartley .

  Walking through the Bible Bookends Lionel developed a seminar studying the biblical Book of Revelation.  The series was entitled "In the Footeteps of John" (John being the writer of the Book of Revelation). As a feature display, he used large Bible displayed between a set of real bookends that he had made out of wood. The seminar has been uploaded to his website ( www.lrhartley.com ) and, following many favourable comments, he also uploaded a free template so others could make their own bookends if they chose. The complete seminar and a .pdf version of the template is downloadable free from www.lrhartley.com . Photos and description courtesy of Lionel Hartley. Published with Lionel's permission by the Friends of Lionel Hartley .