crafty | A little bit of woodworking (X-post from my journal)

Our lovely newish bathroom has one of those classic toilet paper holders that are built into the wall, made from glazed ceramics and the same size and colour as the tiles. All great except for the actual paper roll holder: it was flimsy-looking plastic, we did not have the proper wooden version that everyone my age or older remembers so well.

What to do? Well, in our local hackerspace I found a lathe (that is a pretty recent addition), a box of round maple wood pieces, and a fellow participant who knows a lot about lathes and was willing to assist me. It took us most of the evening but the result is exactly as it should be. There's a spring inside and two dowels on either side (except they're not really dowels because they aren't glued in, they're from the same piece of wood) that rest in holes in the tile. I've varnished it and it works and looks exactly as it should. All is well with this tiny piece of my world.