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

[moem]

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.

Click makes big.

Comments

[tephra]

The thing I like the most about it? The ends are the same size.

I hate that the holders in my bathrooms are the cheap plastic ones and one side is necessarily significantly smaller so it can fit inside the other for the spring. (Our shop half-bath has a metal one, at least the difference between the two ends is not as dramatic.)

We don't have a lathe, but I think I could make one with various sizes of dowels and drill bits.....

[moem]

Yes, that certainly sounds do-able to me. Good idea. 👍