Indholdsfortegnelse for No 92 September-October 2020 i The Shed

LOOKING FOR A GOOD HOME I retired from general engineering a few years ago and have gradually got rid of different bits and pieces. Remaining is some of the equipment I used to build a pneumatic device requiring a computer programmer. Naturally I have tried to sell it but have had no offers so I’d like to give it away. It consists of a SMC ECC50 Programmer and is sitting in a dusty plastic box in my shed. The box also contains an extender, a bunch of small rams and actuators, plus a CD of instruction manual, a bunch of used switches, a voltage dropper, and Lord knows what else. This bunch of equipment would be extremely useful to someone building a pneumatic device and I’d like it to go…

Have you ever noticed how your favourite beer tastes different when brewed at different times of the year? Fermenting temperatures have a major influence on the taste of the beer — in fact, you will notice a difference in your beer if you brew it 4–5℃ warmer than your normal brewing temperature. This is largely due to fruity esters generated from the yeast as it ferments the beer. In the heat of summer your beer ferments faster in the warmer conditions and this can lead to the beer tasting ‘fruitier’. In winter, if brewing temperatures get too cold, this can also create undesirable flavours as the stressed yeast struggles to do its job. So what is the ideal temperature to brew the perfect beer? Consistency is the key The first…

A white picket fence is all that separates a suburban side road from the grounds of Rotorua Settlers and Steam Museum. Beyond the palings, in a garden strewn with ancient farming equipment, windmills, and time-worn timber wagons, a whitewashed Arts and Crafts homestead sits like an anomaly among an enclave of distinctive frontier buildings. Every so often, a ride-on diesel train with its cargo of kids and parents pops out of a tunnel to complete a loop of the turn-of-the-century Whakarewarewa Post Office. On ‘live steam’ days, a beautifully restored 1892 McLaren traction engine may also be seen making slow laps along a gravel driveway between the corrugated iron exhibition rooms. For history buffs and curious sheddies alike, it is a compelling — if slightly confusing — tableau. Rest assured,…

There are a number of drawbacks to my being a sheddie of limited means, not the least of which is an unending desire to accumulate as many tools as possible for jobs that might not ever eventuate but for which the tools are nevertheless ‘necessary, just in case’. Another is the attitude that if I can’t afford it I’ll build it instead. This is precisely what happened when I first came across a Moxon vice. The Moxon vice consists of two strong timbers that clamp together with two screw drives and can be either temporarily or permanently fixed to a bench. It is useful for holding unparallel objects, such as chair legs, as well as large objects requiring more clearance than is available in a standard metal or woodworking vice.…

They’re a dedicated lot, these steam railway enthusiasts. More often than not, they’re blokes past retirement age who are happy to spend two days or so each week restoring late 19th- and early 20th-century railway carriages, stripping down locomotives, laying tracks, and the like. They bring a lifetime’s worth of skills and the willingness to learn something new. There are around 60 rail societies throughout New Zealand and each one is distinctive. The Pleasant Point Railway and Historical Society Inc. in South Canterbury will celebrate its 50th anniversary on 20 September by offering steam train rides from 10.30am until 9pm. Half a century of restoring steam locomotives Over the past 50 years the society’s volunteers have restored a fleet headed by two steam locomotives: Ab 699, built in 1922 by…

The original Pleasant Point Railway Station of 1875 houses a community and railway museum. Adjoining the railway station is the restored former Washdyke Railway Station signal box. At the Keanes Crossing complex is a fully restored locomotive turntable originally used at Cromwell, plus a vintage movie theatre. Notices for any given night’s programme run something like this one from 19 February 2020: “Another of our popular Saturday night movie nights. Starting at 7.30pm — $2 entry fee and a plate for supper. Everyone welcome — spread the word. “The usual first half [a selection of vintage cartoons and black and white newsreels] with the main movie, this week, from 1946: ‘The king of the cowboys’, Roy Rogers, in My Pal Trigger [his famous horse]. Also starring George ‘Gabby’ Hayes, Dale…

Global recognition Brent Sandow has an international reputation for his knives, most of which are sold overseas. He’s a fixture at a couple of the world’s best knife shows and has been invited, all expenses paid, to exhibit at the new Shanghai knife show. He was one of the people behind the well-attended 2018 and 2019 Auckland Blade shows but, thanks to Covid-19, there won’t be a show this year. Brent also visits other knife makers, such as American Jerry McClure, with whom he spends a week each year. He reckons knife-making, and esteem for it, is taking off big time in New Zealand. In a world of cheap tat, there’s a growing appreciation for something made with skill by hand — something that delights the eye, that is also…

Among the treasures in the display cabinet is a rather dramatic little folding knife with a carbon handle, the carbon interwoven with sparkly coloured threads. When opened, the knife reveals a star-patterned dark grey and black Damascus blade. It glides open and clicks into place as a spring steel plate locks in behind the blade. This is the one-handed Linerlock mechanism invented by another celebrated knife maker, Michael Walker. It’s no wonder the action is so smooth. The blade is turning on eight jewels. Just as you find jewels acting as bearings in the better mechanical watches, this knife also has jewels locating and guiding the folding blade. Brent hauls out a little bag of dusty pink dots — tiny rough-cut rubies. They have to be faceted before they can…

The introductory article to this Smart Home series, which appeared in Issue No. 91 of The Shed, explained that the projects are electronic improvements for our sheddie homes. Behind all these projects there is a common thread that connects them all to fully control your home and make it smart. There are also common characteristics in every design: the ability to collect data and provide local feedback automatically as well as to control the home automation remotely. Trying to imagine all the possible scenarios when designing home automation is pretty challenging. For this reason, I decided to divide the big problems into smaller ones. To do this I borrowed the concept of ‘task area’ from the early 1980s studies on the applied ergonomy for industrial workers. I divided an ideal…

Architect Elinor McDouall designed the tiny house interior, from stern to bow, to fit into the convex curves of the hull then extended it towards the decking and river. Reuse of timber is a feature throughout the interior. A snug with an angled couch and wood burner forms the living space in the stern of the boat. The hull is visible where a cabin was removed, which exposed the planks. Elinor based the kitchen design on Jamie Oliver’s TV show kitchen, and incorporated salvaged, open-spaced, architects’ plan drawers. The kitchen walls are timber, reclaimed from a building in town. Using great timbers The Fijian kauri plywood used in the master bedroom contrasts with the kitchen, and the mixed timber ceiling slats, deliberately thin at around 8mm, continue the curvature of…

This is a new three-part upcycling project for all vintage technology lovers who also love making music. I have planned this upcycling project to encourage readers to try a project that is easy to replicate and can be modified for similar devices. This Radio Magic project is not very complex but it covers several different topics, from mechanical implementation to the creation of an analogue synthesizer based on the popular NE555 timer integrated circuit (IC). Over the next few issues we also see how it is possible to integrate physical computing — using some Arduino boards — with a simple internet of things (IoT) application controlling the device from the web. I have kept this project modular; you can decide to develop a single module or follow the full path…

Most buyers in the market for a quality knife want something special on the handle. Exotic woods include bird’s-eye maple, burr walnut, snakewood — which has an uncanny snakeskin pattern and grows only in a narrow band in Central America — amboyna, and lace oak. New Zealand has some funky woods too, but Brent tends to stick with the woods that have name recognition and a ready market in the States. Much more popular, however, is giraffe bone, which is finer and denser than cattle bone and takes dyed colour nicely. Further upmarket is walrus tusk, which has a lovely creamy colour, but perhaps most exotic of all is mammoth tusk. This can have a coarsely ribbed and coloured outer ‘bark’ you might want to show, so you have to…

Have musings during Covid-19 isolation caused you to think you might like to do something different, something creative, something with your hands? If getting into bit of woodwork appeals now but your hand skills are rusty or non-existent, where do you learn, since the previous government canned night-school classes? One answer is to get in touch with Tim at The Warren in central Auckland. Tim Boyd is a plumber and gas fitter by day. He’s also a man with a vision and, being of a practical bent, he’s putting it into action. He has created The Warren, a workshop where those wanting to get hands on with something new can take classes in all kinds of woodworking and other artisan crafts, then rent bench space as required to come in…

As featured in this issue, Brent’s skill and attention to detail creates knives that are highly valued for their exceptional quality and craftsmanship. A happy subscriber who won an AMPRO Ultimate Tool Package wor th $1200, featured in Issue 89, writes! Dear The Shed magazine, A big surprise today on receipt of a prize from you for renewing my subscription for The Shed magazine. I was totally blown away! As a lot of my tools have been in my possession since the early ’60s, these new tools will be fantastic to use. They have come at a good time as I have been fully retired for 18 months now and have recently built myself a new workshop. These new tools will take pride of place! Thank you very much —…

I was stumped for something to do during the early days of the lockdown. We had planned to go to Aussie in the caravan for five months during the winter but that all went pear-shaped as so much did for everyone else. So, you start looking for the sort of jobs that you always knew that you would have to do one day, but that you always hoped someone else would do for you, out of sheer pity and/or disgust. My letter box is one of those rural affairs on a metal road in Waitakere, West Auckland. I use the term ‘road’ here very loosely; letter boxes get run over out here, and every time the council arrives to do some maintenance — another very loose term — the road…

He had felled four 80-year-old macrocarpa trees and needed a hand to clean up the area Back in 2005 a friend in Kaikoura felled two very large pine trees and had them milled on-site for timber. The remaining slabs were destined to be firewood until someone suggested they would make a great outdoor table. One slab became the table and what remained of the other was shaped for legs. It sat on our patio providing an excellent outdoor table and was certainly unique. Despite the odd lick of protective sealer, eventually the ravages of time and rot took over and it needed to go. We’d been on the lookout for a replacement for some time and had reconciled ourselves to the fact that we’d have to make do with something…