Indholdsfortegnelse for No 118 December 2024 - January 2025 i The Shed

Recently, this email from Pam came into my mailbox: “Hi Greg, “I read The Shed magazine on the plane on our way back from Aussie and quickly came to realise that I’m possibly married to your king. “I’ve been married to Dave for 50 years this week, and he just hasn’t stopped making stuff. He has no qualifications as such, just a bloody attitude, grit, and determination. Here are some of the milestones.” Following is an excerpt from Pam’s letter, in which she listed just some of the numerous achievements of her husband, Dave Alexander: “In 1968, aged 16, he helped his dad invent and manufacture the very first spraying units for motorbikes in New Zealand; they featured on Country Calendar and were marketed through Wrightson’s. “At 20, Dave decided…

Whanganui Community Men’s Shed Trust Inc. has just two-and-half years to raise at least $800K. This is the estimated amount needed to build and kit out new premises when the trust’s current lease on the Marist Rugby Football Club rooms expires. The trust has a memorandum of understanding to lease a property owned by the Whanganui District Council in Handley Street, next to the Whanganui Camera Club, but can’t do much until it has the money, says the secretary of the Whanganui Men’s Shed, Gerry Gregan. The Whanganui Men’s Shed started off in 2010 in what had been the carpentry shed at the old Universal College of Learning (UCOL) campus, and joined Menzshed NZ Inc. in 2012. It enjoyed 12 years in a custom-made environment. However, two years ago, the…

THE PRIZE HUSQVARNA LC 142I WITH BATTERY AND CHARGER The Husqvarna LC 142i is an easy-to-use battery lawnmower with a 42cm cutting width and is suitable for mowing small and medium-sized lawns. This mower is very easy to start – all that is needed is to remove the bail stop and pull the bail down. The mowing of the lawn can be done on a single charge, and, with its compact design and ergonomic handle, the mower is easy to manoeuvre. Thanks to the folding and adjustable handle and the two integrated lifting handles, it is also easy to store and transport. Compatible with the Husqvarna 36V battery system. (Entries close 26/1/2025. All new, renewing, and existing subscribers at 26/1/2025 are eligible to win.) Gift a subscription or buy your own,…

Hamiltonian Mike Mason is a rarity these days, a true craftsman who can create almost anything out of sheet metal. He spends his days in a hot rod and restoration shop, fabricating whatever is required, but after hours he turns his hand to using his expertise to create artwork. Asked about the transition from building cars to producing works of art, he tells us, “It all started from buying my first bead roller from Machineryhouse in Auckland. I had done some art as birthday presents and that kind of stuff, but it evolved into wanting to do it at home. That’s when I bought the machine and started up the Instagram page metallicartnz.” He must have been doing something right, as the posts caught the attention of Rick Foster, the…

During World War II, the Austin Motor Company in the UK manufactured the K5 three-ton truck for the British armed forces. It was powered by a four-litre Austin six-cylinder pushrod overhead-valve (OHV) petrol engine. More than 12,000 of these were built between 1941 and 1945. It is supposed that the engine design was based on the British Bedford six-cylinder truck engine, which itself was a version of the pre-war Chevrolet car engine introduced in 1929, which is popularly known as the ‘stove-bolt six’ because of the fastenings used in its construction. Bedford and Chevrolet were both owned by General Motors. The A-series engine used in the Austin A30 and the later Morris Minors was a four-cylinder version of the K5’s engine. It was introduced in 1951 and first fitted to…

“Among the pills and potions that sustain me, I have one that apparently reverses ageing” I’ve just had one of those birthdays that doesn’t end in a 0 or a 5 but nevertheless gives you a bit of a chill that something is coming to an end. I am entering the ‘end stage’ of life – not in the dramatic sense, I hasten to add. Relax, dear reader – I could feel your shock then; I am merely being philosophical. I am transitioning out of middle age. I expect a few more robust years ahead; indeed, I was heartened to read that, among the pills and potions that sustain me, I have one that apparently reverses ageing. I have to report that it doesn’t seem to be working quite as…

‘Dynamite Dave’ Alexander is a self-taught doer, with an eye for detail, unquestionable discipline, and a passion for motorsports. He’s been making things since he was a nipper, and has never stopped. He was raised on a remote Hawke’s Bay farm, where the shed was his university. Dave says he “grew up doing it”, working alongside his father Neil, learning how to keep the property and equipment maintained and running. His first job was welding all the farm gates. His next was putting in a box-section chassis for a 1942 Willys Jeep, which served as the farm’s workhorse. At 18, Dave commenced his first customisation of his MkII Zephyr, installing a V8, dual headlights, and Vauxhall tail-lights. Since then, he has restored, driven, and raced an impressive list of classic…

On a weekend at the beginning of October, two notable events took place in Christchurch. One was the McLeans Island Swap Meet, run by the Canterbury branch of the Vintage Car Club of New Zealand (VCC). The other was perhaps less than half the size but with patrons who were just as enthusiastic. The McLeans Island Swap Meet at the VCC’s base at Cutler Park – part of the Christchurch City Council’s McLeans Island Recreational Reserve – is held over three days. This year it was from Friday, 11 October to Sunday, 13 October. Cutler Park is a huge site, and can accommodate more than 600 stalls that sell everything from wire wheels to walnuts. The swap meet has been going on for getting on for 50 years and two…

Since I wrote the first article about setting up a workshop (see The Shed, Issue No. 117), two things have happened. The first was my wife suggesting that we reorganise the space used by household items so that I can extend my workshop to the full width of the garage. I didn’t see that coming. The second was the decision to buy a new TV. To start with the second decision, this was significant, as the unit would require a decent media centre to sit on, rather than the black-painted concrete block–and–scaffolding plank stand that we have at the moment. We also decided to make a new coffee table, two new bookshelves, and some lamps – all in the same style of our dining table, which I made some years…

In this second part of Introduction to Electronic Music, I will try to introduce the fundamental element of music – and, in general, any sound: the waveforms and how we can manipulate them. Waveform maths covers a wide range of physics and applies not only to sounds but also to light, gases, fluids, and more. To make it easy to understand, we will explore the aspects specifically related to electronic music, with a practical approach. What is really interesting about electronic music is how waveforms are created with electronic circuits – whether digital or analogue – and how these sounds (which can be any kind of audible sound, not only notes) can be changed. The audible range The human ear can’t identify just any sound propagating in the air. We…

The carriage undergoing restoration – a huge job for several volunteers – tells a story of decline. First fitted out as luxury transport for the Duke of Gloucester’s royal visit in 1935, it was then converted to a first-class carriage on long-distance service. When it became too shabby for the elite standard, it was downgraded to economy class and finished its days on Auckland’s suburban rail. The restoration will see it presented as an immaculate version of the last of its three lives. Explains Rick, “We started on this six years ago. I started it going with the thought that others would take it over but I’ve ended up as the project leader. There were three of us when we started. Two of those have now retired through old age,…

Hopefully, this article will help understanding of the inputs on an Arduino (and other microcontrollers) and what you need to be aware of when using them in sketches. I’ll show how you can detect and respond to multiple inputs and reveal one method of increasing the input number. What is an ‘input’? An ‘input’ is when the microcontroller receives information – and it can be a digital (1/HIGH or 0/LOW) change of state, analogue (0–5V), or a data stream. Regardless of the type, the microcontroller does something with it either immediately or later; it would be a waste otherwise. Eventually, the result of the input information is that the microcontroller produces an output. This could be digital, pulse width modulation (PWM; sort of analogue), or a data stream (LCD, neopixel,…

Erick Akeley is in a rather tricky position. He doesn’t own a house, but he does own five Morris Minors. Erick shares a rented house in Christchurch that has garaging for only his 1957 ute; the other four Minors he keeps in a rented farm shed on the outskirts of the city. Over the past couple of decades, Erick has rented various spaces around town for working on his cars. He approached a farmer after spotting an empty building on the farmer’s land. The farmer said that the building wasn’t available, but he had another that was. This is a long, narrow, low-ceilinged, much-modified construction, of no obvious agricultural purpose, at the end of a long drive. Immediately adjacent are sunlit fields of long grass, with a handful of sheep.…

What’s happening online at the-shed.nz? Every week, we upload new content onto The Shed website to add to the hundreds of articles and videos already on the site for readers to discover, learn from, and enjoy. Some uploads of the past few months include: Wood by name, wood by nature We visit a woodworker in the Adelaide Hills https://the-shed.nz/wood-fan-by-name-and-by-nature/ Getting up to speed A ‘how to’ to calculate gears, sprockets, and pulleys https://the-shed.nz/getting-up-to-speed-3/ A video guide How to make electronic music – part 1 https://the-shed.nz/a-video-guide-to-creating-electronic-music-part-one/ Getting floored A Christchurch shed lean-to’s brick-floor earthquake memorial https://the-shed.nz/getting-floored/…

This description of the process of developing a T-intersection of two cylinders shows the base cylinder or drum on top purely for ease of layout. First, draw a plan view or profile of the base of the upright drum to scale and divide it into 16 equal parts. Draw the side elevation of the two drums together. In this example, the two drums are the same size. Run lines perpendicular to the numbered segments to where they intersect with the second drum. Alongside the side elevation, draw another profile and the front elevation alongside the first elevation. Number the segments in the new profile. Bear in mind where the side-elevation segments are placed and make sure the second profile numbers match them, given this view is the same profile but…

I’ve had the motorbike – an AJS 500cc single of about 1952 production – in storage and in bits for about 50 years. Calling it an ‘AJS 500’ is a bit misleading, as the engine number on the crankcase is for a 1953 Matchless 350 (same manufacturer – AMC, England). Other parts are also mismatched; it’s a bitser. So, the most I can say for the reassembly is that I wanted the machine to be reasonably tidy; run well; and, at a superficial glance, look the part. Spending big on authentic parts and professional chrome plating would have to be avoided as much as possible. Hence this series of articles on how I have managed to develop some quite good electroplating methods (I think) for the parts that are meant…

Erick does all the routine maintenance himself: tune-ups, oil changes, changing brake shoes, bleeding brakes, and the like. He also does some more challenging jobs, such as swapping engines and gear-boxes. A rundown on what he’s done to the individual cars would look something like this: 1969 VAN This one is stock. Erick had the engine rebuilt some years ago but then put it in the ’57 two-door, with the engine from the two-door going into the van. 1957 TWO-DOOR This is Erick’s latest and biggest project. He bought the car online and found out only after it arrived from Wellington that it had suffered serious front-end damage, which had been poorly repaired. He bit the bullet, ordered chassis rails and engine-bay panels from the UK, and had a panel…

When I first came to New Zealand and saw a Morris Minor, it immediately appealed to me because of its retro styling, obviously influenced by the bulbous bodywork of 1940s Detroit sedans. The Minor’s designer, Alec Issigonis, said it was designed during his “American period”. In contrast, the owner of Morris Motors, Lord Nuffield, described it as “looking like a poached egg”. Personally, at first sight I wanted to own one. They are relatively inexpensive to buy. They are easy to maintain and I am able to work on them myself. They are very nice to drive, with their rack-and-pinion steering and torsion-bar suspension, which Issigonis had used on his homemade racing car, the Lightweight Special. They can be used both around town and on motorways, especially when they have…