Innehållsförteckning för No 108 April - May 2023 från The Shed

Wanganui Turners and Woodcraft Group started out as a carving club in the mid ’70s, initiated by Austin Brasell from Sovereign Woodworkers. The group meets from 7.30pm until 10pm on the first, second, and last Tuesdays of the month at City College, St Hill Street, Whanganui. Skilled at all kinds of woodcraft, such as wood-turning, fretwork, intarsia, and carving, the members, who are a diverse bunch of men and a few women, welcome newcomers and will teach people from beginners onwards whatever they want to learn. The group has a stall at the Whanganui River Markets every Saturday morning. Items for sale include rolling pins; knives with wooden handles; bread, cheese, and chopping boards; spoons; goblets; ornaments; and children’s wooden toys. “The market was something we decided to do to…

MEANZ president, Christchurch’s Rob Wilson, had this to say: “MEANZ is the acronym for the Model Engineering Association of New Zealand Incorporated. It has 32 affiliated clubs, from Whangārei to Invercargill. “The MEANZ executive comprises members of affiliated clubs who have been voted to the positions: president, vice-president, secretary/treasurer, NI [North Island] representative, and SI [South Island] representative. “MEANZ was formed in 1999 to bring together all kindred incorporated model engineering clubs, providing a single point of contact with the government’s regulatory bodies: the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, and WorkSafe. “MEANZ ensures that there are common rules and regulations that promote both safety and uniformity of standards for such things as rail/track gauges, wagons, brake systems, couplings, wheel machining tolerances, etc. “Most importantly, clubs are required to be…

NO EASY ACCESS TO THE SPINNING-WHEEL SHOP Dear Sir, My grandson has been buying a yearly subscription for me as a Christmas present for three years. I so enjoy receiving my copies of The Shed. Issue No. 106 is again a treasure. I was fascinated to read Spinning, Spinning, Spinning. There were many spinning wheels in our extended family. My father and mother took turns in the evenings carding, teasing, and spinning. Mother later knitted the yarn into jerseys for us all. On page 90 of this edition, mention is made of a wheel maker at Ōkaihau, Mr JW Graham. I can recall our family visiting him in 1943 or ’44 to buy one of his wheels. As an eight-year-old boy I was not that interested in his workshop, but…

No more gaps All those annoying little gaps in kitchens and bathrooms that can be a host for nasties like mould and water build-up can be dealt to easily with Selleys No More Gaps Bathroom & Kitchen. Cracks and gaps will be hidden for longer as No More Gaps features up to 25 per cent movement flexibility, as well as superior water resistance. With a fungicide to help protect against unsightly mould growth, it can also be painted over with water-based or oil-based paints. Selleys No More Gaps will adhere to most surfaces, from ceramics and glass to cement, plasterboard, and most plastics. It’s perfect for touching up bathroom vanities, cabinets, glass, tiles, and features such as skirting boards, benchtops, windows, and door frames. Selleys No More Gaps is easy…

Rain, rain, drain away After the rain events at the beginning of the year, no one will need reminding of the importance of installing a fit for purpose drainage system when you’re building your shed. All those tools and projects deserve a little extra attention to protect them from the possibility of water damage. Connecto Trade’s Dux Plastics water drainage systems are just the ticket for Kiwi sheddies — the interlocking modular surface water drainage systems are made from UV stabilised recycled materials designed in New Zealand for our climate. The channels are available in 1m or 3m lengths that can be cut and connected at 100mm intervals, offering the flexibility to suit any project. A range of sturdy grate styles has a 5-tonne vehicle load rating. Accessories include patented…

To describe the project as simply and clearly as possible, I will explain it by referring to the images in turn, describing in detail the procedure, tools, and site references that I have used. The software components and the SVG designs for laser cutting are available as open source on GitHub (https://github.com/alicemirror/SandMachine). Laser cut: 1 All the components of the octagonal container — the dome — and the box container have been created with 3mm plywood. The pieces have been designed using the online tool MakerCase (https://en.makercase.com). After setting the sizes of the box and the thickness of the material, plus some other details, from the website, you can download the vectorial file in SVG format that can be directly applied for laser cutting. I chose the ‘finger’ edge option…

Best of The Shed Featuring 18 of the best projects from the last 10 years, The Best of The Shed includes all of our most popular projects. With step-by-step instructions, the 176-page book will take you through a variety of projects, including a pizza oven, a trailer, a rocking horse, and a knife. How to Weld Learn how to weld with this best-selling book on the subject. Suitable for beginners through to experienced welders, this 207-page book will help you to transform ordinary steel into a blank canvas for invention. Professional Sheet Metal Fabrication The most detailed sheet-metal book available, this 304-page paperback includes clear instructions on a variety of subjects — including directions for using pneumatic hammers, an English wheel, and more. Learn how to form door seams and…

In Peter Loidl’s living room, a 1:2 scaled-down Model T Ford made from various timbers does duty as a liquor cabinet. The bonnet and trunk lift up to reveal a stash of spirit and wine bottles that have accumulated for years — they are mostly unopened, Peter tells us. He has wired up the headlights, back lights, and dashboard. He has also installed concealed colour-changing lighting where the bottles sit. There’s no drink-drive message intended; the car bar serves a functional purpose and is also an unusual decorative feature. Peter has built three of these vehicles. The second also serves as a drinks cabinet and the other, called ‘Moonshine Express’, sits in his double-garage shed. In the living area, two other cabinets display collectables and books. Peter has made them…

Peter turns out ballpoint pens, fashioning the barrels on his lathe; bowls, such as the one pictured, made from yew and resin; and has just completed a kauri whisky bottle for a friend. He also does decorative intarsia work, using ready-made designs on contrasting timbers. Intarsia images are mosaics of wood, fitted and glued into a wooden support. He glues the design onto the wood and cuts it out with a scroll saw, using the grain of the wood to match the look of the image — for example, the eagle feathers of a design that Des gave him (see photograph). The scroll saw is made for cutting intricate designs and tight curves; a platform on which to rest the wood allows greater control while cutting. A jigsaw may also…

Most homes have surfaces that are looking old and tired, but it’s too much hassle or cost to replace them. It’s easy to refresh them with paint instead. To help you refresh common problem areas in your home, we’ve asked the Resene experts to share some of their top tips: Tip top for tiles You can easily refresh the look of wall tiles with paint. Clean down first with Resene Interior Paintwork Cleaner. Then apply Resene Waterborne Smooth Surface which helps the topcoats to grip. Then apply two coats of Resene SpaceCote Low Sheen in your chosen colour. Tiles on the walls or floor can be painted, but avoid painting tiles within the shower area. Grout – from good to great The grout between tiles discolours over time and is…

This chart shows some common air tools and their average air consumption. The chart can help determine what output rating is required of your air compressor. *Average consumption at 90psi *The average cfm is typically based on a 25 per cent duty cycle — 15 seconds a minute. This is fine for intermittent-use tools, such as nail guns and drills or impact spanners. For tools requiring a continuous rating — for example, orbital sanders, grinders — multiply the ‘average consumption’ by four to approximate the continuous supply required. Remember that consumption can vary considerably with different brands and different-capacity machines.…

I was all fired up to report on the tree-house I was planning for the grandkids, when Greg (The Shed editor) emailed asking about chicken coops. I thought about it for a while; we already have adequate housing for our two flocks, and a comet-trail of used coop-age scattered about. Plus, I’m more of an opportunistic upcycler than a new-builder. Then I realised this wasn’t about me; besides, it might be an intellectual challenge. So, I set myself a task: design an urban-scale coop, and run, using common off-the-shelf materials, on as tight a budget as practicable. Tractors — for chickens on the move Chickens should be kept in tandem with a food garden. They are comfortably carnivorous, and will turn food scraps into fertiliser in short order. With a…

Trailers are useful vehicle accessories that are particularly vulnerable to unauthorised use and/or removal. Aftermarket accessory businesses cater for standard ball couplings. Their devices usually consist of a frame locked onto the ball coupling to prevent it from being used. Personally, I believe that anyone with a battery-operated grinder would need to make only one vertical cut to remove such a locking device, before heading down the road with your pride and joy happily following along behind. I haven’t seen anything suited to the more robust off-road couplings now used on caravans. These are particularly vulnerable if you are camping in a remote area and need to use the towing vehicle while wanting to leave the caravan in situ. The alternative — taking the caravan with you — might mean…

“Before I started, there was a lot of reorganising to make sure I had the space. I like the fact I can walk downstairs and do something, or think about the next part to be resolved. With so many parts, it is good to keep the workspace tidy, tools away, and organised.” “I keep a log of my hours, broken by two pages of notes, problems, and questions. I am planning to put it all into a spreadsheet. I was very diligent to begin with: start time, end time. Now, I just log my hours. Note-taking has been very useful.” “My aircraft tools are stored in the drawers of two tool trolleys organised from the top with commonly used tools in descending order. I added a plywood work surface topped…

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Peter, now 68, grew up in Austria. In his 20s he trained in hospitality, completing an apprenticeship in all aspects of the industry, with a focus on catering. After doing compulsory military service, he took off overseas, working in Germany, South Africa, Namibia, and other parts of the globe. “From there, it snowballed and I went from job to job through word of mouth,” he says. “In the hotel industry over there, you do a season and then you move on to another place, then another, so you get quite a lot of travel time and experience and you see a lot of places.” Travel broadened Peter’s horizons; he loved seeing new places and meeting people: “You learn a lot, and probably my narrow-mindedness suddenly opened up. You meet different…

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: Make your own off-road vehicle https://the-shed.nz/this-offroader-project-is-a-beaut/ Make a shubunkin fish pendant in silver and gold https://the-shed.nz/gold-fish/ A look at the most common types of nuts https://the-shed.nz/assorted-nuts/ Make great use of old printer motors https://the-shed.nz/rescue-those-versatile-stepper-motors/…

A New Zealander invented one of the world’s most well-known air tools — one that revolutionised its profession: the air-turbine dentist’s drill. Sir John Patrick Walsh, dean of the University of Otago School of Dentistry from 1946 to 1971, developed the air-turbine dental-drill handpiece with members of the staff of the Dominion Physical Laboratory in Wellington. According to Wikipedia, the first application for a provisional patent for the handpiece driven by compressed air was granted in October 1949. The New Zealand patent number is No. 102433/104611. The final model is held by the Commonwealth Inventions Development Board in Canada. The patent was granted on 27 November 1950 to Sir John, who had conceived the idea of the contra-angle air-turbine handpiece after he had used a small commercial-type air grinder as…

John Priest, 83, lives in Woodville, a thriving country town at the eastern end of the Manawatu Gorge — at least, it used to thrive, until the gorge road was closed permanently. Although it can now hardly be called thriving, it does host some useful second-hand shops and a close-knit community. Clearly, John hasn’t been idle since he arrived here. He has remodelled his 120-year-old cottage, he has added a carport and a couple of useful sheds — one of which is becoming a handy workshop — and he has an extensive and well-tended garden. Still, the long and rather wetter than usual winter that even the East Coast suffered left him with a quandary. What do you do to while away the cold winter nights in a quiet country…

The kit comes with six manuals and a tool list. Arjen bought most of his tools in the US, but has since found that many of these tools can be bought in New Zealand. “I probably went overboard on the tools, but you don’t know what you don’t know,” he says. “When you see a tool on the list, you can’t envisage what it looks like, how to use it, or what you need it for. A ‘fluting plier’, what’s that? I haven’t needed one yet. I bought a dimpling machine second hand off another plane builder. I use a laser to ensure everything is absolutely straight. I saw other people use and recommend them. It really is crucial. “It has taken me quite a while to get confident with…

What a summer! I’m actually looking forward to winter; surely it can’t be any worse. Two cyclones in a month and one exactly 12 months after the last big one — who would have believed it? At least I didn’t suffer the heartbreaking damage that so many others did. These events have demonstrated that our infrastructure is not in any shape to deal with what could become regular occurrences. If these recent devastating weather events don’t convince you that the climate has changed and it’s overdue time we did something, then nothing will. I, for one, won’t be queuing to buy a house with an uninterrupted ocean view unless it sits on a hill well back from the shore. I suspect there might even be some bargains by the sea…