Innehållsförteckning för No 110 August - September 2023 från The Shed

We love it when our readers write to us and always look forward to receiving letters to the editor. FYI, you don’t write to us enough – just saying. But I digress. In the previous issue of The Shed, Issue No. 109, we published a letter from Shed reader Dave Robbie, who had noticed a photo of a small petrol engine installed in a sharpie yacht built by Neville Watkinson (see Issue No. 107). Dave sang the praises of small engines, and asked if we could delve deeper into them for him. Our team loved that and dived in. You will see Neville’s article on the small engine installation in this issue. I hope you like the article, Dave, but the conclusion may dispel a few myths for you. When…

Machinery House was introducing several very attractive new machines After an absence of four years, SouthMach, the engineering exhibition, returned to Christchurch. It is the largest South Island manufacturing, engineering, and technology trade show and was held over two days at Canterbury Arena, a cavernous space that has had several names over the years and is usually home to rock concerts and professional netball. By my count, there were 83 exhibitors displaying their products and services. Two local machinery importers, Scott Machinery and Machinery House, had large stands. Machinery House was introducing several very attractive new machines: a high-end tube bender, a shaper, a welding-fume extractor, and – the one I would have most liked to take home – a small English wheel. I had a lively conversation with Bryan…

If you’ve been looking for a flexible lighting system that can be easily installed in your shed, off-grid garage, boat house, or pool shed with no ongoing power bills, Senztek has the perfect solution. What’s even better is that it’s perfect for keen DIYers, who can install it themselves. Senztek has spent four years developing the innovative Extra Low Voltage (ELVO) LED light system so that you can wave goodbye to the hassles of mains-based power design and the need for professional installation. The ELVO Light Package is a complete flat pack kit that offers a simple plug and play, off-grid lighting system. The innovative light adjusts its output to match the available energy, it is brighter during the day and adjusts to normal night-time lighting levels, harmonising the indoors…

The mezzanines in my shed build could present a real danger for people accessing them. The height of the mezzanine level exceeds 2m – all too regularly, fatalities occur in falls less than that within the building industry and other industries. All countries have standards for handrails, and I applied the relevant one for my jurisdiction. The handrails are required to withstand a lateral force of 30kg and meet a minimum height. The handrails that I built and fitted to the mezzanines meet those standards. During the design, it was decided to place only a single access point for each mezzanine. This meant that each opening would need a gate (or door) and all other parts of the mezzanines could be barricaded properly. The handrails were welded up and fitted…

Richard ran his family’s dairy farm in partnership with his brothers John and Bob from when he left school until he retired 42 years later. Given his time over, he would do it all again. He can recall the names of long-dead cows and their milking shed stall numbers. He says that he inherited his love of cows from his mother. Margaret Spark agreed to move from Blenheim to Canterbury with her husband on condition that she could bring her dairy herd with her. This involved Richard’s father, Charlie, and a mate, with a horse and dray, driving a herd of 28 cows and a goat, without dogs, from Riverlands on the outskirts of Blenheim to Sheffield in inland Canterbury, a distance of 270km. It took three weeks, averaging about…

NEW ISSUE ON SALE NOW The Japanese motoring industry started slowly in New Zealand. The first car we were able to buy en masse off the lot was a 1963 Datsun Bluebird 1200. One classic car enthusiast came across a rare example of this model for sale over five years ago and decided it was the project for him. We feature the result of the owner’s five-year restoration in the latest issue, and his efforts are to be applauded – it’s a stunning example. Also in this issue we have a bit of a supercar focus. We have a breathtaking Chris Amon–inspired Ford GT40 replica and the underrated first Japanese supercar, a 1991 Honda NSX. Also featured are a VW Kombi camper, a Kaiser Darrin, a luxury British Ford and…

Convert-a-ball This bolt-on Convert-a-Ball pintle hitch and ball mount combo is ideal for heavy-duty towing, retaining the ability to tow with a standard coupling. It includes three interchangeable, stainless-steel hitch balls with towing capacities from 3500lbs to 10,000 lbs, and a pintle sleeve adapter (GTW 25,000 lbs). The polyurethane interior acts as a shock absorber. The double-engagement, rust-resistant locking system converts quickly from pintle to standard ball mount — no tools needed. Convert-a-Ball is made in America. Call 0800 698 227 for where to buy, or more information. Gases for the ultimate shield Welding takes skill, knowledge, and patience, which is why you don’t want your job to be let down by using poor-quality gases. Used for MIG welding, Eziswap Gas’s Shieldmix Argon/CO2 gas mixes provide arc stability, puddle control,…

Crossbows have always fascinated me. As a weapon, they transformed warfare from around 650BCE through to the beginnings of gunpowder-based firearms; as a project, they have all sorts of interesting challenges. Just because they fascinate me, however, doesn’t mean that I know anything about them, but I’m a designer, so – in the words of Jeremy Clarkson – how hard can it be? This article will take us from determining the nature and extent of my ignorance on this subject, through some sketches that I’ve drawn up to help me understand it, and finally to a foam-board mock-up of what I would like to achieve. The next article will be about the design itself, based on what I’m aiming for – pun intended – and what I need to do…

In this, part seven of our Alibre Atom 3D series, we will look at how assemblies can be shown. There are two methods for making assemblies in this program. The first is called ‘bottom up’, whereby the separate parts that come together to make an assembled product are already designed. The second is, not surprisingly, called ‘top down’. This allows parts to be designed as the assembly is created, and parts can be configured to suit the other component parts as they are fitted together. This does not mean that parts cannot be altered when the bottom-up method is used. In fact, it’s not difficult at all to change each part when you find a problem – such as parts not actually fitting together. However, it does mean that you…

I needed to build a new shed and it was already late fall. In my defence, I’m pretty sure most homesteaders in areas with heavy winters have a mad scramble every fall, finishing all the things that have been put off to the last minute before snow flies. However, there was no way the old shed was going to survive another winter; it was already being held up with props. Demo time The old shed had been a rabbit hutch at one time and I hadn’t bothered to tear it down once the rabbits were gone. It then filled up with stuff, as sheds do. The replacement was going in the same spot, so first I had to empty and tear down the old one. I got to sorting through…

It is generally regarded as wisdom to ‘leave well enough alone’, but Martin Horspool is not having a bar of that. Here is a man who considers nothing worth having, using, or wearing until he has either found a novel use for it or transformed it utterly. Nothing is spared – not his Honda 50 step-through, not the lamp over his desk, not the desk itself, not even his own hair, a white mane that stands straight up like bristles on a yard broom. Everything around Martin bears his original and always stylish stamp. For the past 16 years, this odd bent has provided the former printer with a nice supplementary income, but, as of August last year, this is his new career: the Buggyrobot guy of Oamaru – Steampunk…

As with everything else Martin does, he has a system for starting a new model. “First I put together a collection of bits that I think might look good together,” he explains. “I lay them out flat on the bench and try them out, sometimes replacing bits until they all work. Then I start from the feet up, attaching the feet to the legs, sticking them together as I go.” His favourite tool is a 3.2mm double-ended drill bit, to drill the holes for the pop rivets: “It’s a special bit – it won’t snap. Ordinary drill bits snap if you lean on them too hard at the wrong angle. Working the way I do, that usually means the stub end goes into my thumb. So I’m pretty keen on…

When designing the Milford 20, (see Kiwi Ingenuity, The Shed, Issue No. 107, March–April 2023), I realised that some form of auxiliary propulsion would be desirable. Many slipways in New Zealand are located within the confines of a marina, and these places typically don’t allow sailing within their area. Initially, I thought about oars; however, to be effective they would need to be quite long, and that created a stowage issue. The next obvious solution was an outboard motor. I think these represent one of the best solutions for a small boat if it doesn’t lend itself to oars: a relatively cheap, simple, self-contained power unit that is also portable. Modern outboards are fairly refined and quiet, qualities that I value in a power unit, and can be very fuel…

In this issue of The Shed, I have deviated from my series of articles dedicated to electronic projects to instead showcase the recent Ghent Maker Faire and its passionate electronics makers. This annual event took place in April in the city of Ghent in Belgium. Compared with other more famous maker Faire events across Europe – Brussels, Rome, Hanover, to mention just the most renowned – the Ghent Maker Faire is considered a minor event. However, it still played host to thousands of visitors and is well worth attending because of its very special character. As you may have already read in the News section of The Shed Issue No. 109, the faire hosted the first European power-tool racing along the lines of New Zealand and US competitions. It was…

Some species of cedar, redwood, locust, cypress, and so forth will easily withstand 20 years or more of contact with the soil. Other types of wood will rot out in five years, and then there are termites and carpenter ants to consider. Pentachlorophenol (penta) is probably the best wood preservative known to mankind, but it’s such nasty stuff that it’s been outlawed in many places for some time now. Creosote is another good preservative that has been used for more than 100 years, but is also now mostly banned. These days, various copper and arsenic compounds are sold but they do little good when only painted on the surface of wood. Commercially available pressure-treated wood has these compounds injected to saturate the fibres. Charring posts is another traditional way to…

We’ve got room for you and space to grow. Waitaki is full of people who’ve turned their hobbies and passions into their main trade. We’re smack bang in the middle of the South Island and can offer a mixture of small town friendliness, old world charm and modern innovation. Less than two hours out of Dunedin, with microbreweries, country pubs, fishing, boating and camping on your doorstep – we’ve got great outdoor recreation and affordable living, with urban connections if you want them. Our brand new business incubator Inspire Waitaki is a collective of start-ups and small businesses, networked to help each other succeed. Why not come and be part of our story? Want to know more? Drop us an email at inspirewaitaki@waitaki.govt.nz…

Sheds and their members decide the projects to undertake. However most sheds throughout New Zealand take on some community projects, examples include repairing toy library stock, building playgrounds for early learning centres, repairing old bikes for community distribution, building planter boxes for the main street of the local central business district, the list goes on. The shed is a great place for blokes to learn new skills. We see builders teaching engineers some of their skills and vice versa. Sheds have been operating in New Zealand since 2008. The last decade has seen the number of sheds across both urban and rural areas increase to 140. We have a team of Regional Reps who attend to sheds and public inquiries: Northland, Auckland - David Broadhead 021 324 762 regrep1@menzshed.nz Waikato,…