Table of contents for March-April 2019 in The Shed

The summer months are the time when we need to attend to those bigger jobs that the wet winter won’t allow us to undertake, so we thought it best that in this issue we arm you with knowledge for one of the biggest home maintenance tasks that a sheddie can tackle without needing a permit or council inspections. How hard can it be? Painting that is. Slap on a bit of primer and undercoat, then finish off with a couple of top coats. How difficult is that? To get the best advice on this subject we decided not to approach professional painters, as you can speak to a dozen of them and get a dozen different viewpoints. We chose to seek the advice of the innovative painting industry and decorator…

The main advantage of traditional putty is that is easy to apply. Its linseed-oil base means that it doesn’t stick to the putty knife and it’s relatively easy to get a good finish. You have to wait a few days or even weeks before painting it (read the pack), but that’s not always a big deal. However, it will continue to dry out over time. Make sure that you paint bare timber before using it or the oil will leach out even faster. Silicone gels are great for fixing glass in metal and vinyl frames, but don’t use silicone sealant around putty — when it cures it gives off an acid that attacks putty. Selleys national sales manager Phil Ayling says that glazing compounds are a step up from old-school…

Acrylic-based fillers and paints offer unbeatable advantages for weatherboard construction. Their flexibility is a great match for timber and they are better for the environment, much easier to work with, and incredibly safe for people using them compared with their highly toxic predecessors. The one downside Phil notes is that they are more weather dependent. Being water based, their drying times are massively affected by humidity in the air, and drying times can extend out by many hours. Rob made the same point: “If your washing won’t dry, neither will your paint.”…

When someone claims to have made a silent circular-saw blade, the sceptical side of your nature tends to call up a handy phrase used to advertise beer, but I’m going to have to eat those thoughts. This product almost, unbelievably, lives up to its promise Tusk, a brand offering a range of “cutting solutions” — including demolition-grade blades that go through nails and even stainless bolts — also markets a 185mm “reduced noise emission” circular-saw blade it calls the ‘Tusk Silent Timber Blade’. “Reduced noise emission”, yeah, but silent? So let’s put it to the test. The Shed’s offices are right above a small engineering workshop that includes a dirty room with a bench, vice, and a noise-level meter. I had a basic Bosch DIY-quality circular saw and a lump…

A short distance up North East Valley, Dunedin, is a community shed. When we visit, there’s a woman outside, prepping steel brackets for painting — turns out they’re part of her electric-car conversion. There’s a strange bike-towed caravan parked on the footpath. People are working on their bikes in the communal space, a man is demonstrating e-bikes to a middle-aged couple. Further inside, we walk past a space dedicated to electric-vehicle (EV) conversions, on through a room dedicated to solar-panel installation, and then to another full of looms and busy weavers. Other spaces are taken up with piles of assorted bike parts and such like. It’s a busy place with a friendly yet purposeful feel. Converting to oil-free How did it come about? Rosemary Penwarden, long-time member of Oil Free…

Constructed from kauri, the master-bedroom wardrobe features a 2m long hanging rail that goes back into the depths of the roof space. To retrieve clothes at the far end, it can be pulled out and secured with a timber prop. It also has double-depth gliding drawers and a shirt rack fitted with a wooden lever. Similar ingenious use of space is found in the spare bedroom below, where drawers, which have the facing of a regular chest of drawers, neatly slide into the cavity under the stairs.…

In the first article of this series on the milling machine (Time for a Milling Machine? Issue No. 82), we put the milling machine in the workshop and had it levelled. Next, before you use the machine, it is important to check the alignment of the spindle. Then comes understanding the importance of preparing the workpiece. Work to be milled or drilled on the milling machine has to be set up so that it does not move during the job. This is one of the most important things you can do if you don’t want an important component or workpiece to end up as scrap because it moved. Six degrees of freedom Every component, no matter its shape, can move in six ways — up, down, left, right, forwards, and…

The kitchen got off to a false start. They had hit on the idea of using a second-hand bathroom vanity to provide the cupboards and base for the kitchen bench, but realized it was too small and too shallow. They found another larger and cheaper unit that actually matched the width of van’s sliding door. The couple had already decided that the van’s sliding door was surplus to requirements in their layout, but it did give them access to the back of the kitchen unit for changing the gas bottle, which had to be sealed off from the inside of the van. It also meant that they could refill a plumbed-in soap dispenser, and even the larder, from outside the van. They scrapped the top and replaced it with a…

Some hard fillers, like traditional polyester resin–based builder’s bog, have no flex, so they don’t last long in exterior applications where wood expands and contracts. Striking the right balance between the bulk needed for larger holes and ease of handling, stability, and flexibility has given rise to a broad range of fillers available today. Phil says, being acrylic based, Selleys Permafilla is flexible but also tough enough to be used indoors and out on timber, brick, concrete, stone, and even primed metal. It can be sanded, painted, drilled into, and even nailed. For small cracks or dents he recommends the Spakfilla range. It features a micro-balloon construction, which makes it rapid drying and much more sandable than the tougher Permafilla range. It also sticks well to paint, so he recommends…

Check out the New Zealand Green Building Council’s (NZGBC) Homefit programme. This organization is aiming to lift New Zealand’s building performance standards up by the bootstraps. For too long New Zealand buildings have been cheaply built and poorly designed and that has cost us our health, comfort, productivity, time, and money spent on extra maintenance and energy costs. There’s a wealth of practical advice on its website for creating better buildings from scratch or when doing renovations. Visit nzgbc.org.nz/homefit…

What’s happening online at theshedmag.co.nz? Every week we upload new content on The Shed website to join the 100s of articles and videos already on the site for readers to discover, learn from and enjoy. The past two month’s new uploads include: • build the best smoker — this how-to is for a large smoker for fish and meats like salami • casting aluminium wheels — casting aluminium is not as complicated as it may seem; common sense is the main ingredient • bend it — this design-and-make plan will enable you to make a small pan sheet-metal folder that folds mild sheet metal from 18 to 26 gauge • build an outdoor fireplace — get ready for those autumn gatherings in the garden with this unique block outdoor fire.…

What does a miniature exploding Kiwi dunny and a toy lawn mower have in common? They are both made by Halswell Men’s Shed member Raymond Eder. Over the past 30 years Ray has been making toys for friends and relatives as a hobby, and now in retirement he continues to do this at the shed. For 35 years Ray had been involved in management roles at Plumbing World with his working career taking him from one end of New Zealand to the other. In 1981 he and his wife moved to Christchurch to settle down closer to family. A recent move into a retirement village and a smaller home meant that he no longer had the workshop space that he used to have. “Joining up with the Halswell shed has…

An intriguing project lurking in one corner is a Yamaha quad bike being converted to run on electricity. Bought dead-motored for $300, it will soon be back paddock-bashing — albeit silently, thanks to its 13kW, three-phase motor. There are two battery boxes — one forward, and one where the tank once resided — containing enough 48V, 86A/hour Chinese-built batteries to give a reasonable (use-dependent) range. Three bonuses will be regenerative braking, extended range, and reduced brake wear. Another will be the ability to recharge battery-powered tools in the field. Already there are plans for the next one, the big change being lower-mounted batteries.…

• MyYoutubechannel:https://youtu.be/Bh3wRqP2iHo • Kitronik’s All-in-one Robotics Board: www.kitronik.co.uk/5641-all-in-one-robotics-board-for-bbcmicrobit.html • Inkscape: https://inkscape.org/ • Electret Microphone Breakout Board based on the MAX9814 integrated amplifier by Adafruit (adafruit.com/product/1713) • Designs (all available under an Open Source license in the project GitHub repository): https://alicemirror.github.io/ChristmasJoySpreadingMachine/ • Make Code Editor Blocks (https://microbit.org/code/) • Open Source multiplatform programming editor jEdit (jedit.org)/…

Patrick’s curved rimu staircase leads to a second floor constructed within the high roof space of the villa. “There was a whole industry making stairs the classical way 120 years ago but most of that skill has gone. It’s a time-consuming process that just isn’t affordable these days,” says Patrick, who built the entire staircase, from the stringer to the handrail, doing everything except the lathe work on the turned baluster spindles. The stringer, which supports the treads and risers, is laminated on the curve but otherwise constructed from solid timber. A decorative detail in unstained rimu conceals the riser joints (below centre). The bull noses of the bottom two steps (right) are wrapped with a veneer cut from an extension of the riser to keep the grain continuous. The…

The little farms are sent overseas too. They’ve had many orders from Australia and have shipped to places as far away as Texas and Colorado. “About 20 per cent of our sales we ship overseas, mainly to Australia,” says Cameron. In 2017 they set up a website to cope with the orders (forever4kidz.co.nz). The site accounts for about 95 per cent of their orders and the rest is through an Australian retail chain, and some South Island and local Taranaki outlets. They visit farming field days and set up a stall every year at Mystery Creek. “On Facebook the whole thing has gone viral. We’ve had hundreds of thousands of comments. We’re running popular competitions with farm buildings as prizes. Rural kids really relate to the toys and you can…

Jon (27) and Alex Boxall (29) handed in their notices to their jobs in the UK in 2016, sold their stuff, and set out in search of adventure. The couple spent three months travelling through Southeast Asia, including riding the length of Vietnam on two old 100cc Honda Win motorcycles. They travelled around New Zealand’s North Island in a hired camper van and have lived here since — apart from flying to Tuscany in 2017 to get married among family and friends. Then they came back to their jobs in New Zealand. Jon is a specialist in angiography, cardiac catheterization, and computed tomography (CT), and Alex in ultrasound. “We didn’t buy a van to be cooped up in a tin can” A camper van is the go Alex and Jon…

A friend who was soon to be ordained as a priest admired a cross made for my father in 1936 in Zambia when he was a medical missionary. It is made of ebony with decorative ivory ends (Image 1). The quality of the finish is very fine. At 150mm tall, it is rather too large to wear as a pectoral cross. I decided to make a smaller one for him to celebrate the occasion. As a source of ebony, all I had in my workshop were a few leftover bits of black notes rescued from a worm-eaten piano when I decided to design and build a clavichord in 1963. I had of course no ivory to hand, but I understand beef bones are a great carver’s substitute and luckily I…

PACKING A PUNCH The Hydraulic Chassis Punch Set for sheet metal boasts an easy-to-use design and includes six hole-punching die sets: 22.5mm, 28.3mm, 34.6mm, 43.2mm, 49.6mm, and 61.5mm. The set comes in a blow-mould carry case for portability and features a 1.6mm sheet-metal capacity in mild steel and 2mm sheet-metal capacity in mild steel up to 28.3mm in diameter — just ensure that there’s a 12mm hole prior to punching. For more information or to purchase, visit machineryhouse.co.nz and search ‘P020’ or call into one of its stores. SWAPPA SYSTEM FOR YOUR WELDING GAS Wouldn’t it be nice to have your gas bottles on hand rather than having to go out and rent one each time you need to use it? Coregas thought so too, so it developed the Trade…

Resene’s Rob Mountford believes that paint additives are generally underused. If you are going to paint in the height of summer, he certainly recommends using extenders that delay drying time, such as Resene Brushing Additive. “If you are painting in full sun, it will dry on the brush before you get it on the wall,” he says. He advises painting in the shade as it moves around the house. You can use extenders in different concentrations depending on the temperature, but you should have them on hand if painting on any warm days from December to March. Most paints have some anti-fungal treatment in them but, if you find the south or east sides of your house have mildew, you know that it’s susceptible there, so consider an additive like…

“Why do I have to repaint my house every 10 years but the paint on my car will last for 30?” Rob is asked that at least once a year. There are a couple of answers. Car paints typically cost $300 or $400 a litre, maybe 10–20 times the price of house paint. They are also applied in atmosphere-controlled environments, to perfectly prepared surfaces, at computer-controlled depths, and then baked on in many layers, including clear coats. Need we go on?…

How to get good rust! I enjoyed the Corten fire build in Issue No. 76 and noted that Jude Woodside was hoping for a uniform rust covering on the fire. I have been using citric acid granules for this, which I buy from the Bin Inn shop, for around $10 per kilogram. All my new steel arrives with mill scale on it and this is not something you would weld to so I soak it in a solution of citric acid in an old plastic drum, which I cut in half lengthwise, or for small pieces just use a plastic bucket. The likes of 25x3mm or 6mm round I leave in overnight and wash off with water and a poly pad. The metal comes up a silver colour and will…

Bring your own project in here (as the writer has — watch this space), and there’s no end to the helpfulness. Whether it be rummaging through parts bins for what you want, offering constructive advice, or helping people up their skills, the emphasis is all about ‘can’ and ‘do’, rather than ‘profit from’. Some of the stuff coming out of here is inspiring; all of it is heading where we have to go. Most of all, though, the continual revolving discussion demonstrates that sharing a shed is a great way to go. There should be more of it.…

Last year I was concerned that the single brake light on my caravan wasn’t particularly bright and I knew that LED versions would be better, but it got used, parked, and then forgotten about. Then suddenly it was that time of year again when the caravan needed a warrant before we could use it. The man at the testing station raised concerns that the single tail light — while still warrantable — had deteriorated, and the reflectors should be larger. He was quite right, of course, and so it was off to the nearest automotive retailer for some new LED tail lights, which included an indicator and a larger reflector that would fit the space available. Removing the tail light showed why it was dull, as the reflector had long…

Patrick’s current project is replacing the doors on a large built-in elm cabinet and bookshelf he made 15 or so years ago. Originally a row of three cupboards under the shelving, it now houses a sound system and large television screen. His dilemma was concealing the screen, while still making it easily accessible, without spoiling the symmetry of the cabinet, which is divided into three equal sections. His solution was to create three bifolding doors with the pair covering the TV set hinged from either side of it to do away with a supporting upright mid-screen. When closed, they look like three double-panelled doors. Patrick repeated the grooved detailing of the cabinet to further enhance the illusion of three doors rather than six panels. To keep the frames uniform, he…

Apart from a computerized CNC router, mostly used for cutting out water troughs, most of the tools used are hand tools. Cameron has gone with the Ryobi line with interchangeable batteries. He has 12 nail guns, which fire 15–50mm nails; various sanders; a wood planer; a hand router; drills and hot-glue guns; and a string of 18V batteries to power them. “We’ve been through four drop saws — they get a lot of use. We are using a Dewalt saw at present, which is handling the pace,” he explains. They go through a lot of screws, buying 7mm screws in 24,000 lots! They buy Selleys wood glue in four-litre lots.…

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. Men and their Sheds Something for everyone in this coffee table book, beautifully presented in a salute to that unique place where things are fixed and friendships formed, where invention begins and the amazing history of things is kept alive. Some contributors stress the benefit of sheds as a therapeutic tool, but their real gift is that they’re incubators of dreams, fostering creativity, skill, achievement and pride. This book’s 224 pages make it the perfect present for…

On the walls of his studio and in his house, Tara has examples of some of the striking works that he has created using 3D wooden lettering. “I mechanically cut the type on a bandsaw and then assemble it in a frame,” he says. “I guess the technique is becoming obsolete with laser cutting, but I get a lot of satisfaction from designing and making them. It’s an indulgence really.” The 3D wooden lettering is very powerful and the verse physically jumps out at the viewer, seemingly with a life of its own.…

One of the joys of spending time alone in your shed is it gives you time to ponder and lately I have been musing on industrial relations. We have had an unusual number of major strikes and threatened strikes of late. That was probably inevitable given that the new government is expected to be more accommodating to workers, especially public servants. As well they need to be. We have had too long a period of no wage growth while the cost of living has grown. I should declare here that I am in favour of unions as a necessary tool to balance the distribution of power in the workplace. Unions have suffered over the past few decades from successive governments curtailing their power and limiting their effectiveness in favour of…