Table of contents for No 111 October - November 2023 in The Shed

It’s one of those things you just have to learn to live with – even if it sometimes drives you crazy; you can’t stop it. Change can be hard to take as you get older (well, it often is for me anyway). Wonderful buildings get torn down and sometimes a monstrosity takes their place. More houses, more traffic; busy, busy, busy. Even tools and building materials can change for no apparent reason, and you begin to wonder if there is a deliberate plan to mess with you. I mean, even paranoids have enemies, right? However, when you give in to the inevitable and accept it, reminding yourself of the saying, ‘You can’t stop progress’, it can have a calming effect and your blood pressure drops. In my travels, I have…

The Weka Pass Railway runs between the North Canterbury villages of Waipara and Waikari. This section of line, built in the 1880s, was originally going to form part of the South Island Main Trunk line, before it was decided that a coastal route would be more practical because it wouldn’t involve such steep gradients. There was always political pressure, in many parts of New Zealand, for branch lines to be built irrespective of their economic prospects, and in the early years of the 20th century, the line was extended to Waiau, making a total distance of 65km. The branch was closed in 1978, when the deregulation of the trucking industry made it uneconomic. Union pressure stopped the track from being lifted immediately, and in 1982 the Weka Pass Railway bought…

Welding pipe and welding chrome molybdenum (chrome moly or chromoly) are two essentials in making a roll cage in a race car. Frank Wigg at Race FX in West Auckland (known now as ‘Wigg Motorsport’) likes working with chromoly and says that it is not that hard to weld. An experienced welder in the motorsport world, Frank estimates that he has made more than 100 roll cages. He recalls a stint when the Series 9 BMW E30 came out and a group of cars were put in to have roll cages installed with racing deadlines in mind. He worked through creating nine roll cages straight and says that his arm nearly dropped off. Here, Frank discusses the characteristics requirements of chromoly welding and the things to watch for when making…

In his book Crossbows, Frank Bilson begins with: “The overriding points to be striven for in good weapon design are, first, balance, which can be achieved only by trial and error, second, an apparent simplicity of line, which means ridding the surface of every irregular knob, joint, lever and unsightly angle, and third, accuracy in shooting, which can be affected by the kind of stock used, the groove the missile runs in, the angle at which the prod is attached to the stock, and the size, weight and fletching of the bolts.” Bilson goes on to prioritise the groove in terms of straightness, friction, and dimensions with regard to accommodating the bolt – which he suggests can travel at up to 320kph. Get it wrong at this point, and everything…

G’day! I’m Max. I came into the world of my mum and dad (Helen and Geoff) in 1995, as their lucky number two. Fun fact about me is I was born with Down Syndrome, or Trisomy 21, as it is called in France, where I was born. When I was about 6 months old, Mum and Dad decided to wrap up their extended OE and trot back to New Zealand, where Mum is from. My parents met in England. Maybe it was Dad’s DIY attitude that won Mum over, because he’s good at woodwork and metalwork, which he learnt at school and repairing golf clubs with his golf-pro dad at courses in Australia. My Down Syndrome means that, like Johnny B Goode, I don’t read or write well, so Dad…

When we bought our land, my thoughts ran to some kind of tractor. I remembered an old crawler – a 1936 Cletrac AG6 – which I’d once taught my Work Skills Development teams to drive. It was now abandoned and mildly vandalised. A donation to the Sally Army and the sorry-looking wreck became ours; no distributor cap, punctured radiator, rattly donk. The forklifts at Port Otago had the same Continental motor, one of which was reconditioned. After 150 hours, it developed a tic and was replaced with an Isuzu diesel; we could have the old motor free if we wanted. Turned out that the tic was a flawed piston casting, straight up, across, and down No. 6 – no bore damage and rings still intact. A piston and a head…

In this second part of the article on the Ghent Maker Fair, I will introduce another series of stands. These represent the real soul of the event and some notable groups that have elevated the ‘art of making’ to a fascinating professional activity. Thanks to organisations such as the Ingegno Maker Space (https://ingegno.be/), De Creatieve STEM (https://decreatievestem.be/), the MaakBib initiative, and other science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM)–supportive projects in Belgium, making has become an essential aspect of the educational process. At the fair, visitors of any age could test, personally experience, and discover what educational and training experience fitted their interests. This active participation was available free. Most of the proposed activity projects – workshops, maker camps, events, and open labs, to mention just some of them – are harmonised…

My son Bodhi would do anything for me. Anything except hand me the key to one of his three Harley-Davidsons, even though I’ve owned a few bikes in my time. That was how it was until, one day, to my astonishment and delight, it wasn’t. My first Harley ride was equal parts thrilling and terrifying. Bodhi’s ’74 Sportster is pre-rubber mounting, and the massive machine between my legs shook like a bull about to charge. The weight of the thing! I could feel every perilous ounce. The roar bouncing off the buildings that I whizzed past turned heads. And of course that acceleration – common to all powerful motorcycles, but not like the Yamaha RD250 I once owned, so nippy but so light that I once took off up a…

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,…

The Austin family has run a foundry in Timaru for 93 years. Ken Austin, grandson of the founder, says that the business has faced increasing headwinds since the Covid-19 pandemic, so he decided the time had come to shut up shop. To thank his customers and staff – and to celebrate nearly a century of producing castings of all types on the same site – he decided to throw a party. More than 100 guests gathered to watch the family’s 96-year-old patriarch, Bob Austin, pour the last batch of molten iron into a sand mould. In his speech, Ken said how much he appreciated his loyal staff. He also mentioned how much he enjoyed working with farmers, and added that he had never had a bad debt from a farmer.…

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In the previous issue of The Shed, August/September, Issue No. 110 (and Part 7 of this series). I described how to create assemblies. I was left wondering how many imaginative readers figured out that they could create a Lego block in the Alibre Atom 3D program and, using the assemblies capability, create their own virtual Lego models. There are advantages. First, you do not have to purchase any blocks, so it is cheaper and, secondly, there will not be any chance encounters between stray blocks and your bare feet! Joking aside, it is possible to do exactly as I have mentioned. In this article, we will look more closely at what can be done with assemblies, as well as have a quick look at the Shell function and how to…

markseek@rocketmail.com In a world of self-absorbed people, it is refreshing to meet a young chap who thinks of others and puts it into action: meet Mason. Chances are that that annoying boy racer two doors down or the 30-something couple who walk their little pooch past your letterbox will recognise him. Mason has an online presence. Yes, I know; it’s a different world out there! Tell me about it! If you Google ‘Tom Cruise’, you know you’re going to get the same predictable ‘I do my own stunts’ hype. Google ‘Prince Harry’ – same old tabloid fodder. However, look up ‘Mason “Rumble” Simpson’ – he’s all over social media platforms – and you’ll find a young bloke who took the initiative to do something never done before by way of…

NEW ISSUE ON SALE NOW A REPOWERED TRIUMPH GT6 In issue 389, September/October 2023, we discover there’s much more to this cute 1973 Triumph GT6 British sports car than meets the eye. John Burke of Paremata is the owner of our stunning cover car but felt it was somewhat underpowered and that annoyed him. So he took this pristine example of a 1973 Triumph GT6 and installed a V8 engine from Triumph’s sister manufacturer, Rover. The result is a restomod that really ticks the boxes. Also featured in this issue is Jim and Daphne Ledgerwood’s 1940 Ford V8 ½ ton pickup. Securing this Ford for their collection took a bit of chasing and a bit of luck but it was worth all the effort. You can also read about a…

Warren Phillips was working as a camera technician when he started selling antique cameras, used magazines, and framed car advertisements at Christchurch’s large Riccarton Market. The popular market is held on Sunday mornings at Riccarton Park Racecourse and is organised by the local Rotary Club. Warren’s source of car ads was magazines of the ’60s and ’70s, such as Playboy and The Saturday Evening Post, in which US automakers would regularly take full-page ads to announce new models. Australian magazines such as Wheels would have similar spreads featuring the latest Holden or Falcon. At this time, one of the major players in the city’s second-hand book and magazine market was Tommy Redden, who, under the ‘Ringo’s Book Exchange Shop’ logo, ran a stable of ill-lit establishments where paperback novels and…

LETTER OF THE MONTH A MILESTONE IS REACHED Hi Greg, The Hamilton Community Men’s Shed has just recently achieved 15 years of involvement in the Menzshed New Zealand movement. We were 15 in March, but, with all that was going on, we only got to celebrate it in July. A huge milestone for us, and [we’re] proud as, as we think we were the first men’s shed to open in New Zealand, after one of our founding members had come back from Australia after seeing the movement there. We are a group of approx. 80 members, both ladies and men, and are open six days a week as well as one night. We hold a disabled members day, which is overseen by supervisors, a ladies day, and every year we…

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. The right stuff Get the right gear for the job with Hi-Q Components’ range of Tecnodin industrial handles, levers, knobs, hand wheels, crank handles, hinges, and anti-vibration mounts. This quality range from Europe offers a comprehensive selection of knobs, including round, oval,…

For us, owning and living on a lifestyle block is an incredible privilege. My wife, Anke, and I have relished this lifestyle since we were married, and we wouldn’t want it to be any different! Living on the outskirts of Auckland, we are close enough to the city to enjoy its events, restaurants, and beaches, yet far enough to enjoy the peace and connection of our rural community. For our family – we have two teenage daughters – owning a lifestyle block has been the pinnacle of the Kiwi dream. Over the years, we’ve raised many different animals, created a pond and nature reserve, planted lovely gardens, and set up a successful farm-stay B & B. Oh yes, there was still plenty of room to build my shed! Owning a…

In response to Greg’s editorial in Issue No. 110 of The Shed lamenting our lack of global climate action, I offered to compile a useful sheddie to-do list. Then I thought some more. Our predicament is a multi-headed beast; in addressing climate only, we run the risk of making other matters worse. Discussing the whole, though, takes more than one article, so here’s a ‘once over lightly’ before we get on with the to-do list. I’ve also suggested some further reading in a side panel. The predicament, briefly There are many reasons society clings to the concentrated carbon energy from fossilised sunlight, which we call ‘fossil fuels’. We are carbon-energy life forms; we decay – or die – without enough of it, as do our constructs. Our energy progression has…

One of the predispositions that drives me as a sheddie is the belief that the more versatile I can make the tools I own, the better. I have owned a Makita plunge router for quite a few years, making use of it now and then. However, given the cost of buying it, the use I have made of it hasn’t really justified the outlay. It’s just been one of those tools that is good to have if you like woodwork. I also have a smaller router that is less cumbersome and is therefore called upon more often, further reducing the use the Makita is put to. To remedy this, I decided to build a plate for the plunge router that can be clamped on my Black and Decker workbench. The…

‘Hybrid’ seems such an overworked word these days but I thought, Mhhhh, I can butcher it some more. As I haven’t submitted an article for quite a while, I thought that I had better contribute something so that my fan club realises I am still very much alive and rumours of me going to live in Bolivia are totally incorrect. Those that follow me on backface, ninja gasbag, and all the other social media platforms that everyone uses these days will, I’m sure, appreciate some basic down-to-earth engineering from a grossly underfunded and primitive workshop, deep in the heart of Palmerston North suburbia. I jest you not. The problem Now that I am getting a little long in the tooth, and several parts of my ageing anatomy are feeling the…