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Alistair Allen’s Kiwiana sheds in Oamaru

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Size matters

21 September 2023

Back in the carefree/careless days we took a drive up to the Hokianga harbour, mainly for a fish and chip meal at the legendary Omapere pub, and promptly fell in love with the place. It’s New Zealand 50 years ago: clean, uncluttered with houses and people and just plain beautiful on any given day.
The harbour simply sparkles on a sunny day and the dunes on the north head are nothing short of spectacular. The views coming over the ridge from Waimamaku and the Waipoua forest are breath-taking. We still stop and try to take it all in.
Everything moves at a leisurely pace up at the “Hoki”. It is still a hidden gem, but not for long I feel. We have a few celebs up there now and there are more and more serious homes going up, but it still has that laid back feel to it. Opo the dolphin is the only thing that has happened to the area and that was 60 years ago.

Replacing floorboards

12 September 2023

Lift the carpet or lino in an old villa to prepare the floor for polishing and you are bound to reveal the gaps or rotten bits in the floorboards.
So how to get them up and insert a tongue-and-groove board into an existing layout? First, work out where the joists are. If you’re lucky, the piece you want to remove will begin and end on a joist, or at least one end will. If not, find the joist nearest to the point you want to cut, usually by tapping the floor.
Often you will see the old nail holes, a good guide to where the centre of the joist might be. Next, scribe a line across the board you want to cut. I use a Tajima knife.

Video of the Ghent Makers Faire

8 September 2023

For our electronics features in issues 110 and 111 of The Shed magazine we stepped away from a build project and instead head to a makers’ fair in Europe, this one in Belgium. Young and old were there, keen to display their electronic creations as well as to learn, share and to just enjoy fellow electronic sheddies’ skills.
“Compared to other more famous maker faires 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” in The Shed issue 109, the faire hosted the first European power tools racing along the lines of New Zealand and USA competitions. It was organised by the effervescent Henk Ryckaert, who was also the man behind the scenes for the power tools racing on the first day.”

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