Back in early March of 2018 a Sheddie was challenged to rebuild a Johnson 25 HP outboard motor that has been stored as a box of parts for 44 years. A few weeks later...
A steampunk toy (for want of a better term) combines two passions of mine. I love making things that are a bit different, even a bit quirky. Something that stands out from the run of the mill stuff that you buy at the shops. Secondly, I enjoy the challenge of bringing together bits and pieces to make seemingly disparate objects into a semi-plausible whole toy. Steampunk toys give me the opportunity to do both.
Full tilt with Dynamite Dave.
Dynamite Dave Alexander is a self-taught doer, with an eye for detail, unquestionable discipline, and a passion for motorsports. He’s been making things since he was a nipper, and has never stopped. He was raised on a remote Hawke’s Bay farm, where the shed was his university.
Dave says he “grew up doing it”, working alongside his father Neil, learning how to keep the property and equipment maintained and running. His first job was welding all the farm gates. His next was putting in a box-section chassis for a 1942 Willys Jeep, which served as the farm’s workhorse.
At 18, Dave commenced his first customisation of his Mk ll Zephyr, installing a V8, dual headlights, and Vauxhall tail lights. Since then, he has restored, driven, and raced an impressive list of classic muscle cars, scratch-built stocks, rods, and record-breaking Bonneville salt cars.
Now – at 70-something – this multitasking, project-a-holic is closing in on his latest quest: to break 262mph (422kph) at Bonneville in his shed-built, RB-powered Lakester – a project that has been close to a decade in development.
Dave says, “I guess I could be playing golf or in the pub. But you have to do something to get you out of bed in the morning, to keep the old man out.”
Among small buildings you can create without council building consent, a potting shed is very handy. The fact the builder agreed to put up this structure to get the gardening tools out of his shed is another story.
If you can possibly choose a flat site, do so. In this potting shed, the only site available was on a hill which meant a fair bit of work for the builder because of the extra labour and time.
Then in order to avoid the need for a building consent, measure the site up to ensure the 10 m2-or-less potting shed is no closer to the boundary or to a dwelling than its own height. In this case, the boundary is nearby but there are no dwellings close by to worry about. Here the original idea was a three-metre long building but it had to be shortened to 2.1 metres because the boundary was closer than first thought.
The Shed magazine is eclectic, informed, and always fascinating. Aimed at those with a few tools and perhaps a few clues: this is the magazine for real sheddies.
Packed with ideas, projects, advice, and peeks into other people’s sheds providing inspiration, ideas, and techniques, or just for the sheer enjoyment of the sheddie’s endless inventiveness, The Shed is the project enthusiast’s bible.
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