In the January/February Issue 76 of The Shed, we decide the best way to enjoy summer is to create some outdoor fires that Sheddies can happily build themselves. Jude builds one for a measly $200 out of Corten steel and we follow the build of a block kitset fireplace that takes less than two days to set up. David Blackwell visits the Melbourne Working with wood show and we meet Des Thomson of Christchurch who endless skill-set sees him build a unique pod for his small campervan. His skills will astound you. Hugh McCarroll hears the call from his wife who needs a rolling stool made for her galley kitchen then we head to Oamaru to meet Alistair Allan who has old chicken sheds chock full of Kiwiana. Andrew Bellringer is an ex-diesel mechanic who now creates stunning art pieces out of steel junk and Coen Smit show us another way to use cast-off materials by using it to create interesting household lamps. Philip King is an Auckland antique furniture restorer and he shares some of his tricks of the trade with us and we visit the shed of Aucklander Simon Dew who restores BSA, Royal Enfield and Moto Guzzi motorbikes – to name but a few. We learn all about the Hallswell Menzshed in Christchurch before Enrico Migliano gives us more 3D printing tips and advice. Ritchie Wilson and Jude Woodside team up to explain all there is to know about universal sockets, sockets and spanner sizes through the ages before Bob Hulme gives us some choice tips on drills and drilling in our metalwork workshop. We close this Christmas and summer issue with Back ‘O’ the shed where Jim Hopkins is pleading with us to have a 2018 of living positively. Now The Shed is all for that!
The right stuff – part 2
If you have followed our Metalworking Lathe 101 series in The Shed magazine, you will have a grasp of the basics, so here are some helpful tips to improve your lathe experience and make those projects a bit easier to do.
Quite often the material or item we need to hold in the chuck is delicate, either due to a fine finish that we do not want to put chuck jaw marks on or due to it being thin walled. For jobs with a surface finish that you need to protect it is handy to have some strips of aluminium to put between the chuck jaws and the job material. These are mostly used when holding in a 4 jaw chuck as the job will need to be “clocked up” using a dial indicator to get it running true.
The thickness of the aluminium strips cannot be relied on to be consistent as they squish up a bit with the tightening of the chuck jaws, so when using a 3 jaw chuck the auto centring effect is not so good.
