The Shed, Author at The Shed

Raising the bar

31 May 2023

I have wanted to make an elevating bar stool for some time. They are a relatively simple design – four legs attached to a nut through which an acme thread runs, raising and lowering the seat.
However, attaching the legs to the nut is problematic. The nut is usually a fairly large piece of steel, in this case it’s 38mm diameter, and even with the hole and threads cut it still has a wall thickness of nearly 10mm. The legs on the other hand have a wall thickness of only 2mm. That size differential makes using MIG welding difficult. It can be done of course but it isn’t quite as straightforward as usual.
I felt it was ideally suited to TIG welding and as I hadn’t tried TIG before I thought this might be a good opportunity to get some experience.

The Shed June/July 2023 issue 109, on sale now

29 May 2023

Our cover story this issue is on one man’s paradise. Gary Norton’s shed is crammed with vehicles in various stages of restoration. Classic Fords sit alongside a bevy of trucks and a unique build of a mini Kenworth. Jason Burgess visits a passionate Westie’s mega-sized shed.
“As shed sizes go, Gary Norton’s is a megastore. It needs to be, because, despite the square footage, space is at a premium, crammed as it is with “a bit of everything” and no end of enterprises in various states of progress.
There is a saying about the more you have, the more you are occupied. Luckily, Gary and wife Raewyn are as industrious as they come. They run their rural property as close to organic as possible. Even when they both worked full time away from their land, they still managed to raise 22 different breeds of chickens, rear calves, fatten sheep, and breed goats.”

Warning: boiling point!

25 May 2023

I own an American classic car and it comes with the usual 1960s instrumentation—speedo, fuel gauge but only warning lights for oil, alternator, and water temperature. The alternator light comes on when you turn on the ignition, but the water temperature light is designed to come on only when the water temperature reaches 120-125 °C which is usually too late.
To fix that, I have devised this program powered by an Arduino micro-controller that will operate the temperature light when the engine powers up and light it up again to warn the driver as the temperature approaches 100 °C. It uses a readily available sender that will fit most vehicles.

Arduino software for wipers and temp gauge projects

25 May 2023

Controller
I chose to use a shield (add-on board) to house all the parts for this project that allows the use of any standard Arduino and settled on a Seeeduino V3.0 and a Freetronics prototype shield as an inexpensive solution.
I used the controller and shield to for the previous variable wiper speed project for the car (“Wipe that classic windscreen,” Shed, Apr/May 2012). This second part uses the same controller and shield to do both tasks. The reader can either make one or both. The shield construction includes the extra parts (two resistors, one transistor, and one diode) and uses the “Start” button to do the “Normal” calibration.
Here are the two sketches (software) in these The Shed website’s two posts.

one combining water temperature light and variable wiper functions into one controller; and
one that just does the water temperature light.

Wipe, wipe that classic windscreen

19 May 2023

I own an American classic car and there are a few mod cons that are missing. I’ve added central locking because crawling over seats was a pain, but I thought the Arduino could add a few features that aren’t available in the shops. This is the first of two parts which uses the same piece of Arduino hardware to do two different tasks—run variable-speed wipers and a temperature gauge. Each can be used on their own as it makes no difference to the software

Out of the box

3 May 2023

The modern incarnation of the chest is the blanket box which sometimes doubles as a seat so it needs to be strong enough to support weight as well. This project is no more than a box with a lid and base. Dowels are the primary jointing method throughout and the top and base use a floating panel within a frame. There is also a small sliding drawer which is also dowelled together.

Hot water tune up

27 April 2023

Research tells us that around a third of all energy used in the average New Zealand home goes in heating water. Another third goes in room heating.
In our home the rooms are mainly heated free from the sun so the water-heating fraction of the total energy use is a lot more than a third. Most water-heating systems aren’t well tuned. Improving their efficiency usually brings significant cost savings, a welcome relief in the current economic climate. Often it’s easy and costs little to do.

Fire dance

13 April 2023

A yellow sign indicates an historic site ahead and soon an old corrugated shed with “Blacksmith 1889” emblazoned on its side comes into view. Not so unusual, but a driver might do a double-take when he spots the glow of the ancient forge and hears the ring of metal on metal as he passes. While the smithy in Teddington, on the road from Lyttelton to Port Levy on Banks Peninsula, is a relic from a bygone age, the man at work is a real live 21st-century blacksmith.

Top gears

1 April 2023

Contrary to what the poets say, its gears, not love, that make the world go round. The magic of an exquisitely constructed timepiece with its myriad whirring cogs is an eternal delight. Horology has always fascinated me, and it has long been an ambition of mine to build the mother of all clocks, an orrery. Named for the 4th Earl of Orrery who commissioned George Graham to make the first modern device in 1704, they mark not just the passing of the hours, but the exact movements of the planets as they beat out Kepler’s laws.

The Shed April/May 2023 issue 108, on sale now

27 March 2023

Our cover story this April/May 2023 issue 108 proves that it’s never too late to take up a new interest.
Whanganui sheddie Peter Loidl is a home renovator from way back and when he met some members of The Whanganui Woodturner’s Club at an exhibition, they encouraged him to join their club and have a go at woodturning. The results of Peter’s efforts on the lathe are really quite outstanding.
“In Peter Loidl’s living room, a 1:2 scaled-down Model T Ford made from various timbers does duty as a liquor cabinet. The bonnet and tank lift up to reveal a stash of spirit and wine bottles that have accumulated for years — they are mostly unopened, Peter tells us. He has wired up the headlights, back lights, and dashboard. He has also installed concealed colour-changing lighting where the bottles sit. There’s no drink-drive message intended; the car bar serves a functional purpose and is also an unusual decorative feature.”

Rescue those versatile stepper motors

10 March 2023

Magnetism is wonderful stuff.
As a way of moving things it has no peer. It has no friction, excessive heat or other unwanted effects, and is easily harnessed in the shed in the guise of stepper motors. These versatile devices have an astonishing range of rotational speeds, from zero to tens of thousands of rpm.
Thanks to the precision of digital control, they can accelerate, decelerate, turn a specific number of times or even minute fractions of a single rotation – all repeatedly and reliably.

This offroader project is a beaut

23 February 2023

Over the last couple of years, my son Kurt and I have built a few basic go-karts which not only gave him a taste of very basic engineering, but also allowed us to pile up valuable hours of quality time working together in the shed. This new project had a bit of a twist to it as, this time, my son was the chief designer and engineer and I was relegated to labourer. Like all the previous projects, he let me fund it.

The Shed March/April 2023 issue 107, on sale now

30 January 2023

In New Zealand, knife-making is increasing in popularity year by year. If the recent Auckland Blade Show was anything to go by, this pastime is now a full-time career for a large number of sheddies and of enormous interest to the general public. The hundreds who came through the doors over the two-day event are evidence of knife-making’s huge growth over these past few years.
Who are these knife-makers; what separates and what inspires them? Where are they, and what knives and blades do they create?
We’ll soon know more because in this issue of The Shed we profile 36 of NZ’s finest. Read our Who’s Who and Where’s Where in this issue in an extensive rundown of our 36 best Kiwi knife-makers.

Gold fish

28 January 2023

The shubunkin goldfish is sometimes referred to as “poor man’s koi” and in China the koi carp is often used to represent yin yang. I have drawn the body of the shubunkin goldfish fish to look like one half of the yin yang symbol (see panel). I then added the fins to suggest and give movement to the piece.
Firstly I took a photocopy of my artwork and stuck it to a sheet of 0.5 mm copper plate with double-sided tape. This is to create templates of the body and fins

Classic Manx Norton flourishes

5 January 2023

The legendary Manx Norton was
the first single-cylinder motorcycle
to lap the famous Isle of Man TT
circuit at an average speed of 100 miles per hour (160 km/hr).
Made from 1946 until 1962, the bikes became a favourite of privateer racers and in more modern
times, a popular choice for classic
motorcycle racing.
Today, half a world away from the original Birmingham factory, a small Kiwi company is restoring and supplying parts to Manx Norton owners around the globe.

The Shed