The Shed, Author at The Shed

The 100th issue of The Shed is coming soon

15 November 2021

The next issue of The Shed is a milestone magazine, our 100th and we are building a bumper issue, our biggest magazine for many a year.
There will be plenty of special anniversary content along with our usual projects and advice.
One of the articles we are particularly looking forward to publishing is a visit to the home shed of Mitre 10 DIY guru, Stan Scott. Stan shows us around his home shed and shares with us what he creates in his leisure time.

Making a classic chair

27 October 2021

The Red Blue chair, designed in 1917 by Gerrit Rietveld, has become one of the most discussed chairs of all time.
It’s not too difficult to make this as a classic chair as it’s all straight boards, but the dimensions and placement are critical.

A DIY farm gate

14 October 2021

The classic New Zealand five-bar farm gate is not too difficult to make on-site when you need a new one. Few people might consider building farm gates, but they can be costly and heritage gates are quite expensive so it might be worth it to build your own.

The Shed November/December Issue 99 on sale now

11 October 2021

Like so many of us in a COVID lockdown, Gail Varga couldn’t just sit idly by and watch a screen all day — she headed to the shed and got building.
Usually sailing around the world on her 40-foot-yacht, Gail has been kept in her home port of Whangarei for many months by the pandemic. This was seen as an opportunity to ditch the inflatable and get building a more versatile wooden tender that could be used for fun as well as purpose. We follow the build of a two-part nesting dinghy, ‘Punga’. It’s a Spindrift 10, 3.1m long and plenty big enough for two to four people.

Fast panel fixing

7 October 2021

Panel fixing has just been made a whole lot easier with the Button-fix system, distributed by Hi-Q Components. Designed and manufactured in the UK, the simple but extremely robust system offers five main types of button-fix connectors.

A road case to go

7 October 2021

The photography department here at The Shed required a means to contain and move all our
studio lights as simply as possible.
The collection of lights and accessories is growing and it made sense to keep them all in a road case for transport and organisation. This I thought would also be a good opportunity to build a case
and might be a basis for those who need to make other custom cases for sound gear, tools, or guns.

Building power hammers

6 October 2021

Here is an excerpt from the article on building power hammers from The Shed, October/November 2021, Issue 99. Mike MacMillan Frankenhammer leaf spring power hammer

Video of bronze sculptor and junk artist Glen Macmillan from The Shed Issue 98

1 October 2021

Glen Macmillan works between his two sheds creating sculptures from recycled waste. A large part of what Glen creates, though, is made from bronze, and he shares with us his method of casting bronze using the lost wax method. This is an ancient process that serves him well in the creation of sculptures large and small. In this short film, Glen shows us the steps to bronze casting and we watch him in his workshop while he creates a junk sculpture.

Brad Wards Kontiki – built in Lockdown 2021

29 September 2021

https://the-shed.nz/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/20210905_113633_342706953652751.mp4

Unpublished photos from The Shed Issue 93 – Tempero Motor Body Builders

29 September 2021

In The Shed Issue 93, we visited Tempero motor body builders in Timaru where we left in awe of the workmanship and skills we witnessed. Here are scores more photos from our visit that we couldn’t squeeze onto our pages that are just too good to be left unseen by readers.
Photography by Brian High.

Ian Knight’s western action shooting club as featured in Issue 99

24 September 2021

Ian Knight’s tyre power hammer at work

24 September 2021

The tyre power hammer built by Ian Knight as seen in The Shed Issue 99 https://the-shed.nz/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Tyre-power-hammer-built-by-Ian-Knight.mp4

Create a sterling silver pendant

23 September 2021

You might well think a charming silver pendant is something best left to a professional, a master craftsman – and not a DIY project for your shed. But that does not mean you can’t make an impressive piece of jewelry, so long as you take a logical and careful approach.

The Shed September/October 2021 Issue 98 is on sale today throughout Australia

20 September 2021

Our cover story in this issue of The Shed magazine is on a Whanganui junk artist and bronze sculptor who uses various methods to achieve his pieces. Glen Macmillan works between his two sheds creating sculptures from recycled waste. His junk of choice is gardening tools, landscaping equipment, and farming equipment — particularly the older kind of hand tools that were made to last and had a bit of styling

Make a handy English wheel

14 September 2021

So it was time to start fabricating my own parts and for that I would need a so-called English wheel machine to mould the tank, guards, seat pan etc. But buying such a machine was “off the budget” as they come with a hefty price tag.
The next option was to build one. With not a lot of plans available, I could see that I’d have some homework to do.

The Shed