The Shed, Author at The Shed

A silver butterfly takes wing

6 August 2019

If this design was being made in an art school, it would be stuck to a sheet of silver and the basic shapes cut from there. If a design was made this way in, say, 18 carat gold and the wing outlines (as here) made from 2.5mm thick metal, the outlay and waste material would be considerable from a 2.5mm-thick sheet of 18 carat gold plate. But we will make it like a professional craftsman who has to live in the real world where costs matter.

Making a word clock

30 July 2019

The Word Clock is a project created by Doug Jackson using Open Source (www.dougswordclock.com) and has been evolving into the product you see here.
It is based on an Atmel 168 processor chip as used in Arduino, is programmed using Arduino and ﬁtted into a custom-made printed circuit board (PCB).

A bowl with a decent bark

23 July 2019

The best timber for this kind of bowl is any fruit tree, the ﬂowering cherry tree, olive tree or any tree with not too thick bark. Pohutukawa is a good wood, but the bark is fragile.
The secret to capturing this natural-edged look is to turn the bowl from a piece of timber that has not yet totally dried out.

Water power on the up

16 July 2019

The ﬁrst water ram was patented in 1772 by Englishman John Whitehurst. Designs have evolved since then and continue to do so particularly in Holland where, in the 1990s, one university was building 20 water rams a year for third-world projects.

AC/DC: converting simply

10 July 2019

There are times when you need DC (Direct Current) voltage for some project or other; it is mostly small applications—has to change the 230v AC mains into something else first, normally a low-voltage DC.

The new issue of The Shed, #85, on sale Australia-wide now

8 July 2019

See this link to find your nearest Australian retailer https://www.theshedmag.co.nz/home/2018/9/5/find-your-local-australian-the-shed-retailer or head to https://magstore.nz/ to buy a copy or to subscribe for six months – two years, print and digital versions available.

Lucas Mills celebrates 25 years of portable milling

4 July 2019

Australia’s Lucas Mill celebrated its 25th year in the business of making portable sawmills. More than 18,500 Lucas Mill portable sawmills have been sold into more than 100 different countries, and the company says its first portable swing blade sawmill is still operating.

On fire!

3 July 2019

Over the last couple of decades I have made my share of braziers, ﬁre pits, and pizza ovens out of anything from old truck rims to LPG cylinders. But my hands-down favourite for source material for ﬁre containers is CNG cylinders.

Making a violin – part two

26 June 2019

Making a violin is a complex job involving around 40 pieces of wood of various types and sizes and plenty of patient, skilled woodworking. In Part One we chose the best maple for the back and spruce for the belly, shaped these plates and created the rib structure. Now it’s time to ﬁnish the construction.

Generators: Let the power be with you

25 June 2019

As winter approaches and power outages become something of a given, we thought it might be useful to identify what you need to know about generators, safety, their uses, and how to connect them to your home.
A generator is a motor driving an alternator to produce power, and with the advent of these Inverter Generators (see my review of Honda inverter generators) the basics haven’t changed, but how they operate has.

Making a violin – Part One

20 June 2019

When I decided to make a violin to take to a conference in America, I chose a beautiful example by Guarneri “del Gesu”—the “King” violin made in 1735—as a model.
Given the signiﬁcance of the violins by the great makers, there is a respected tradition of making copies or instruments modelled on their work. I was quite happy for The Shed magazine to follow its progress but as there are books written in great detail about violin-making, this magazine article can only be a summary of what I did and some of the problems I encountered.

No one regrets buying quality – The Shed product spotlight

19 June 2019

Honda’s inverter generators are famous for their reliability, fuel efficiency and portability but they also supply ‘clean’ power for phones, laptops and power tools. Older generators can produce power spikes or variable voltages that can damage modern appliances. The portable EU10i was the first generator of its size to feature a sine wave inverter assuring commercial-quality electricity.

The Shed July/August 2019, Issue no 85, on sale now

17 June 2019

Always wanted your own knife-makers forge? Well in the July/August Issue 85 of The Shed we show you how to make two differing styles, one using LPG power and one using used engine oil to create the heat. What a great way to dispose of old oil and both give great results without incurring huge build costs.

Then we…

Porcelain drilling solutions using Tusk VB core bits

12 June 2019

Watch this video and be impressed at what these core bits can do
The drills have a vacuum-braised diamond cutting edges for longer life and strength. The range of Tusk VB core bits are for drilling, grinding and cutting using angle grinders for precision and control.

A bit of light work