The Shed January/February 2021 Issue 94, on sale now

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The Shed January/February 2021 Issue 94, on sale now

There’s a real Triumph in the issue of The Shed and a twin-engined one at that as well as the bonus of our annual The Shed 2021 wall calendar.
Our cover story this issue is about a central South Island marine engineer sheddie who really is living the dream. A love of classic cars and motorbikes has seen this marine engineer buy a working garage to store and restore his own collection as well as operate it as an everyday mechanical repair garage for local customers.

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Vertigo CNC turns dreams into reality

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Vertigo CNC turns dreams into reality

Vertigo CNC routers are proudly New Zealand–designed-and-developed, and they’re locally manufactured too, in Christchurch. The mid-size desktop Vertigo MX2-N, which has a working area of 1200 x 600 x 120mm, delivers accuracy, utilizing lead screws and stepper motor control, at an affordable price.
It offers flexibility in part size and material choice, working with plywood, wood, plastics, aluminium, and other non-ferrous metals, and there’s a Facebook community of more than 600 users for this desktop router. The Vertigo MX2-N CNC has an RRP of $6995, incl. GST. or $47.00 per week on finance. For more information, visit vertigocnc.com, or see Vertigo’s YouTube channel, or visit Facebook.com/vertigocnc.

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Metal life saver

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Metal life saver

Autosol Rust Ex is a powerful, industrial-strength corrosion and stain remover that is quick and easy to use — it’s as simple as wiping on and rubbing off for standout results. It quickly removes rust, tarnishing, discolouration, oxidation, and even bluing, and will give metal surfaces a new lease of life. See hobeca.co.nz for more information.

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Burning bright

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Burning bright

Making a brazier is one of those things that I am sure every sheddie has at the back of their minds to create one day. It’s just that, as we know, “one day” takes its time arriving.
I have to admit that I am no exception to that rule. Even when the component parts presented themselves to me it took a while before I found the time to put into the project. Six truck brake drums that had outlived their useful life were the starting point, donated by the owner of a fleet who only asked that one of the braziers be made for him.

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The Shed Issue 93 now on sale in Australia

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The Shed Issue 93 now on sale in Australia

Well, it took a bit longer to arrive than usual but at last, the November/December 2020 Issue 93 of The Shed is on sale across Australia from today, Thursday 19 November.
The COVID 19 pandemic has played havoc with international freight shipping so its later than usual arriving in Sydney for distribution around the country. Australian subscribers will start receiving their copies from this week as well.

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Making a die nut

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Making a die nut

A die nut is created with interrupted sections of thread around its internal diameter. Die nuts are simply screwed onto the threaded part. As they are wound down, they cut away any of the screw thread that is bruised (bent over) or out of line. A die nut cuts irregularities and scrapes off the dirt from the thread it is being used on so needs cutting edges, which are formed by the cut-away places.

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Polish query ‘Autosolved’

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Polish query ‘Autosolved’

If you haven’t heard of Autosol, you can thank us later.
This revolutionary, ammonia-free product is the go-to cleaner and polish for uncoated aluminium surfaces. It leaves a clean sheen without scratching or hazing. The distributors say users describe it as “a product that does everything the advertising says it does”, “my go-to polish for aluminium”, and “perfect for alloy wheel rejuvenation”. It is available in a 75ml tube with screw caps from automotive, engineering, and hardware stores across New Zealand.

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The Best of The Shed 2 is coming soon

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The Best of The Shed 2 is coming soon

Here is something to keep an eye out for, the Best of The Shed 2 is coming soon. Another best-of compilation from our first 15 years of the magazine with 16 great projects for you to have a crack at. This 192-page publication will be for sale at your favourite magazine store from mid-November or you can purchase directly from us on our online shop

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Sharpen up your blades

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Sharpen up your blades

When honing a cutting edge on a steel blade, you are progressively over three or four stages reducing the size of the scratches on the two faces which meet up to make the sharp point.
The much-vaunted “mirror” edge simply refers to the stage where we cannot easily see the scratches with the naked eye and hence it looks smooth and shiny. This process, therefore, requires several sharpening stones with finer and finer surfaces (325 grit, then 1200 grit, then 6000 grit).

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Show your shed to the world

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Show your shed to the world

Our 2021 The Shed Calendar will be accompanying the January February 2021 Issue 94 of the magazine, on sale November 30.
We are calling for readers to send us a photo of their shed to feature in the calendar and get bragging rights over your mates for all of next year!
Head to our Facebook page for more details and to enter. Competition closes October 4. Good luck.

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The Shed November/December 2020 Issue 93, is on sale now

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The Shed November/December 2020 Issue 93, is on sale now

We showcase the metal-shaping and coachbuilding skills of Rod Tempero Motor Body Builders Ltd from Oamaru in The Shed Issue No. 93. The company’s world-famous and internationally sought-after car-building talents make it one of this country’s finest coachbuilders. We head to the mainland to meet Rod and his team and do our best to dig out as many metal-shaping and car-building secrets as we can.

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A dead accurate optical punch

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A dead accurate optical punch

An optical punch consists of a brass body with two holes through it, one for use, the other for storage, because there are two rods. One rod is the punch, the other a vertical magnifying glass made of a plastic rod. You look down the viewing rod at a dot marked on its base. You then move the whole apparatus around until you can see the point where you want to put a punch mark. Holding the brass body, you remove the plastic rod and drop the steel punch back into the same hole, then hit it. Result: a perfect, vertically punched mark, precisely on the spot.

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Pleasant Point Railway photo gallery

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Pleasant Point Railway photo gallery

We visited and wrote about the impressive Pleasant Point Railway & Historical Society in South Canterbury, in The Shed September/October 2020 Issue 92.
Sadly, we just couldn’t squeeze in all the great photos we shot for the article into the magazine. As you will now see, these unpublished photographs are just too good to leave sitting on our hard drive so we felt we just had to share them with readers.
Enjoy.

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Shed 92 on sale across Australia today

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Shed 92 on sale across Australia today

For all our Australian readers the wait is over to grab the latest issue of the magazine. The September/October, Issue 92, hits the shops all across the country from today 17 September.

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Spotless shine

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Spotless shine

Polishing metal isn’t a task for which you want to be ill-equipped, especially when you’re chasing that perfect shiny finish! That is why Autosol has been the most trusted name since forever. The new Autosol 3in1 for Stainless Steel is specially developed to clean, protect, and leave a shiny streak-free finish on stainless steel surfaces — with anti-fingerprint effect.


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Is it a beer keg? No, it’s a hangi

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Is it a beer keg? No, it’s a hangi

It’s not every day that you come across a blindingly brilliant and deceptively simple use for a piece of gear that you just knew would come in handy one day.
When sheddie Stan Scott showed me his prototype portable beer keg hangi, I knew it was something that the world needed right now… like world peace.

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Video of the weird and wonderful world of Andrew Hall

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Video of the weird and wonderful world of Andrew Hall

A visit to Andrew Hall’s shed — a single garage in suburban Henderson, West Auckland — is a portal into another dimension. In this realm, a sense of humour is essential.
For the past two decades, Andrew has been working full time at turning society’s cast-offs into three-dimensional cartoon gargoyles, aliens, monsters, and effigies of mirth.

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The Shed September/October Issue 92 is on sale now

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The Shed September/October Issue 92 is on sale now

There’s a real treat for knife makers in the September/October Issue No. 92 of The Shed.
We head to the Auckland workshop of master knifemaker Brent Sandow to get insights into what makes him such a well-regarded exponent of the art. We watch and learn as he goes through the steps on how he makes a Springbok Hunter knife.
Get ready, secrets are shared.


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Make a camper trailer

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Make a camper trailer

American teardrops first became common in the 1930s after DIY magazines such as Popular Mechanics published plans to build your own. The ultra-lightweight concept normally only sleeps a maximum of two adults in the cabin and has a small outside galley or kitchen at the back of the trailer. Often these campers weighed little more than 450kg and were very streamlined so were ideal for towing behind small cars or for long road trips.

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