Metalwork

Make a swarf sump

It’s a hassle to clean out my workshop vacuum cleaner bag. Metal swarf tends to clip itself onto the fabric and I spend a lot of time picking off the bits individually.
Question: How to pick up small swarf in the workshop without sharp metal or other rubbish going into the vacuum cleaner bag?

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The Shed March/April 2020, Issue 89, in shops now

Issue 89 of The Shed has a great mix of projects and sheddie talents to enjoy.
Nigel Young records the build of a mega-sized spit roast BBQ. Built by the team at the Halswell Menzshed as a fundraising project, this big trailer-mounted gas-burning beast of a cooker can take a full-sized pig for those big gatherings or fund-raising projects.

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Its hammer time

Making a hammer head is a project not really worth doing financially, given the cost of a handle alone vs. a new hammer and how easy it is to get an existing hammer and re-forge it to suit your special needs.
Having said that, mere project economics never stopped a true Sheddie.

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Size matters, but so do good looks

Philip Solomon has years of experience putting up large sheds and his top tip is that shed aesthetics are important.“A lot of people just focus on what they want to put in the shed until it goes up and then they say, ‘Oh, I don’t like that’,” he says.

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The Shed January/February 2020, Issue 88, in shops now

For many of us Kiwis, summertime can mean it’s time to dig out the family tractor. Because summer means beach-holiday time and using that good-old-boy tractor to get the fishing boat in the water as often as possible. To celebrate our love of old tractors, we head south to meet a tractor restorer from Oamaru, one Colin Harvey, who has shedfuls of tractors and spends all his time tinkering with and restoring some great classic farming workhorses.

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High time for high shine

The world-famous Autosol Metal Polish is available in an easy-to-use liquid formulation. It’s perfect for cleaning and protecting all metal surfaces on cars, boats, bikes, and around the home.

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Different Tusks for different tasks

Tusk offers three ranges of drills made from different grades of high-speed steel. Tusks metal drill bits are made from M2 high-speed steel with a titanium nitride (TiN) coating. The 135-degree point offers faster drilling, lower feed pressure and they have a split point or self-centering tip.

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Autosol Metal Polish

If you haven’t heard of Autosol, you have to try it. This incomparable metal polish has won three international gold medals and is recommended by manufacturers and restoration experts around the world. Autosol Metal Polish safely and easily removes oxidation, corrosion, stains and rust

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Refurbishing my bench plane

The metal-based hand plane must be one of the most enduring and useful tools in the kit of any aspiring woodworker.
Those of us who take the hobby a little more seriously will have several of them and we will probably argue that we use them all. I have six or seven but have never bought one.

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Build a tipping trailer

When I first looked at building a tipping trailer, I wondered whether I would be building a trailer with a hydraulic cylinder under it, or fitting a hydraulic cylinder under a trailer. After due consideration, I realised that a trailer is a trailer, regardless of the frills.

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Homemade bench holdfast

A bench needs clamps, a second pair of hands to hold the work still and stable.
Traditionally, woodworkers have used a holdfast and the most popular of these was the Record holdfast, now sadly out of production.

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Photos from the 2019 Auckland Blade Show

This years’ show was held at the same venue as last year in the historic Parnell Comunity Centre at 545 Parnell Road on the weekend of 12 and 13 October.
Here are over 50 photos of the amazing Kiwi knifemakers’ products on display at the show. Keep an eye out for a full show report in the next issue of the magazine on sale in December.

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