The Shed - Woodwork

South Island sawmiller

30 September 2024

The smell of marcocarpa and scream of saws greets visitors to a family-run sawmill up a valley behind Motueka where Lloyd Knowles specialises in making one-off timber products, often with intricate profiles, for do-it-yourself builders, renovators and furniture-makers.
“We make a whole range of stuff from weatherboards to architraves, as well as replica mouldings using different profiles. We just make a pattern to fit whatever they want. Negative detail is the flash term,” says Lloyd, who runs the business with his wife, Diane. Most requests for bespoke work come from Golden Bay and Motueka.

Making the cut

12 September 2024

Sentimentality and chainsaws don’t usually go hand in hand but Dave Neame uses the machines not to massacre but to preserve pieces of wood for posterity.
The long-time logger, who is based in North Canterbury, uses his prowess with a chainsaw to mill trees into slabs that can be turned into furniture, kitchen benches, or used as building features.
“I get approached by people who’ve got trees that have sentimental value and they want more than firewood or mulch out of them. I come and mill them up and they can get made into something that becomes a family heirloom.”

Wood fan by name and by nature

6 September 2024

Brian Woodlands is semi-retired now but in his shed in south Australia he can proudly show off the samples from his joinery trade, the machines that supported his livelihood, the dozens of wood samples he collects, his antique hand tools and the rustic shed where “I have done some big stuff in this small workshop over the years.”
While the wind can come visiting through the spaces in the walls and open door, there is a cosy fire in an inner-room of the old-style country building and yarns aplenty to warm up the shed with an animated atmosphere.
“I was born here in the Adelaide Hills. My grandparents lived here in this district pre-war [World War Two] and my mother and father lived in the wattle-and-daub cottage over the road,” Brian says.
“In 1968, I took up an apprenticeship as a carpenter and joiner when I was 14 years old. I was not that rapt in school. As an apprentice you had to sacrifice wages to train but by time you were 18 or 19 it was good money. Today, apprentices start too late because they turn to the money first and it’s better early to be working at McDonald’s.”

Kaizen in wood

12 July 2024

Kaizen is Japanese for a philosophy of continuous improvement, or working methodically seeking to achieve small, incremental changes in the process of improving. This term has been particularly championed by Toyota Motor Corporation as a process to facilitate change within that organisation.
For me, it epitomises my woodworking journey since retirement. I had dabbled in bigger stuff—from building and construction to boat-building (three launches) and fitting out—as sidelines and sanity savers during my years in corporate life.
But when I turned to small and delicate it necessitated a rethink. Thus “kaizen,” which seems to have been driving incremental changes in what and how my projects have evolved.

Ponoko—a cut above the rest

25 June 2024

While laser cutters are now practical for home-build projects, they are not something that everyone will want to run. They take up bench space, need care and feeding, get expensive in large calibres, and if you don’t use one that often you might well be better off letting a company like Wellington-based Ponoko cut things for you.
Ponoko stock a wide range of materials and are experienced with using their laser cutters on them. Handy, but scarcely unique given the number of engineering outfits that are out there that’ll do pretty much the same thing.

Bow making – take aim!

21 June 2024

Archery is a satisfying sport that has its roots fixed in the primal skill of hunting. As a woodworker it is an added bonus that you can make at least part of your own bow yourself. A bow like the one in this project is called a recurve and consists of a handle, or riser, two limbs (the flexible parts that bend), a string and an arrow rest.

The world of model aircraft

23 May 2024

Over boats, cars, trains and everything else in scale-model construction, I have chosen aircraft. Flying is super-exciting and heart-stopping…for everyone. My flying skills move between non-existent and highly incompetent, but I manage to get by. I enjoy the winter days and summer nights in my workshop building them, either from a kit or from scratch from a plan. In summer, during the better flying months, I repair the ones that partly survive.
The first thing you need is a workshop, preferably with enough stud height to hang the planes up. You need plenty of light and you can’t have enough work benches. I have miles of small tools, all available from the big hardware stores, and I use a small drill press, bandsaw, coping saw, belt and disc combo sander, plus the various drills, rotary tools etc.

On the road

16 May 2024

When Des and Kath Thomson decided to take to the road in their retirement, they wanted a campervan that was comfortable. They didn’t want to be clambering up ladders, tangoing at tea-time in too-narrow aisles, or struggling to turn tables into beds at night. But nor did they want to trundle around the countryside in a cumbersome mobile mansion.
They wanted a small, manoeuvrable vehicle that had masses of space inside. Space for everything, including the kitchen sink plus another in the bathroom, a separate shower, toilet, cooker, microwave, barbecue, table and chairs, wardrobe, drawers, hot and cold water on tap, plenty of storage…oh, and a queen-size bed.

Rolling tool storage

22 February 2024

The first law of shed dynamics is: The need for shed space will always grow to exceed the space available.
With space at a premium, it is incumbent to make the best use of it. So I evolved an idea for a modular set of moveable cabinets that could be rolled out for each job and configured as required. It means I could easily house my commonly used tools and still retain space in the shed.

Snack shacks for birds

2 February 2024

Home handyman Rob Allison originally made his first birdfeeders as Mothers’ Day presents for his mother, mother-in-law and wife. Popular demand has seen his feeders, with a few modifications, hanging on trees in the gardens of friends and family around Christchurch.
“It’s a very simple design,” says Rob. “An ideal first project for a youngster interested in woodwork, and they will have the added pleasure of watching the birds enjoy their handiwork.”

One for the birds

1 February 2024

Megan Collings’ birdhouses tick a lot of boxes. Her quirky shelters are not only well-constructed and aesthetically pleasing, but they are indirectly providing food and shelter for more thanher feathered friends. Megan gives the proceeds from every birdhouse she sells to an orphanage in Nepal.
“The earthquake in Nepal hit me hard after our own quakes in Christchurch,” says Megan. “I couldn’t get it out of my head, there were so many thousands affected. I wanted to go over and help but felt I was just a nobody. I’m not a nurse, I’m not a doctor. I love making my birdhouses and thought it was a way I could create and sell for a good cause.”

Customising your plane blade

24 January 2024

In my previous article on sharpening a plane (“Sharpen up your plane blades,” The Shed magazine, Feb/Mar 2010 – also on this website) we worked on how to consistently produce a sharp, straight edge on our plane irons. Now that we have that skill in place it’s appropriate to look at how modifying that straight edge can allow us to achieve a range of differing results in our woodworking.
It is important to understand that what drives the modification of our cutting edges is what we want to achieve with them. Therefore after describing the shape of the plane blade, I’ve outlined four major tasks that we can achieve with the particular shapes our planes. Each requires progressive development of the edge “shape” so I recommend re-reading of the earlier article to get you on the starting blocks for this one.

Locking in efficiency and innovation

22 January 2024

In the world of furniture manufacturing, every detail matters. A new product revolutionising cabinet and furniture construction is the Peanut Connector. Available from Jacks, these unassuming yet highly effective furniture connectors are set to become an essential tool in the arsenal of modern cabinetmakers. Peanut connectors offer a host of advantages that speed up and simplify the assembly process, reduce material costs, improve the overall quality of cabinetry, and deliver a more contemporary slim-line look. Let’s explore these connectors and the numerous benefits they bring to the table.

Fun in the sun

7 December 2023

When I made my first tambour door a couple of years ago, what immediately struck me was not the functionality of the door itself (although it is not without its aesthetics or merits), but that it would potentially make a really comfortable deck chair.
This project is the realisation of that idea. Using a long tamboured top as the basis for a piece of furniture, I decided to make: a tambour sun lounge.
I expect most people would be familiar with the classic roll-top writing desks, popular in the 19th century and a progression from the solid-topped Bureau du Roi, or “Secrétaire à cylindre de Louis XV” from 1769. The tambour form particularly suits itself to the ogee curves and it is that aesthetic that inspired the form of this sun lounge.

Going glamping

23 November 2023

What do you do if you want a caravan but drive a Mini? You make one to fit. That’s just what Michael Wolfe of New Plymouth did – turning out a real dinky little teardrop-shaped caravan that matches his 2004 Cooper S and has all the mod cons for a decent holiday.
Michael saw pictures of little campers on the net and decided that was what he wanted – a cross between a caravan and a tent.
“I got some ideas from little caravans online and decided to go a bit more high-tech,” he says.
He built it to have the same lines, wheels and colour as his car and it looks just the part.
“I never really planned it in detail. I sketched it out originally and a lot of the construction I worked out as I went along.”

Woodwork