The Shed Issue 79, July/August 2018

In The Shed Issue 79, July/August 2018, we head to Wellington to document Shea Stackhouse making a small knife from Damascus steel, fondly known as a Puukka (that’s Finnish for small knife). While we are there we hang around to meet some knife fans who receive knife making advice from Shea at one of his regular knifemaking classes.



In The Shed Issue 79, July/August 2018, we head to Wellington to document Shea Stackhouse making a small knife from Damascus steel, fondly known as a Puukka (that’s Finnish for small knife). While we are there we hang around to meet some knife fans who receive knife making advice from Shea at one of his regular knifemaking classes.
Whanganui is where we meet master birdhouse builder, Steven Price. Steven went from building practical houses for people to building amazing houses for birds before Enrico Miglino introduces us to an Arduino-type board, BBC micro-bit. In this issue, we build a houseplant moisture monitor.
Raf Nathan shows us how to build some simple iPhone speakers from native timber that make great gifts and we discover the world of spectacular glass artist, Carmen Simmonds. Carmen makes her own glass, creates pieces from it as well as giving tuition to those eager to learn this fine craft. Lachie Jones follows the install of a flat-pack kitchen by Gary Hatfield and gets some solid tips and advice for us sheddies and, if you enjoy the art of clockmaking, you will be blown away by the work of Aucklander, David Curry. Not only does David make skeleton clocks from scratch, he makes the tools to manufacture the parts! As well as stationary engines electronic ignition systems and more.
Landlocked Piopio is where we find Max Laver Marine making unique boats and canoes from Macrocarpa, David Blackwell discusses the essentials and beauty of a good square and Geoff Merryweather forges a set of sturdy loads skates for moving heavy pieces of machinery around your shed.
Jude Woodside completes his strong and sturdy-as lathe bench by making and fitting steel drawers and Mark Beckett warns us of the dangers of cheap USB chargers. Part 5 of our series on 3D printing sees Enrico explore the features of the 3D software, Tinkercad, that make it perfect for newbies and we go on a journey with Ritchie Wilson, to save money, get some history on and learn all there is to know about sharpening stones and sharpening tools.

 

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Create a classy TV stand

This television stand has been designed for a flat-screen 32-inch television and has also been designed to be made with minimal tools, enabling the weekend warrior/hobbyist to make it in not much more than a day. You certainly do not need advanced skills to make it. To complete it in a day, the glueing up of the timber will need to be done the day before, and obviously the stain and varnish will need to be done over several days.
While I have the equipment in my home workshop to machine the timber, I want to stress that this television stand could be made in the home workshop or garage with little in the way of tools. For example, you could ask the timber yard to dress the timber for you (you might even find the sizes you require already dressed at the big shed DIY stores), and all the cutting could be done with a handsaw.

Preserving the tools of yesteryear

Collecting and preserving tools and machinery used by generations gone by is a passion and obsession for many sheddies. There’s nothing like using the shed for a restoration project on something that was made to last. Getting up close to the work of craftsmen and tools made with pride.
Our mainly rural pioneering past has meant bygone equipment is often left lying about and rusting in old farm sheds or thrown out at the tip but sometimes reverently collected and restored by people who care.
One of these is farrier Kevin Schimanski of Wanganui. A lifetime of shoeing and riding horses has kept Kevin pretty fit. Aged 78, he still shoes horses and enjoys getting into the saddle to play polo.

All aboard

This project started after a visit to The Plains Vintage Railway and Historic Museum in Ashburton (www.plainsrailway.co.nz). Our three boys had really enjoyed the model trains and, on the way home, asked if I could build one for them. As the kilometres went by, a few ideas began to form, and the seeds for this project were planted.
Over the Christmas/New Year break, I decided to retire to my workshop and start turning the thoughts and ideas into the real thing. The overall design is based on the TR189 locomotive pictured below.