My Shed

The Shed 82, Jan/Feb 2019 issue on sale now

In The Shed 82, the Jan/Feb 2019 issue, its time to join the low & slow cooking revolution – to do that we need to build our own offset smoker barbeque.
In our cover story this issue we showcase three sheddies from around the country as they have their own way of making a smoker just the way they like it. Two out of steel and one out of a wine barrel, yes, a wine barrel. We have all you need to know about low & slow cooking with rubs, woods, cuts – the lot. Get building, get smoking and get stuck in.

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Bend it

This design-and-make plan will enable you to make a small pan sheet metal folder that folds mild sheet metal from 18 to 26 gauge. With it, you’ll be able to fold “U” or “Z” sections or a lip on a sheet of metal. The way we’ve constructed the metal folder will also allow you to bend metal to more than 90 degrees—try that with two pieces of angle iron mounted in the vice.

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Make a handy saw bench jig

I regularly need to cut a multiple number of short pieces on my saw bench for small box components, kids’ building blocks, small pieces for furniture etc. In the past I have clamped in place various contraptions to ensure each piece is the same length. It is difficult to hold small pieces to cut them accurately but this jig solves the problem. It attaches to the saw bench in seconds and probably takes longer to get out of the cupboard than to fit.

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The Shed Issue 80, September/October 2018

When we met Des Thomson and his expanding motorhome pod in Issue 76 of The Shed, we were very impressed with his workshop dust extractor. Happily for us all, Des has found the time to share with us how he builds these machines using and an old vacuum and the minimum of parts. Follow his step by step build of a workshop dust extractor in this Issue 80 of The Shed.

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Video of Carmen Simmonds, glass artist

In Issue 79 of The Shed we featured Whanganui glass artist Carmen Simmonds. In this video by Tracey Grant, Carmen shows us in some detail a few of her creative practices and we showcase some of her outstanding creations with glass and occasionally brass. Carmen is currently president of the New Zealand Society of Artists in Glass.

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Have you got a shed project for us?

We are always looking for great projects to feature in The Shed magazine and website. Are you building and creating a project that would interest other sheddies? Let us know and we will send our team around to document the task and share it with other sheddies all around the world.

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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.

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It lives!

Back in early March of 2018 a Sheddie was challenged to rebuild a Johnson 25 HP outboard motor that has been stored as a box of parts for 44 years. A few weeks later…

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Catalina Dreaming

Anyone flying into New Plymouth airport may look twice at a hangar on the western end of the airfield with an unusual tail of a large aircraft poking out. Few would realise what’s within: ZK-PBY, a 1944 Catalina flying boat, the only airworthy one in New Zealand and a remarkable aircraft with a remarkable history.

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Free Wheeling

New Zealand has been slow to adopt the electric bike revolution that is sweeping the globe but a couple of keen Kiwis (and a Canadian) are using their ingenuity to create e-bikes with a difference.

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