The Shed

EDITOR Greg Vincent, editor@theshedmag.co.nz SUBEDITOR Karen Alexander TECHNICAL EDITOR Jude Woodside PROOFREADER Odelia Schaare DESIGN Day Barnes, Henry Khov, Mark Gibson ADVERTISING SALES Dean Payne, dean.payn@parkside.co.nz ADVERTISING COORDINATOR

Every week we upload new content on The Shed website to add to the hundreds of articles and videos already on the site for readers to discover, learn from, and enjoy. The past two months’ uploads include:

Pressure and heat are the two fundamental elements of an oil-driven hydraulic system. In the case of the log splitter the risks are heat and dust, particularly if it is to be used in a rural environment. Oil has two primary functions: lubrication and

The previous owner sent Elinor some historical information after she had bought the boat, which was at the time afloat at Whangateau. Iona was built by Miller and Tunnage and launched as “Mona” in 1924. The boat fished out of Akaroa and later Moeraki

I purchased an unusual-looking smoothing plane from a tool dealer thinking it had been drastically modified by a previous owner. It was similar in size to a Stanley No. 4 or a Record 04. The plane had had the back handle (called the tote) and the bla

Britain and the USA have been described as “two countries separated by a single language”. This is especially noticeable in the case of tools. Spanner or wrench? Stanley knife or box cutter? And what, exactly, is a tire iron? Wood planes are usually

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 has been speciall

• The Arduino boards are available on the official Arduino site: store.arduino.cc• Sensors, Arduino shields, relay, and electronic parts: digitspace.com• Raspberry Pi device: export.farnell.com/buy-raspberry-pi• Some mechanical parts and tools: amazo

What we will build • A secure door lock controlled by a web browser• A doorbell that can call the homeowner’s smartphone if the homeowner is not present• A two-way-secured password system to open the home’s door with a pin and one-time-password (OTP)

An off-grid lifestyle tends to be somewhat insulated from outside change, so we approached the Covid-19 lockdown with little trepidation; we even hosted five extra people — we’re usually two. A to-do list was pinned on the wall, and life changed gear

The original Supermarine Spitfire was powered by the 27-litre, water and glycolcooled, Rolls-Royce Merlin 60o V-12 48 valve engine designed by Cyril Lovesey (1899–1976), among others. In the early 1930s Rolls-Royce decided that it needed to make a la

Although Andrew has a not inconsiderable tool collection, he prefers to create most of his assemblages by hand. “I have a power hacksaw but I could get by without it,” he says, explaining that he doesn’t like making noise. “I’ve got some cool tools l

“Lots of the stuff that people bring to me is crap but I can usually find a use for it,” Andrew muses. “I sort it into categories.” If there’s nothing he can create from it, it’s moved on. However, there are sometimes treasures amongst the dross. “So

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. First, we must pass along a fence line fringed with upside-down vintage hand saw

Andrew was saddened when his artistically modified Skoda was written off the road by the police, saying it created humour on the road. “It was a perfectly good car — a mechanic checked it out for me. It had good brakes, good tyres, good steering, no

“The kid’s workshops are huge for me, lots of multitasking, prepping, and cleaning up,” Andrew says. “It’s something I probably shouldn’t expose myself to but somehow, we get through it!” He describes his enjoyment in watching their brains firing up

Visit www.menzshed.nz or email: secretary@menzshed.nz MENZSHED KAITAIA INC John Richardson 09 408 0042 cadfael@xtra.co.nz KERIKERI MEN’S SHED Wade Rowsell 09 407 8263 kkmensshed@outlook.co.nz WHANGAREI COMMUNITY MEN’S SHED Jeff Griggs 09 435 1759 cha