WELD LIKE A PRO — ARCWELDING TIPS
CONSTRUCTING THE ULTIMATE ELECTRIC TRIKE
THE ART OF SEGMENTED WOODTURNING
JULY–AUGUST 2019 ISSUE 85
TWO WAYS TO
BUILD A
FORGE
USING LPG OR OIL
9
771177
045002
05
NZ $14.95 INCL. GST AUS $15.95 INCL. GST
POWER OUTAGES
SET YOUR HOME UP WITH AN AUXILIARY SUPPLY
Contents
ON THE COVER
6
Build a forge
Des Thomson shows how to build two types of durable forges, one powered by LPG, the other by used engine oil
44
Twist drills
Profiling the New Zealand–based company Patience and Nicholson, which harnesses years of expertise to manufacture twist drills in Kaiapoi
74 20
Latest sheddie news
Battling robots, knives galore, and a trade show boosting Kiwi talent
26 4
BBC Micro Bit projects
A drawing machine in the spirit of the 1960s Spirograph
The art of woodturning
Harnessing the beauty of wood keeps the body and brain busy for this Whanganui sheddie
The Shed 85 July/August 2019
36
Off the grid
88
How to heat your home using solar rays and warmed air
Electric-trike build
A US sheddie family uses technology to regain exercise and fun
118
Crafting wooden chests and boxes
Make the effort to craft a useful addition to the home that will also become an heirloom
62
How to weld
Part one of a seven-part series: The basics of arc welding
106 94
Using lasers
Make sure you select the correct software for your laser machine
My favourite tools
A sheddie shares 20 favourites from his own shed
112
My shed
Living in a retirement home doesn’t mean you can’t have a shed!
80
Every issue
2 Editorial
20 News
24 Letters
34 Subscribe to The Shed — Be in to win a Nomad welding table and toolkit worth $664!
125 Shed books for sale
126 Shed back-issue order form
128 Back o’ The Shed — Keeping your knives as sharp-as is the go for Jude
54
Solar power
Murray gives us some insights and tips for setting up solar power on your home
Generators
How to keep the power running at home when outages strike The Shed 85 July/August 2019
5
Make a forge
How good is it looking into a red-hot forge?
1
KNIFE MAKERS CAN HAVE A GO AT MAKING AN LPG BRICK FORGE OR A TANK FORGE THAT RUNS ON USED ENGINE OIL By Des Thomson Photographs: Des Thomson and Juliet Nicholas
W
hen my wife and I were in Japan in 2006 we visited a traditional Japanese knife maker on the island of Kyushu. He is one of a handful of traditional knife makers left in Japan, with the family business stretching back for 250 years. The interesting thing was that he heated his forge using used engine oil. The burner was a very simple oil-atomizing arrangement using compressed air blown over a nozzle. The oil was directed into a brick furnace in which he heated his knife blanks. You can see a video of his furnace on The Shed website. The furnace ran with no apparent smoke or smell and achieved temperatures in excess of 1100°C. It
6
The Shed 85 July/August 2019
inspired me to try to make my own. There is always something fascinating about viewing the red-hot interior of a knife-making or blacksmith’s forge (Image 1). In this article I will explain how I made a brick forge that runs on LPG, and a tank forge that runs on used engine oil or LPG.
Forges should only be used where there is good ventilation
Firebricks stacked temporarily to determine overall dimensions
2
TURN UP THE
HEAT The Shed 85 July/August 2019
7
Woodturning
Alby Redman outside the Red Door Gallery in Whanganui with some of his segmented woodturned pieces
26
The Shed 85 July/August 2019
THE ART OF SEGMENTED
R
WOODTURNING
imu wood shavings curl up from the lathe, cling to Alby Redman’s chest, and pile into the crook of his arm as he turns the top half of a segmented hollow form. The Whanganui sheddie taught himself wood turning six years ago and went on to the meticulous craft of segmented turning. The results of his work are stunning, displayed for sale in the Red Door Gallery
HARNESSING THE BEAUTY OF WOOD KEEPS THE BODY AND BRAIN BUSY By Helen Frances Photographs: Tracey Grant
on Putiki Drive in Whanganui. “It’s all about shapes. I love the shapes of vases and hollow forms, and the patterns,” he says. Selling his pieces is secondary to the enjoyment that he gets from making the hollow forms, bowls, and other objects. But the money does help to fund materials and equipment. He says that it took him a long time to acquire the equipment he needed. He bought his first lathe on The Shed 85 July/August 2019
27
Electric bike
THE ULTIMATE SMART TRIKE 36
The Shed 85 July/August 2019
USING TECHNOLOGY TO REGAIN EXERCISE AND FUN By Sean and Connor Miller Photographs: Sean Miller
W
hy would anyone ever want to build a motorized, threewheeled, adult’s tricycle with the intent to use for exercise? Well, there’s a bit of a backstory. When our son was just around two years old, we took a family hiking trip in the mountains of West Virginia in the US. On the final night of our adventures, we found a nice lodge on the way back where we elected to enjoy dinner and stay the night. My wife seemed overly tired and, oddly, developed a sense of vertigo. I thought the uneven plank flooring of the old lodge was just messing with her balance. We decided to turn in early and get a good night’s sleep. The next
Necessary changes
I thought the uneven plank flooring of the old lodge was just messing with her balance
morning, on top of the vertigo, her left arm was numb. Being just about an hour away from home, we headed to our doctor. Things moved quickly and within 12 hours, we were faced with the diagnosis of relapsing– remitting multiple sclerosis (MS).
The new physical limits put an immediate halt to our outdoor recreation. Now, several years later, her physical condition is such that she can walk, though sometimes assisted with a cane, but her balance and left side are weak. We ultimately moved from that side of the US to the Midwest. At our new location, we have over 128km of rail-grade, paved trails that allow electric bikes limited to 15mph (24kph). The trails are absolutely beautiful and that is what gave us the idea of making the motorized Ultimate Smart Trike. Using today’s technology and some maker know-how, we set out to design a trike to assist exercising by overcoming my wife’s specific physical challenges. The Shed 85 July/August 2019
37
Solar power
We are being told that we will need to double our renewable energy within 30 years. Private solar will play a part in this change.
54
The Shed 85 July/August 2019
GO
LEGEND HAS IT THAT THOMAS EDISON TOLD HIS FRIENDS HENRY FORD AND HARVEY FIRESTONE, “I’D PUT MY MONEY ON THE SUN AND SOLAR ENERGY. WHAT A SOURCE OF POWER! I HOPE WE DON’T HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL OIL AND COAL RUN OUT BEFORE WE TACKLE THAT.” HE’D SHAKE HIS HEAD AT HOW LONG WE’VE TAKEN
By Murray Grimwood Photographs: Murray Grimwood
The Shed 85 July/August 2019
55
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WELD LIKE A PRO — ARCWELDING TIPS
CONSTRUCTING THE ULTIMATE ELECTRIC TRIKE
THE ART OF SEGMENTED WOODTURNING
BUILD YOUR OWN LPG- OR OIL-POWERED FORGE
JULY–AUGUST 2019 ISSUE 85
TWO WAYS TO
HOW TO WELD — ARC WELDING
BUILD A
MAKE WOODEN CHEST AND BOX HEIRLOOMS
FORGE
USING LPG OR OIL
9
771177
045002
05
CONSTRUCT AN ELECTRIC TRIKE
NZ $14.95 INCL. GST AUS $15.95 INCL. GST
POWER OUTAGES
SET YOUR HOME UP WITH AN AUXILIARY SUPPLY
T WO YE ARS
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