The Shed 91, July — August 2020

The July/August 2020 issue of The Shed, No. 91, has got something in it for every sheddie. 

Even though there is something of a nautical theme to this issue, our cover story is on building a very powerful, vertical, hydraulic log splitter. Bill Stevenson from Christchurch walks us through the construction of his trailer-mounted log-splitting machine that was started prior to the Covid-19 lockdown, worked on during, and completed immediately after. A great effort.

We head to Whanganui to follow a truly remarkable house-build project.  Architect Elinor McDouall’s vision to transform a 1920s Otago Harbour Board workboat into a tiny house caught the imagination and tested the skills of all the tradesmen who brought it to fruition. Part one of our story on this unique build is in this issue, and part two will follow in Issue No. 92.

We have the penultimate instalment in our How to Weld series by Greg Holster, on plasma cutting, and Ritchie Wilson takes us on a journey of enjoying and discovering the uses of some wonderful home-made tools.

A major new series commences this issue from Enrico Miglino, How to Make Your Home a Smart Home. In this first instalment he details the project and the parts that will be required across this series of articles.

We meet a couple of talented steamboat enthusiasts, Chris Cooper and John Olsen, who have lovingly restored a steamboat each — Chris, a 1911 pinnace, and John, a 30-foot launch named Dancer. John decided to fit a steam engine to power his craft rather than the more obvious diesel. Both completed boats are a real tribute to these two men.

Brewers Scoop this issue gives you advice on brewing on a tight budget, Bob Hulme gives us the second and final instalment on building his 10m2 kitset shed, then Coen Smit shows us how to put a kill switch on your 3D printer so that it shuts down after completing its printing tasks.

In this issue’s Off the Grid, Murray Grimwood shows us how he spent his lockdown time wisely, building a model boat with the help of family using whatever he had lying around at home. It’s a great team effort.

Ritchie Wilson is back and writing about the merits of V8 donks (V8 engines) — in cars, boats, or planes these powertrains never fail to deliver.

Also in this issue we meet the remarkable West Auckland artist and sheddie Andrew Hall. Writer and photographer Jason Burgess introduces us to a truly unique sheddie whose talent and skills are many and award-winning as well.

As usual, Jude Woodside closes the issue with his Back o’ The Shed column. During lockdown he had plenty of time to think about things, including the cause of the Covid-19 pandemic and the 5G conspiracy. The answer was simple and very close to home, however his conclusion may surprise many.