The Shed 80, September—October 2018

When we met Des 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.

Also in this issue, join Brent Sandow as he attends the best knife-making show there is in Atlanta, Georgia, USA  then travel to the Naki to learn of the rebuild of an historic Ford Model T school bus in rural Piopio. In this issue’s BBC micro bit experiment we build a small wind machine and Jude welds a cage for his trailer so he can move stock around his property with ease.

Judy Waterston hails from Duntroon in North Otago and has wanted to be a blacksmith as soon as she laid eyes on a smithy’s workshop in full flight. Now she is and is teaching youngsters this ancient skill in her blacksmiths shop. Blenheim is the home of Win Holdaway and in his shed he builds outstanding scale steam engines, prepare to be amazed at his jaw-dropping skills.

Geoff Merryweather shows us how to make a toe jack this issue and Ritchie Wilson goes on a journey of discovery on how to decorate your shed or man/woman cave. Coen Smit carefully makes a Lichtenberg burner from an old microwave and takes the opportunity to build a dead man’s switch for a host of workshop power tools. Mark Beckett heads to Westport to check out the CNC router manufactured there by Vertigo Technologies and we have the final part in this series on 3D printing tips and advice. We showcase the Fusion 360 software and advise the best way to operate it.

The West Coast features again in the issue when we visit the outstanding Westland Heritage Park in Hokitika where they preserve and restore Kiwi machine history and sadly, The Shed magazine says farewell to our Back O the shed columnist, Jim Hopkins. Join Jim in a sing a long as he bids us all farewell… until we meet again.