tour of men's sheds november 2013

On 15 November I headed south from Auckland in my campervan to spend a month visiting as many Men's Sheds as I can in the middle and lower North Island before Xmas.
I will make a brief video of each Shed, and post it to my Men's Shed youtube channel for members and their families to share.
First stops were Hamilton and Te Awamutu.
See the video
http://youtu.be/jHJC2xZORyg

http://www.youtube.com/user/menssheds2000

making tent pegs

I am off on a road trip in my camper-van. It can get windy so I made some new tent pegs....

Cutting reo bar on the power hacksaw

 

 

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Now THAT's a tent peg!

 

lumbecks made on the milling machine

Geoff and Norm have been hard at work at the new milling machine making four different-sized lumbeck blocks for a local bookbinder. Lumbeck blocks are used to set the curve in the spine of a hard-bound book.

msns october newsletter

The October edition of the Men's Shed North Shore newsletter is now online at
www.mensshednorthshore.org.nz
Below - Julian  gives the bi-plane a test flight:

men at work

Tom at work

Professional photographer Tom Roberton came into the Men's Shed North Shore last week and took some photographs of men at work for his portfolio and for use by the Shed.

Tom, Geoff and Norm

Laurie (background), Norm and Tom

sculptural qualities

It was said of Andy Warhol that he had "an appreciation of the inherent sculptural qualities of objects), and indeed his "Brillo Box" assemblage shows what a master can do with a group of industrial products.
While handling a lot of tools at the Shed as I help sort them out and use them, I have become aware of many the objects as beautiful examples of industrial design with powerful inherent sculptural qualities in their own right - in particular some of the chisels, files, and now taps (as in taps & dies), and years of use add a history to their edges and surfaces.
I am presently working on a new series of industrial jewelry using these and other objects.
Below are a couple of close-up photos of an old rusting tap (used for cutting a thread into a piece of metal to take a bolt.....imagine the first image below as if it were two or three metres high - to me something worthy of comparison with Jacob Epstein's "Rock Drill".

"Brillo Boxes"

"Rock Drill"

"much more than a man cave"

NZ Herald columnist Peter Calder visited our Shed on Monday, with a photographer, and the article below was in the Herald on Wednesday.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11144465

 

above: Laurie helps me with a chopping board

veneer and laminated wood

Last week Men's Shed North Shore member Bob Stirk gave us a demonstration of vacuum-forming veneer. This is a process (on a much larger scale) used to make the Americas Cup boats. Bob uses pieces of curved veneer and laminated wood to make some very interesting furniture.

Bob kindly gave me a piece of this laminate to make some jewellery with.

latest technology at the men's shed

Constantin in building his third 3D printer. Fellow Men's Shed North Shore member Geoff and Shed Chairman Ross have been giving him a hand.
Below: Constantin & Geoff at the drill press:

Below: Constantin & Ross cutting aluminum on the sawbench:

road trip to whangarei

Last week I went up to visit chums at Waipu - I found a tasty piece of road-kill on the way...

...which made a delicious roast dinner with fruit gravy:

I spent a day at the Whangarei Community Mens Shed. They have just purchased the old goods railway station from the Council for 0ne dollar, and are in the process of moving in. The place has been knocked around after being vacant for 15 years, but will make a great venue in time. I plan to get up there again later this month to help with the move....

scrap wire

The sun came in the back window yesterday illuminating a pile of rusty wire on the floor;

lathe turnings

The boys have been using our new lathe. The turnings make an interesting semi-abstract image close-up.

community work

Shed members have begun repair work on the old wooden toys for the Glenfield Community Creche.
Below: Maris and Dave get stuck-in.

another community project

Another successful community project!
Roger Dallymore cut some branches into discs for the Taioatea Kindergarden to help the children learn some skills. They sent him some "thank-you" notes:

shed video

The video made by Tv AUT students is now online. Many thanks to the team!

community project

Shed members are repairing ten bicycles for Onepoto School.
The kids seem to have given them a fair thrashing, & sadly Chinese manufacturing ain't the best - still, it's all in day's work for community-minded volunteers. Good on you guys!

Stores wizz Rodger

Maris & Workshop Manager Gavin

can you help?

Sarah has posted this notice to our board at the Men's Shed North Shore - can anyone step up to help?

2nd shed project completed

Last week Huang showed me how to make a jig to drill holes on the inside of my bookcase (I used an old shelf) so that I could insert metal plugs to support shelves at variable angles.
I brought the shelf home and painted it over the weekend - it fits in well with my other shelving - and will soon fill-up with books I find in the trash!

that chicken rocks

Cabinet-maker Huang has been helping me convert an old drawer into a bookcase, and in turn I have been giving him a hand to repair the paper-machie chicken he brought in - it's a rocking horse, or rather a rocking chicken, and was badly cracked and in need of a paint-job.
We cut the bottom panel out, then fibre-glassed inside as reinforcement....more next Wednesday....