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  1. #1
    BobL is offline Member: Blue and white apron brigade
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
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    Perth
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    7,183

    Default What fraction of your time do you spend on Shed related stuff?

    By this I mean, cleaning, sort, repairing, building, and maintaining stuff in/for your shed.
    This includes making any gismos, jigs, etc.

    These days I seem to find myself doing more and more of this leaving less time for projects.
    Some of this is finally getting around to having the "BIG sort out and clean up" although just looking at the shed it looks like nothing has been touched.

    Apart from the BIG clean up and sort out, my list over the last week includes
    - fitting a diamond wheel to the side of a CBN grinding wheel on one of my grinders
    - replacing the mains switch and rebuilding the fence adjuster on my TS.
    - adapting a lathe steady that had been laying around for years to fit my lathe.
    - repairing a couple of old hand planes.
    - finally (13 years later) dragging out FILs (I think it was actually his father's) oregon tool chest from under bench, cleaning it up and fitting handles.
    - replacing a dodgy pot on a VFD remote.

    I don't mind doing these jobs but meanwhile the projects in my head and especially those for SWMBO are really starting to back up.

    A friend of mine once told me this is an easy problem to fix, just chuck away most of your shed stuff.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Location
    Norwood-ish, Adelaide
    Age
    59
    Posts
    6,541

    Default

    It's a curly one Bob. I spend most of my time in the shed making tooling - either for myself or others. I also spend time devising better storage and trying to streamline what is in there.
    In the last say 4 weeks I've been
    • Working on a rolling mill for another member
    • Making an extended R8 to ER16 collet chuck
    • Making up lamp arms for my mill
    • Storage for collets, milling cutters and drill bits
    • Machining some fixture blocks
    • Planning out a weld rotator

    about the only thing that was not tooling related was a small bit of machining for work - heat sinks for some circuitry the guys are working on.

    Probably makes it around 80 to 90%

    Michael

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2012
    Location
    York, North Yorkshire UK
    Posts
    6,439

    Default

    Hi Guys,

    In my case "Honey Do", "Hospital appointments and health issues are reducing the amount of shed time I can get in. I've far too many projects either on the go or stacking up. My XYL is wanting me to get all the repairs and maintenance done whilst I'm still able to do it. The bit of string is getting rapidly shorter !
    Best Regards:
    Baron J.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    Athelstone, SA 5076
    Posts
    4,255

    Default

    Mmm...my beer fridge is in there...it requires a lot of maintaining

  5. #5
    BobL is offline Member: Blue and white apron brigade
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    Feb 2006
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    Perth
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by eskimo View Post
    Mmm...my beer fridge is in there...it requires a lot of maintaining
    Unfortunately - For health reasons I had to stop drinking about 10 years ago.

    Not much shed time today but I managed to do complete of the most useful maintenance items I've been meaning to do for ages.

    Firstly I replaced the filter on the Ryobi shop vac. The old filter was still the same one from when I picked the Ryobi up from the side of the road about 6 years ago and was now increasingly clogged from vacuuming up oily swarf.

    Then I lightly bored out a 32mm PVC plumbing FF coupler so one end would fit on my Ryobi shop vac and the other end on a tapered/constricted nozzle from an old household Panasonic Vac. Then I gave my mill, lathe and DP a good going over with the vac and got all the swarf out of the various nooks and crannies.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Age
    56
    Posts
    1,416

    Default

    Heaps, my wife bought the paint for the hallway, 3 weeks later I started it and finished it last week, still have the trimmings to do.

    In between it's been shed, I am combining all the double gib locks on my mill to single levers for each axis, including bevel gears for the x axis and micro switches to cut out power feeds when locked.

    I'm trying to get this jib crane remote control trolley finished which has been a 7 odd month project in between everything else.

    Designing this new 240v power drawbar for the vertical and horizontal spindle's.

    Working out how to accurately bore and fix a new diesle cylinder sleeve into my mill to eliminate factory slop that only has 2 colars holding it.

    I'm looking at the shaper project I started many years ago I need to finish now I'm settled. It will include fitting the DRO I have for it.

    I'm either cleaning up, oiling or making and designing projects for the shed machines, or ordering new stuff for future projects for the shed machines with this virious crap, lol.

    In between that is other people's paying jobs.

    It's a disease, but there's no cure for it or rehabilitation that I've heard of.
    Using Tapatalk

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Oct 2019
    Location
    Tasmania
    Age
    53
    Posts
    149

    Default

    Any shed time is quality shed time

    Over winter I spend all my spare time in my shed. Fire going and something on the tv playing in the back ground, usually car racing, football or country music.

    Lately I have spent a lot of time on storage and organisation solutions to keep my main shed area open and clean but I am usually just 'tinkering' around making some thing or another.

  8. #8
    BobL is offline Member: Blue and white apron brigade
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    Feb 2006
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    Perth
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dave J View Post
    I'm either cleaning up, oiling or making and designing projects for the shed machines, or ordering new stuff for future projects for the shed machines with this virious crap, lol.
    This reminds me of the small (started with 3 blokes, then 2, then 1 , over ~30 years years) workshop at work. I got to know these blokes quite well as I used to have smoke with them, learned a lot from them - unfortunately forgot most of it.

    When a new boss came in that cut the numbers from 2 to 1 he micromanaged and interfered with many of the workshop practices including asking the remaining machinist to account for every second of his time . Given it was largely a prototyping/custom shop the remaining machinist rightfully asked for one day a week for workshop maintenance etc. Instead the boss allocated him half a day. When I eventually became the boss I re-instituted the full day and managed to scrounge some money to hire another half assistant. After all I was using the workshop from time to time - couldn't have a poorly maintained machine could I

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Mallacoota,VIC,Australia
    Age
    53
    Posts
    1,010

    Default

    My shed is really at my Business now, though I do still have to get my metal lathe out there. My recent projects have been: making new bushes for my chainsaw chain sharpener, repairing the chain sharpener vice eccentric clamp lever, making a tool to seat an oil seal in an outboard gearbox. My Herless SM-1 Turret Mill is still an ongoing project, just haven't had the time to get back to it. My main upcoming projects are to make two new workbenches for my business's workshop and to make a pegboard display stand for trailer parts.
    All The Best steran50 Stewart

    The shortest way to do many things is to do only one thing at once.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    Athelstone, SA 5076
    Posts
    4,255

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by ajh69 View Post
    getting old!
    Your only old if if you want to be

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    Townsville, Tropical Nth Qld.
    Posts
    225

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    This is an interesting thread, good to see how others chop and change due to necessity. Mine is no different, I inherited a bundle of handsaws from Dad and an old family friend and I picked the 3 I wanted to keep and fully restored them. I then found an old guy to teach me to sharpen them. All normal stuff.
    I then needed to cut some PVC conduit teeth protectors and got my slitting saw mounted in the router table and cut the long slots. During this I remembered that the fences don't slide very well due to how I made them over 20 years ago. This was before T-track was available so I used sail track, roughly a C section and when I did the countersinks for the securing screws I damaged the edges of the sailtrack and the cuphead bolts are always catching. I bought 2 lengths of T-track years ago but they collected dust, so it was time to change them.
    Not that easy, they are thicker and cutting the fences deeper weakened them. Off to the timber shop for thicker timber, cut new grooves and with the new single flute countersinks I did the job. Also the new T-bolts slide so easy.
    Now, to find a new home for the saws?
    Rgds,
    Crocy.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Nov 2008
    Location
    Perth WA
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    71
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    6,458

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    I thought I was getting on top of it then a fellow I know gave me another project!!!

    https://www.woodworkforums.com/f153/...68#post2198168

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Jul 2010
    Location
    Melbourne
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    9,088

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    Quote Originally Posted by eskimo View Post
    Your only old if if you want to be
    While my head agrees with you, my knees aren't so sure lol

    Until very recently I have been doing zero work on my shed or the things in it(unless you count trying to fix my MIG)

    The small amount of work done in my shed has been projects. I had to buy a 6mm corner rounding end mill for a project recently because I couldn't find mine! I took that as a sign it was time to at least make an effort to sort things out.

  14. #14
    BobL is offline Member: Blue and white apron brigade
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    Todays plan:
    Early (left home at 7am) run to grocery store, hardware and Blackwoods - back by 8:30am and then plan to spend whole day in shed while SWMBO plays with horse.

    Todays actuality
    9:30am get a call from SWMBO. Horse has to go to farrier for new shoes but plug on horse float not working - I know it's corroded and needs replacing.
    Drive to Supacheap and buy a new plug, drive 35 minute to stables fit plug - its French float - weird wiring eventually get all bar one brake light working - burned out globe.
    SWMBO sets out for farrier anyway as she's late.
    I drive to another Supacheap buy replacement light globe and then follow onto stables to fit new globe.
    Get home have lunch and then hit the bed for my usual 15-20 minute grandpa nap.

    Just got off to sleep and SWMBO calls - she's just driven off from the farrier and 2 engine warning lights have come on (SWMBO's brand new Isuzu 4WD with <1000km on clock).
    SWMBO reads manual (she is good at this - way better than me) and it says to go to nearest dealer, I says go and I'll meet her there.
    Arrive about 2pm, wait around - eventually car goes into workshop - can see what's happening as there there is a large window between waiting room and workshop. All door open bonnet up, 3 guys swarming over machine, one has a laptop plugged in, guys looking underneath, one guy opens back doors stands on door sill and bounces up and down to get car swaying.
    Several mechanics come and go - lots of head scratching.
    ~4pm mechanics look like they've given up and eventually report - we've reset the computer and can't find anything wrong - suggest you check horse float plug.

    Home by 5pm all through peak hour traffic.

    So much for a day in the shed

  15. #15
    BobL is offline Member: Blue and white apron brigade
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    Post

    I'm still supposed to be cleaning out the shed and decided to tackle my scrap plastics box.
    I should just chuck it all away but there's loads of useful stuff in there like teflon rod&sheet, bits of polycarbonate, and dozens of 102 and 154 mm diameter grey PVC discs between 3 & 6 mm thick. These discs are left overs from making the 17 PVC blast gates that are part of my woodie dust extraction system. Anyway as I was sorting the box I though of a use for a couple of the discs as shown below.

    While I was at it I made wooden rack for the ER32s.
    So much for cleaning out the shed!

    Collets.jpg

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