My First Shed

[mitasol]

As to you young Mitasol... lets get somethin straight okay... you are young I am old

That's the nicest thing anyone has said to me in years

[Wild Dingo]

See? even when Im bein rude and insulting IM NICE!!

yer welcom yer dopey ol phart made yer day I did

[Geebung]

It rained on Sunday - for the garden, but for building sheds. I managed to get the rafters on and cut the vjoint for the doors...not very interesting and doesn't look like much progress for a picture (who wants to see a pile of vjoint neatly stacked and all the same size?). Rain is forecast for the coming weekend....

Just to put the block size into perspective... it is actually 325 sq m, the house is only 145 sq m (8 m wide on a 10 m wide block)...front garden takes up another 60 sq m and the area down the sides are quite narrow and take up another 40 sq m. The back is taken up with a large deck (another 30 sq m) which gives me 50 sq m left for a back garden.

I live in the inner east having moved over from Perth in the last millenium - I might add that the price differential was quite a shock so I bought what I could afford (not half a mill as Mr Dingo points out, luckily I just got in before the market boom here ).

I have been very creative with the space I have and put in many storage ideas that make the house quite roomy (it is a four bedroom house I might add)...also, I live a minimalist life - I don't need a lot of crap to feel good. And in any case, any house that requires a ride on vaccuum cleaner is too large in my books. I can understand why Dingo is building such a large house - he works down a hole in the ground - anyone who will put up with that needs to have space on the surface.

Now, back to the shed (aka The Giant Toolbox). I was thinking of having power fed to it but thought that a little like putting racing kit on a toyota corolla. Instead, I had an outdoor power switch installed quite close by instead. Also I strategically placed the deck lighting such that it casts a glow over my work area - just right for those balmy summer nights in Melbourne (all three of them).

[Geebung]

Some advice please.

I mentioned in a previous post that I intend to make some doors using toungue and groove vjoint pine. I am going to brace each of the doors with three horizontals (top, middle and bottom) and two diagonals (to achieve that rustic and strong Z shape).

I could just join the vjoint and then use some sash clamps to hold it tightly and then screw in the braces. Should I glue the toungue and groove together first and then screw in the braces? Or is it unnecessary to do so if I screw the braces in? The vjoint is pretty straight with only a couple of pieces being slighthly bowed.

[wheelinround]

Some advice please.

I mentioned in a previous post that I intend to make some doors using toungue and groove vjoint pine. I am going to brace each of the doors with three horizontals (top, middle and bottom) and two diagonals (to achieve that rustic and strong Z shape).

I could just join the vjoint and then use some sash clamps to hold it tightly and then screw in the braces. Should I glue the toungue and groove together first and then screw in the braces? Or is it unnecessary to do so if I screw the braces in? The vjoint is pretty straight with only a couple of pieces being slighthly bowed.

Hi GB you don't need to glue but it may help keep the wind & rain out for when your IN the shed . Then again it could stop light getting in.

Mate GB just thought of a bottler idea make the hinges for the doors so you can lift them off and use the doors as work bench on tressles.

[Geebung]

Thanks for the advice Wheelin...I must admit I had toyed with the door-as-a-bench idea but then dismissed it because I couldn't think of a way to secure the door such that it was burglar (aka selfish ba$tard) proof. I guess I could use bolts on the inside of one door so it can't be lifted off - I am intending to use sash bolts on one door in any case. Hmmmm...you've got me thinking now.

[rileyp]

NOTE!
As long as there is a bit of timber above the doors they wont lift off when they are closed unless they remove the timber first!
and so the workbench door idea remains a definate possibility if you are interested in doing that of course!
rileyp

[patty]

Whhoops I thought I came to see a shed, must have misread the thread!

[RobTro]

Look Gebung I like your shed. Nice size.

You other lot are spoilt. I have a rather nice "walk-in toolbox".

It will even have a proper bench when I get the base done.
Have gander...
Attachment 60923

Attachment 60924

I will of course be doing a full description and photo shot of the entire building phase, just to show ya I didn't get in a packet of Kellogs. (Well not Kellogs - they are too expensive here.)

Rob

[Pusser]

Some advice please.

I mentioned in a previous post that I intend to make some doors using toungue and groove vjoint pine. I am going to brace each of the doors with three horizontals (top, middle and bottom) and two diagonals (to achieve that rustic and strong Z shape).

I could just join the vjoint and then use some sash clamps to hold it tightly and then screw in the braces. Should I glue the toungue and groove together first and then screw in the braces? Or is it unnecessary to do so if I screw the braces in? The vjoint is pretty straight with only a couple of pieces being slighthly bowed.

One of the purposes of tounge and grove is to allow for wood movement. If you glue them you might lose that benefit. An exterior door will be exposed to lots of variation in moisture and sun especially the base. I stand to be corrected but I would not glue them.

[Wild Dingo]

Look Gebung I like your shed. Nice size.

You other lot are spoilt. I have a rather nice "walk-in toolbox".

It will even have a proper bench when I get the base done.
Have gander...
Attachment 60923

Attachment 60924

I will of course be doing a full description and photo shot of the entire building phase, just to show ya I didn't get in a packet of Kellogs. (Well not Kellogs - they are too expensive here.)

Rob

aaahh but young Wobbie mate you gotta admit its got zen written all ober it eh!! ...aah the smooth gentle wander down the 2ft of garden down the small step and into the shed... ah so velly good glasshoppler ...calming for the soul... I do wish you buggars with these tiny sheds full of wonderful zen would stop whinin

[Cliff Rogers]

What are you doing here Ding?
I thought you said you were leaving.

[Wild Dingo]

What are you doing here Ding?
I thought you said you were leaving.

SURPRISE!!!

yer missed me eh?

ahem... hang on a tick were gettin off tack an thats a so its back to the zenshed of our mate Wobbo in nippon!! {called wobbo so as not to cause confusion with the mongrel axe weilder )... U know I reckon maybe I should make one out the back... you know a quiet place with a workbench a few planes and an aura of peace an tranquility so I can center meself an focus... I could beclom a belly glood wloodwlurker if I have one of dem

okaythen... back to the brewskies ahhh weddin preperations such hard work aint it!

[Kaiser Soze]

Hey Geebung
If you didn't want to build a bench out of the door (good idea though except you couldn't keep junk on it when you close up!! ... unless you glued the junk to the bench ... thats another story) you could hinge it up to create an all weather awning. Hinges at top bolt at the bottom???

[RobTro]

Konnichiwa Geebung,
You too, you other lot.

My shed is about twice as big as yours. 3mx 1.3m SO I can get into it and have a bench and stuff and leave it and just lock up.
But until now I have had to do my workings outside, in the hall way (in the old apartment) or any place. In my new place I had been doing it on the terrace with a workmate style thing. And having to get everything out of different cubby holes all over the place and then having to knock off early just to pack everything away again in all the differnt cubby holes around the house was starting P me off. So my shed was born. When it is done I will be able to just open up and everything there handy including a bench. Most of my stuff will be small scale but if any large projects come along (probably the kids' beds and desks) then in the shed and the old way. (outside - in touch with natural and the tranquility of the garden...monks and all)

If you are just using the shed for storage then think about how you can have stuff available with some quick moves setting up and just close up when finished for the day.

THe best thing I have done recently was to make a couple of saw benches like Chris Swartz's. Just put a couple of thick planks or an old door over them and you will have a very stable workbench. And if you really want to do some handplaning on them just have them thicker and heavier or have a dowel or somehting to hold them solid against the saw benches and they are very stable. I used 105mm laminated spruce posts glued together. So stiff and solid. Just laid a slab made of these over the saw benches with just friction. Clamp a battten and it was very good for hand planing. Just make the width of the slab the maximum that you can lift them around. The angled legs on the saw benches are very stable. When you don't need a workbench then just use the saw benches as they are or for what ever. Very handy.

With your smaller shed set the interior up with large shelves so you can slide the sawbenches under into a little cubby hole. Then if you need them just pull em out and away ya go. Have the "bench top" sloted in along one wall ready to be tilted out and plonked onto the saw benches.

Some tempory bench space is always handy. Maybe try a fold-down table top (with flip out leg assembly) hinged from the inside of one of the doors. Open door and when needed slip the latch folding the top down and set the legs. Good for assembly or just placing tools and job parts for handy access.

If you are going to use T&G for the doors on a z-frame then your shed might be a bit leaky (for want of a better word) So, if you have a lot of metal tools that might go rusty maybe make up some wooden boxes for them to keep the moist air and rust away. But don't glue the boards together. The doors will go crazy.

I went totally overboard with my shed and doors and put an air circulation gap all around a ply sheet braced wall and frame. But I live in an earthquake and typhoon area and it is very humid and moist here. So I want to not worry too much about my tools.

Dingo...Whose whinin? Small shed means not so far to get a beer and relax in that zen like garden.

Rob