Creating a Barrel Swing

My fiance Shellie has an incredible passion for her job as an early childhood teacher, her area of expertise is the outdoors and how children interact with outdoor spaces.

She had an idea of creating a big barrel swing, and sourced a big blue barrel as a starting point.

Once brought home to the forge we took it into the workshop dungeon to carve with the Jigsaw. First we took one of the ends off, this created a space where the children could crawl into. We then cut a window into one of the curved edges of the barrel. This window allows the children to hang their legs out of the barrel, to see out of the barrel, or even climb through into the barrel, and allowed the children to create the swinging motion by pushing against the ground..

Shellie cutting the front window out of the swing.

The next step was to drill four holes into what would be the top of the swing, rope will be tied through these holes so it can be hung securely at the Early Childhood Centre.
We also drilled a couple of holes in the bottom for the purpose of drainage.

Once we were happy with the shape of the swing we had to soften the edges. We scraped off as much of the rough plasctic shards as we could and then tried to sand the edges which clogged the paper, the next trick we tried was melting the edges so they were flat; we used a small blowtorch and guided the flame across the plastic edges this worked well.

Once at the Centre we used rope to suspend the swing. Using knots that would not slip or come undone we tied the barrel to hooks which were screwed into the platform above.

The swing in place at the centre.

The general reaction from the children at the centre was excitement at the new interactive piece of playground equipment, 

We Made a Veggie Garden!

Labour day brings us a Monday of work off and an excuse to either blob and do nothing for an extra day or to jam pack our weekend full of all of the things that we wish we had time to do but generally don't.

My fiancee Shellie and I chose the latter.
We like being busy creating things or going on adventures throughout our city and country. We decided Saturday we would wake up early and get straight to work in making a vegetable garden.

The basis of the garden; old pallet timber

We salvaged the old pieces of pallet timber from around the property to construct a box that would provide the basis of our garden.

Take note ladies, you too can get stuck in.

I had a simple design for a box in my mind and between us we brought it to life, we each wielded a hammer and got to work creating the box.

Wood slats on the bottom

Seeing as we were to put our new garden straight onto the lawn I decided that putting a bottom on it would contain the soil and plants in the box and also keep weeds from outside of the box from getting in.

Salvaging wood from old pallet scraps.

 We didn't have quite enough pieces of timber the right length to cover the entire bottom so I had to deconstruct some other pieces of pallets I had around to get all of the pieces needed.

The bottom covered

Giving the box the bottom not only acts as a container for the soil and plants, but also gives the rest of the box strength, by pulling it all together.

Our finished box

 The morning's job was over, we had completed the box construction, after lunch we would get to planting some veggies.

The garden box in its final resting position, unobtrusive and situated for morning sunshine.

We have been flatting in Wadestown at the forge, for the better part of this year, and have consistently been adding to a compost bin that was here on the property when we moved in. Over the course of six months we have been adding our food scraps and grass clippings to the compost bin and given a mix every now and then. The result of six months of being fed and breaking down, is beautiful soft soil that can now be used for our garden, hopefully to yield a good bunch of vegetables (at least enough for a salad).

The black compost bin stays out of the way

Inside is a mix of soft soil and the plant matter that will break down into it.

It took a few trips of carting buckets back and forth from the compost bin to our garden in order to fill it up. It also became hard to dig the soil out from the bin, fortunately these compost bins do not have a bottom so they can be pulled up and over from around the soil, this made things a lot easier.

The box filled with soil and divided into 9 equal sections.

By dividing the garden into sections we made it easier to keep track of the plants we will plant, one square for each species.

Constructing a frame for bean vines to climb

We had purchased some bean plants which grow in the form of a vine, in order for these to grow properly we had to construct a frame which could then have string hanging from it.

Stringing the frame so the plants can climb up

We planted a bunch of different plants including beans, tomatoes, carrots, capsicum, cucumber, lettuce, and also marigolds. The marigolds are said to repel moths and other insects; hopefully this means that when our vegetables grow they will not be eaten by bugs but be in tact for when we want to eat them.

Watering our plants for the first time.

We watered all of our plants for the first time, something we will continue to do, especially on hot summer days. Watering is best done at dawn and dusk, when it is the right temperature to allow the plants to absorb the water without the sun evaporating it.

Gardener Jayden: American Gothic impression

And of course, the best way to celebrate a job well done is by posing in a few silly photos. Behind these two silly poses I was sincerely stoked with what we had accomplished in a day. It is about time I starting taking part in gardening, something I think is so central to sustainable living.

Gardener Jayden: Rocking out with a rake.

Gardening is a fantastic hobby to have. It requires hard work, care, and patience. Just like hunting and farming it allows people to appreciate where their food comes from. Through consistent care of your garden you will reap the benefits of nutritious food to sustain your own body; you will also know exactly what has gone into the soil to create your food, it is your decision whether or not you use pesticides or fertilizers to enhance your plants growth (ideally not), I believe a garden needs good soil, plenty of sunlight and a little bit of water to encourage the best growth.

That's it.

Put simple things in to get the best things out. I hope. I'll tell you how it works out at the end of summer.

Spontaneous Table Construction

The weekend just been has been a weekend of laziness and recovery.
My fiancee Shellie and I headed up the island on a road trip to Napier with our good friend Liv, we shared the weekend with friends and did activities that required little effort and encouraged the recovery of the body and mind. Sleeping in past 8.00AM; eating good food in supurb locations; Relaxing our joints and muscles at Ocean Spa; and sharing a couple of cheeky beers.

A Picnic Lunch at White Pine Bush with friends.

Sunday lunch was roast chicken, and while that was cooking I noticed a pile of timber, old bed slats from a broken bed. I asked our host Terry what we could do with it, make a chair? a table? a stool?

Broken bed and the timber slats that we recycled.

Terry had been meaning to do something with the wood for some time, my prompt was the kick up the bum that he needed to do it. A plumber by trade, he had all of the tools required for most home DIY projects. He decided on making a coffee table to sit on the deck, perfect for coffee and other beverages to rest on while we enjoy the summer sun in Napier. 

The table top with one edge holding it together.

We cut six of the old bed slats down to size to make the table top and then cut four more pieces to hold them together as edging. Terry's tools were Makita brand, they took some getting used to, as they have subtle differences to my Ryobi brand tools. The Skill saw had a different safety catch and it took some time for me to line each cut up as I had to figure out where to line the saw with the cut. This goes to show that every handyman has their preferred tools and each tool has its own subtle differences.

The self drilling screws used pulled the table together snug and strong.

The four edge pieces pulled the table top together, the final step was to create legs at the desired height for the table. Terry decided on using an excessive eight pieces of wood to create an L shape in each corner that would hold the table together rigidly. I thought four pieces would be sufficient but Terry was determined.

Terry with the near finished tabletop.

Whilst attaching the leg pieces Terry drilled the pieces together while I held the table tightly to ensure all pieces fit together correctly

The finished table

This small project took us around 90 minutes to complete, we enjoyed having a project to do, it cleared up the mess of the broken bed and transformed it into something beautiful and practical. We enjoyed the Sunday sunshine and when we were finished the chicken was cooked and it was lunch time.

Liv and Shellie enjoy each others company and the presence of the new table.

Construction projects don't have to take a long time, and I am finding more and more as I continue to practice my skills and improve it takes less time to build things.

Construction is a great hobby to get into; it uses your body in a physical way, allowing you to develop your gross and fine motor skills and your hand/eye co-ordination.

Through physical construction you make things, an end product, ideally something useful that can make someone's life a little bit better.

Construction encourages cultures of sustainability and recycling, making the most of all of your resources to ensure minimal waste is left behind.

Construction also strengthens relationships, Terry and I have bonded as mates through building something together, and now other people can stregthen their relationships with each other by enjoying each others presence whilst using the new drinks table.

Outdoor Furniture

As winter approached our Rover crew were able to sell off all of our firewood supplies, this freed up the pallets that were keeping the wood off the ground and dry. Back at the forge we sit through winter shivering and dreaming of the warm sun and how summer is going to be incredible with parties, BBQ's, outdoor fires and good company. We also discussed having some nice outdoor furniture to use and make use of our outdoor courtyard.

I took to the pallets in Makara, seperating the individual panels so they could fit in the car, and then driving them back to the Forge. I spent an evening removing the nails from the timber. Outdoor furniture is going to be exposed to the elements, so it does not need to be sanded down perfectly.

Piles of timber, de-nailed and ready to use.

One afternoon I jumped on the scooter and headed around to Mitre 10 around the corner, I returned with some nails, and set to work designing a simple chair. I drew some doodles and set out to work.
The chair was designed to be very square, I nailed 2x4 legs to 2x2 braces, and lastly nailed slats to the chair frame give the user some thing to sit on and then to lean against. It looked terrible. It was chunky and ridiculous.

The next day, I disassembled the chair and amended it. Using my skill saw I ripped the 2x4 pieces into two 2x2 pieces, I then trimmed them to make the chair shorter and reassembled. The chair, although a little wobbly, looked good, proportionate.

A couple of easy simple chairs.

A few days later I decided to make another chair, this time opting straight for the 2x2 legs. The result was a chair that looked the same but was somewhat stronger.

Table top Pallet, with a bit of work to do.

My recycled timber was left sitting in the courtyard for me to look at and ponder how I could use it. I had a large piece of a pallet that wasn't completely disassembled, the flatmates and I thought it would make a good table, so in my mind I tried to design it as a beautiful centerpiece. I decided to line the edges with 2x2 which I measured and cut to fit and then nailed to the main piece. I then used 4x2 to create four legs which I measured and cut to about knee height. When these were firmly attached the table was strong, with very little wobble to it.

The flat mates seemed to enjoy the new furniture.

That is a good start to the flats free, recycled, outdoor furniture. It looks good, it works well, and come summer it will be the envy of the neighborhood.

 The Sunday night after I'd made the table was a cold night but I wanted to light a fire, I lit the brazier, poured myself a drink, and Shellie my fiancee joined me for dinner outside. We were warm, and we enjoyed our furniture. We sat on the chairs and we could sit our bowls on the table. We then roasted a few marshmellows for dessert. Yum. Come summer, this will be a weekly occurrence; we'll be able to fire up the BBQ and enjoy food, drink, and good company in the sun.

Furniture, fire, music and food. A good night under the stars.

Making Rat Traps

Between the 2nd and the 14th of January I dedicated myself to helping out at Venture Inferno. For those who don't know, a Venture is a 10 day camp for Venturers or 'older scouts' (14-18 yr olds).
The venture is split into two phases:
Phase One - five days when you go on an expedition of your own choosing,

Phase Two - five days on site at the main camp with a variety of activities on offer including a party each night.

Inferno was the theme of this years Venture. It was based in Rotorua, and offered a very action packed programme.

For Phase One I helped as a line leader, my job was to look after nine venturers. Our expedition of 80 people were set at Waitomo where we did three days of caving among other activities.

For Phase Two I offered my help at the hands on base, a marquee full of hands on activities ranging from making bracelets, decorating mugs, making nail wire art, and of course making Rat Traps.

We had a couple of piles of wood and a few rolls of steel mesh; some screws and staples; and some hammers and drills. The basis of the trap.

Someone had kindly setup some example traps showing the method of making it in four easy steps.

Step 1. Get first piece of wood, the base, staple one piece of mesh to it about 100mm from the front.
Step 2, Using the drill/driver screw the base piece to the two other pieces of wood to create the boxes sides, staple the mesh to the two added sides.
Step 3, Get two wooden studs and screw them into the top corners of box to hold the trap in place.
Step 4, Cut a hole in one of the bottom corners of the mesh. Cover both ends of the box with more mesh. cut a hole in the front mesh in the opposite bottom corner.
Done.

It took a little bit of time to make my first trap, but as I continued, the process got faster and faster. More people joined and I was able to teach, observe, learn, and adapt my methods. I found that cutting the mesh was the hardest, most tiresome part, so I would work at that so the venturers could get on with the more fun construction part. The mesh was also quite sharp so when handling it you had to take care. It was encouraged that any sharp ends be cut off so that when using the trap the person doesn't cut themselves. We also learned to use any left over bits of mesh too to make the most of the resources that we had.

On the third day Didymo Dave came to help out, he was the one who organized the supplies and would be using the traps to control pests on the Waitahanui River. As well as refining the trap making process he also educated us on the traps and their use. Although we call them rat traps the traps would be used for not only rats, but also ferrets, weasels, and stoats. all rodents that kill our native birds for food or just for fun. The traps are made with the holes cut in the mesh on opposite corners to prevent kiwi from getting its beak inside and snapped off in a trap.

Didymo Dave also encouraged us to write a message on our box to the pests that would be caught within. One creative venturer wrote 'Dear Rodents, Gluttony is a deadly sin'.

Over the course of  four days I have gone from not knowing how to build a rat trap to not only building around twenty of them, but teaching others how to make them, empowering people who usually wouldn't give something like this ago, and allowing them to do it themselves and leave feeling that they have made a positive contribution to the native bird life of New Zealand.

Below is a link to Didymo Dave's facebook page, here you can find out more about the pest control along the Waitahanui River.
Rat Traps made with Didymo Dave

Designing a flaming piece of art.

The idea was brought up again months ago. We were at a Hutt Zone meeting for scouts and a suggestion was made to arrange an activity that would link Venturers (Youth aged 14-18) and Rovers (Youth aged 18-30). The idea that popped into my mind was the creation of a fire sculpture at the Petone Carnival 2015. 

Many local bands get a chance to perform on a range of entertainment
stages. Seen here is Man!/Woman! performing in 2012

The annual Polar Plunge happens
the morning of the carnival







I've been to several Petone Carnivals and they are a great day, the whole day is a brilliant chance to showcase the best things that the Hutt Valley has to offer; be it music, performances, crafts, metalwork, the annual polar plunge, and heaps more. One of my favourite parts of the day has always been admiring the fire sculptures. In previous years Shellie and I have taken a stroll down the beach to be away from the crowds lining the street, and whilst doing so, admired and contributed to the construction work taking place on the beach.

The first year Shellie and I contributed to a fire sculpture.

Two of the sculptures from previous years,
a drum kit and a phoenix like creature.

We have helped but never taken on the whole challenge on by ourselves. This year I thought, why not? and from then on my interest had been sparked, Through many an email to different organizers I was finally told that I needed to submit a design for a sculpture that met a bunch of specifications and had inspiration from the theme "A Midwinter's Night Dream".

http://www.coveralia.com/caratulas/Loreena-Mckennitt-A-Midwinter-Night-s-Dream-Frontal.php

At this point I switched into full on brainstorm mode, I needed help to come up with a sculpture design that would be sufficient enough to make the final cut, this year there would only be four sculptures created. A quick google search of a 'a mid-winters night dream' came back with this album cover, a similar concept to what I envisaged for my design. I thought of animals, trees, snow, and I also wanted to relate it back to scouting movement.



I made a lot of sketches, the ideas of my own and others onto paper, and figuring out the practicalities of building something that looked like the drawing.



The final concept was based on the circular appearance of a tree, with the presence of typical New Zealand winter woodland animals, as well as some symbolic relation to scouting. One thing we knew from the start was that it was going to feature a deer of sorts; representative of our Rover mascot 'Alan'.


The silhouettes that would inspire my sculpture design.

I needed to find a strong image of a deer to atop the sculpture. This image of a stag is clean and powerful.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/42293105@N05/4039153557

 I searched the internet for the best images of animal silhouettes I could find; using these as the basis of my Winter inspired sculpture I made a model of my intended sculpture.

This is the final Model I submitted to be considered.

The final model takes the cylindrical shape of the tree and the organic nature of hanging ropes whilst featuring the relevant silhouettes of animals and scouting symbols suspended by the ropes.
The centre piece is the stag symbolic of Alan atop the tower. Making the model was no easy task, I had to use my knowledge of craft, The process tested my skills.

After submission I had to wait while it was considered. A couple of days later I was told I had been chosen to lead the construction of one of four sculptures at the Petone Carnival for 2015. I was stoked. Now the real prep work begins.

http://www.eventfinda.co.nz/2014/petone-winter-carnival/lower-hutt

This Saturday Starting at 9.00AM a group of Rovers and Venturer scouts, led by myself, will be turning this design into a reality. The five and a half metre structure will be built, well braced, and shown off to the public, before being set alight in the darkness after 6.00PM. We will admire the temporal beauty of a structure made to burn and to look its best whilst on fire.

I welcome you all to attend, to come onto the beach and say hello, and offer some help. There will be fire, fireworks, and a whole carnival of sights and scenes to experience. See you there.

Manifesto - What I Stand For

I am a designer. I am a Scout. I am a practitioner of D.I.Y. I am thrifty. I am an outdoors lover. I am a sharer of experience. I am a physical explorer. I am pleased by organization. I enjoy good food.

I am Jayden. For now that is all you need to know about me, I'm sure you will gain more insight into who I am through this blog; starting with below; my written manifesto, advocating D.I.Y. and Sustainability.

This is what I stand for. These thoughts of mine were arranged in this way during my undergraduate degree, and as of now I still agree with it all. It first deals with sustainability in regards to the maker, and then in regards to the consumer.

As a designer both consuming and making are of equal importance. The designers decisions in all steps of the design process make an impact on the world in a great number of ways; from whether or not a local produce grower is getting paid a decent wage as you purchase their goods, or if you are paying a lesser amount, and therefore supporting the exploitation of migrant workers in countries throughout the world.

In a world where consumerist culture is everywhere it is easy to spend money on cheap items that break and get thrown away. Throughout this blog I will be advocating for the reuse and recycling of your everyday items when their current useful life is over.

That is all for now, I will be posting an article about a new activity or project each week.

JH.