Post by thevon on Jul 30, 2009 11:41:47 GMT 10
With not much flying happening due to work, and generally not much wind for sloping expeditions, I’ve been spending some nights organizing my shed a bit better. In my previous 13yr obsession as a cycle racer (and father of cycle racer) I had the shed really well organized for working on bikes – it looked like a bike shop with about 13 different bikes hanging around the walls, bike stands and trainers, racks of wheels, and cupboards full of everything from seat posts to handlebars. Now I am gradually getting rid of bike stuff and storing the rest of it, which is a bit sad, but the exciting part is that now I can have my most accessible shelves, cupboards and drawers used for glider stuff instead of bike stuff!
This is my coup de grace … I made some racks up to hold my embarrassingly large collection of wings. I’ve had my office renovated recently, and made a resolution not to keep gliders in there any more. Previously when customers came to see me they would have been a bit alarmed at the gliders bristling out of every gap or stacked on top of cupboards, and my office benchtop was the defacto charging area.
Below the racks I put this old table and ran a lead to a powerpack to use as a charging bench.
I’ve had these pigeonholes for ages – found them when we lived at Thursday Island and they’re most useful. The pantry was being thrown out from a kitchen renovation and is really excellent.
I also shifted my bench out and turned it round so that I can work with the shelves behind me. Shane recommended this when we did a workshop tour at his place last year – it makes you more likely to turn round and plonk bottles of glue or tools back on the shelves rather than leaving them on the bench where they can get knocked over and spill or dint a wing.
This is a rather ugly photo but it shows how I've fitted lengths of old roof guttering to the side of the bench as trays for long stuff like balsa, carbon and glass tubes and rods, control rods, etc etc. Great idea. Really easy to screw onto the side of a bench. Make sure you rivet end caps on them for safety. I only just got the lower one - it's a much larger commercial size gutter - it isn't screwed on yet.
Also the grey piece on top of the bench is part of an old laminex kitchen benchtop. If you don't have a nice flat surface for making wings etc, benchtops are great. Sometimes when I'm excited about starting on a new plane I get a paint scraper and scrape all the lumps of glue and stuff off so it's smooth again.
This cupboard/ bench was in my office so when it was renovated I put it in the shed! A real luxury. The TV is a luxury too. Good for watching those glider-building DVD’s, except that I always start fiddling with something and completely miss most of the DVD. I used to have a donated old TV in the shed, and when it died I bought this one from Aldi for $250. My advice is don’t do that. It’s crap.
Lastly, looking up at the ceiling, these are “Troffer” lights. I own about 15 of these between work and home. If you haven’t yet used them, they’re an excellent cheap and practical way of adding lighting. They are intended for fitting in suspended ceilings like hi-rise offices. With double fluoros and a big white reflector back they really throw some light, but the big plus is that they come with a plug lead already attached, so all you need to do is plug them in. They’re only $45 or so at electrical wholsalers (Haymans, Cetnaj, Lawrence & Hansen etc). You can just screw them directly to the ceiling or use chain to hang them from the ceiling (they have hooks for the chain).
This is my coup de grace … I made some racks up to hold my embarrassingly large collection of wings. I’ve had my office renovated recently, and made a resolution not to keep gliders in there any more. Previously when customers came to see me they would have been a bit alarmed at the gliders bristling out of every gap or stacked on top of cupboards, and my office benchtop was the defacto charging area.
Below the racks I put this old table and ran a lead to a powerpack to use as a charging bench.
I’ve had these pigeonholes for ages – found them when we lived at Thursday Island and they’re most useful. The pantry was being thrown out from a kitchen renovation and is really excellent.
I also shifted my bench out and turned it round so that I can work with the shelves behind me. Shane recommended this when we did a workshop tour at his place last year – it makes you more likely to turn round and plonk bottles of glue or tools back on the shelves rather than leaving them on the bench where they can get knocked over and spill or dint a wing.
This is a rather ugly photo but it shows how I've fitted lengths of old roof guttering to the side of the bench as trays for long stuff like balsa, carbon and glass tubes and rods, control rods, etc etc. Great idea. Really easy to screw onto the side of a bench. Make sure you rivet end caps on them for safety. I only just got the lower one - it's a much larger commercial size gutter - it isn't screwed on yet.
Also the grey piece on top of the bench is part of an old laminex kitchen benchtop. If you don't have a nice flat surface for making wings etc, benchtops are great. Sometimes when I'm excited about starting on a new plane I get a paint scraper and scrape all the lumps of glue and stuff off so it's smooth again.
This cupboard/ bench was in my office so when it was renovated I put it in the shed! A real luxury. The TV is a luxury too. Good for watching those glider-building DVD’s, except that I always start fiddling with something and completely miss most of the DVD. I used to have a donated old TV in the shed, and when it died I bought this one from Aldi for $250. My advice is don’t do that. It’s crap.
Lastly, looking up at the ceiling, these are “Troffer” lights. I own about 15 of these between work and home. If you haven’t yet used them, they’re an excellent cheap and practical way of adding lighting. They are intended for fitting in suspended ceilings like hi-rise offices. With double fluoros and a big white reflector back they really throw some light, but the big plus is that they come with a plug lead already attached, so all you need to do is plug them in. They’re only $45 or so at electrical wholsalers (Haymans, Cetnaj, Lawrence & Hansen etc). You can just screw them directly to the ceiling or use chain to hang them from the ceiling (they have hooks for the chain).
