The shed.
OBJECTS OF OBSESSION #1: MAKING THINGS
This is the start of a new series of posts (yay… another one). It was initially another THOUGHTS ON, but in the continuing effort to organise the blog, I’ve decided to make this into a show and tell of sorts - or OBJECTS OF OBSESSION. More of these will come, and they’ll probably cover all sorts of topics, but for now, enjoy.
I’ve touched on several of my hobbies here, gaming - obviously, photography, even the blog itself. What I’ve written here constitutes the bulk of what amuses me, but I also enjoy creative writing, illustration, and printmaking, amongst other things - although I have yet to dump any of that on here. I, like many of you reading this have a curse bestowed upon me, which is having too many hobbies and not enough time. I am incredibly fortunate to have more free time than many, but it’s never quite enough. When busy and otherwise barred from creative pursuits (or even my hobbies that aren’t that… reading, watching telly, sitting in a comfortable chair, etcetera), I bend my thoughts towards them, and recently, an area of creativity that I thoroughly enjoy but rarely partake took up much of my thinking time. It’s because of this that I thought I’d share my most recent and a few of my past occasional forays into making in the hopes of creating a vaguely interesting post.
Whilst actually making physical objects is somewhat of a rarity for myself, I feed my mind a continuous stream of inspiration in the field. I’m an avid fan of the likes of Adam Savage and his YouTube channel, I spend hours watching people of his ilk creating wonderful artefacts in their workshops. Watching channels like Inheritance Machining, Maker B, or Kris Harbour Natural Building gives me much pleasure in seeing things being made, and on occasion, as I have mentioned, I’ll make something myself.
I have worked as a curriculum technician for the past five or so years, and during my working hours I am afforded the opportunity to sharpen my skills while aiding the students in the construction of their projects. Through this I have learnt much, built upon my odd skillset, and broadened my horizons a little. I have utilised what I have learnt in a couple of small personal projects of note in the past few years, and they have certainly whetted my appetite and made my passions for this kind of creativity a little more prominent. A couple of the objects that I have made (mostly since having access to the tools, specifically a laser cutter) and which have been somewhat successful have been a Scrabble set… because words are fun, some car hangers, because Mr Sparkle makes driving more enjoyable, and a drinks tray - because whisky needs a home. Nothing too complicated for the latter, just a plywood base with some pine edges, but in making this I became addicted to the smell of linseed oil, which now sits in my list of top ten smells, or it would if I had such a list…
I also created a set of lightsabers… of course. I think if a lightsaber is a right of passage for a force user, it’s also a right of passage for a maker. This was my first big go at making a kit using a laser cutter as a base. I made two variants for myself at the time, plus one additional hilt for the birth of my friend’s first child. He is into Star Wars more than I, and I can only imagine the the gift will eventually be used to force his love of the series onto his children.
It has been my most recent build however, that has been my most engaging. A few weeks back I was wondering what to get my dad for his birthday, and I was struggling to think of anything else other than the usual book, whisky, biscuits, and Lego combo. It struck me then that, as I had the means, I could probably make him something. Around the time I was born, my parents moved, taking up residence in a lovely, albeit severely in need of maintenance terraced house. When you move into a building that is already about 100 years old, things are bound to need updating, but this place has been a constant refurbishing project for my parents. In order to complete the work that laid ahead, my dad needed tools, and just as people need houses, tools need sheds, so my dad took it upon himself to build his own. Over the years, this shed became a second home in our garden, a place to sit in the sun, to listen to music or a sports match on the radio, to talk, to think and ponder, to read, to rest, to make, to eat, drink, and be merry. The shed housed the tools, but it also ended up housing us through countless summers - more akin to a summer house than a shed. So, as this wooden structure meant, and still means so much, I thought, as wood is my preferred medium for such things, that I would make a little replica in honour of my dad’s creativity and skill, and in honour of the structure itself, which holds many memories for our family, and still provides summer shelter to my parents.
As it was a surprise and only having a few days to make it, I had to rely on a single photo of the shed for reference, meaning that some inaccuracies were inevitable, I also based some of it on my memories of the structure and its ephemera, so it isn’t quite a replica of the thing from a certain time, more like an idealised version. Anyway, I began by drawing up the basic structure in CAD, and cutting the initial parts out of 2mm ply using a laser cutter. Once I had these, I got set up in front of the telly and began gluing, cutting, staining, and assembling the pieces, improvising a little as I went.
Once the main structure was complete, I decided that more detail was required. I had initially only intended to create the shell, but things were progressing quicker than I had expected, and so I decided to create as many objects as I could to fill the interior and to decorate the exterior. I made a lawnmower, stepladder, cabinet, telly, paint cans, spare lumber, a tool chest, shovel, fork, chairs, newspaper, table, exterior store cupboards, shelves, a watering can, and planters, all of which have been present in or around the shed at some point in its history. I also ordered a micro LED kit from a little site called Small Scale Lights to add a little bit of magic.
After all the final touches were made, the little flowers added to the plant pots, and the base and plaque added, I housed the shed in a Perspex case and let out a sigh of relief as I finally finished just a day before my dad’s birthday.
So there we have it, some non game or photography related tosh. I don’t know whether there will be more of these, depends if I get crafty any time soon. In the meantime, if you’ve made anything cool, or have any recommendations for YouTube channels that show off more of the kind of stuff I mentioned at the start, I’d love to hear about it!
And as always, thank you for reading. If you’d like to support the blog, you can do so over on Patreon, or by subscribing and sharing!