Below 265 SQ/FT Welcome to Purgatory: 3.6x3.4m (12x11') Workshop at my Parents' House in Australia

Theodulf · Mar 13, 2018

I tried writing up an explanation of why I have named the thread the way I have but I couldn't make it sound positive and I don't want to start the thread that way, so here are some pictures of my workspace instead.

It is a bedroom-sized room at the back of my parents' garage in Sydney. It was originally built as a study for my Mum, then it became my brother's bedroom when he was a teenager until he left home at 25 or 26, which was 5 years ago, then it became mine.

First, the East wall, which I consider to be the front of the workshop.

Second, the South wall with the door into the backyard.

Next, the West wall, which is a bit sparse, but has plans.

Last, the North wall, which also needs work, one day it will be getting two new cabinets to replace the dirty and rust infested Brownbuilt.

Theodulf · Mar 13, 2018

Now for the negative part I didn't want to put in the first post. It makes me sound like I hate the whole situation, but I don't really feel all that bad about it, I just can't explain it in a way that doesn't sound like it's all doom and gloom.

I am turning 26 this year, the same age at which my brother bought his house, but I am miles away from that goal and if I ever hope to achieve it in the first half of my life, I'm stuck living here with my parents for a long time in order to save the money to put a deposit on a house. Hence the name of this thread.

For context, I am going to be finishing my second degree in the second half of this year or the first half of next. I am going to be a High School teacher, of Design and Technology (shop class) and Visual Arts. My first degree was a Bachelor of Visual Arts majoring in Jewellery Design. I have somewhat moved on from there, but that is certainly not to say that it was a wasted 4 years.

Now I'm finishing a Masters of Teaching. In between the two degrees, I worked in a precious metal factory for a year and learned a lot there. Chances are I will get a job pretty quick smart after finishing, because teachers of Technology are in high demand, so that's a plus.

Theodulf · Mar 13, 2018

This is my ute (light pick up truck for non-Australian readers).

It is a 2012 Toyota Hilux (diesel/manual/2wd) that I bought in June 2016. It already had the aluminium tray with some of the accessories and that was the main factor influencing my choice. It had 140 000km on the odometer when I bought it and now has 165 000. I have been performing most of the servicing myself and have added a number of accessories, all on the uneven brick paving of the driveway.

Working on this ute has been a learning experience because I only developed interest in working on vehicles in my adult life and only really started doing it on this ute, which is my third car, the previous two were a Holden Vectra (POS) and a Corolla. I have self-taught myself to do all the work on this ute using the internet and service manuals etc. There is absolutely no one in my life who can teach me any of this, so I'm only progressing slowly towards being competent. Nonetheless, the only service work I have not done myself has been wheel balancing, diff oil and brake fluid. The most ambitious jobs I did myself were the timing belt and a flush and renewal of the cooling system.

I've included two images of the most ambitious load I've put on the ute, but I've carried all sorts of hilarious loads with it. I am a Medieval reenactor - a sharp eye may have seen armour and a partially disassembled helmet in my first post - the ute comes in very useful for my reenactment hobby/sport.

Accessories fitted by me:

Dual battery system (under bonnet)
Nudge bar with H-rack
1800 watt inverter (under passenger seat - powered by auxiliary battery)
Dawn vice in the tray
New Pioneer head unit and GME UHF CB radio
Curved mirror on rear ladder rack to help with reversing

Accessories I paid to have fitted:

Tonneau cover
Under tray tool boxes either side of rear wheels (using birthday and Christmas money)

What I'm working on adding now:

12v power sockets in the cab and the tray powered by the auxiliary battery
Work lights in the tray powered by the auxiliary battery

Theodulf · Mar 13, 2018

At the end of 2016, this is what the workshop looked like - a tragedy. That ex-dining table bench was cannibalised for the top of the bench that is under the window now.

Those cupboards on the South wall were still full of my brother's stuff from when it was his bedroom.

These photos were taken just before I started making the window bench with my Dad's help. My Dad has some basic carpentry knowledge learned from his Dad, who was a carpenter. I wish I knew my Grandpa, he would have had so much to teach me.

Theodulf · Mar 13, 2018

Building the window bench.

A sharp eye might notice that the Dawn machine vice it was built with here is not the same as the multi-jaw vice on it now (seen in the first post).

The other vice (the face vice) belonged to my Grandpa, it's an Australian made Carter vice with a quick release.

This bench is constructed almost entirely of reclaimed timber my Dad had picked up or saved over the years. The only new wood is the front and back "skirt" and the front jaw cover of the face vice.

Action shot of Dad in the first picture.

Bears Fan · Mar 13, 2018

Good start! I like how the bench turned out :thumbup:

Theodulf · Mar 13, 2018

Bears Fan said:
Good start! I like how the bench turned out

Thank you. Coming from one with a workspace as spectacular as yours, I consider that high praise. I have read your whole thread. I'm one of those "Long time lurker, first time posters."

rk_tek · Mar 13, 2018

I love the AC/DC sticker on the door sill by the power inverter. Looks like you have the ute pretty well kitted out for hauling a variety of loads. The shop space is shaping up nicely. Great job on the work bench.

Theodulf · Mar 13, 2018

rk_tek said:
I love the AC/DC sticker on the door sill by the power inverter. Looks like you have the ute pretty well kitted out for hauling a variety of loads. The shop space is shaping up nicely. Great job on the work bench.

Unfortunately the sticker started peeling very quickly off the uneven surface and is now only just clinging on. I might clean the gunk off the back and glue it down one day.

The ute is almost "complete," until I think of something new I want for it...

Re the workbench, thank you. That workbench was a good first go, but I'll be making another post about the bench on the South wall, which I like to think of as the "Beefcake Bench," because I consciously built it much sturdier than the first.

Theodulf · Mar 13, 2018

Building the Beefcake Bench.

I built this bench after the end of Semester 2 last year. As you can see, there is a bag of armour on the bottom shelf. The design required that it would hold that on the bottom and have more storage above, hence the cabinet and shelf. Dad only had to help a bit this time. He helped with some of the cutting because he's 40 years more familiar than I am with our handheld circular saw that belonged to Grandpa.

Like the window bench, this bench is also mostly reclaimed timber from my Dad's stash. The only new wood is the plywood on the back and the shelf. The top is made from the timber seen loaded on the ladder racks of my ute above. It took a long time to plane it! Most of the screws were taken out of this timber as well. It started as massive pallets, half the size of a container, which held sheets of steel. I picked it up for free. The original plan was to use more of this wood, but it was actually TOO thick for the frame of the bench...

I bought the red cabinet on top on special for about 40% off. I also picked it up the same day as the pallet wood, you can see it flat packed in a cardboard box in one of the pictures above, strapped to the tray of my ute. That was the last strap I had after strapping the wood to the roof.

The cabinet and shelf are attached to the the bench rather than the wall because my parents say I can't make any changes to the room itself, which is fair enough. It's their house.

In the photos,the work is going on in the main garage, where Mum's car is normally parked. The wall you can see behind the clamped top of the bench is the other side of the West wall of my workshop.

Theodulf · Mar 13, 2018

The big pair of metal shears on the Beefcake Bench was a score from my old work at the precious metal factory.

They weren't being used and I waited until our work won some award or something and we had a party to celebrate before I popped the question to the boss of whether I could have the shears. It also might have helped that he'd had two or three glasses of champagne by the time I asked him. The second photo is from when I first brought them home.

The reason it doesn't have its handle attached is because it would go through the ceiling by about a foot... I plan to buy a steel bar of the right dimensions and make a shorter handle for it. I'll also angle it forwards as much as I can, so it interferes with the left hand door of the cabinet as little as possible. I'm not just cutting the existing handle because it's not going to be on this bench or in this room for ever, that's why it's mounted to the bench with clamps. I also got a pretty good deal on those clamps... those are three of six 8" clamps I got for $40 at the annual tool sale of The Traditional Tools Group a couple of weeks ago.

The portrait photo worked this time... Why not in the last post?

Theodulf · Mar 15, 2018

A couple of the older tools in my workshop.

These three are all pre-adoption of metric, which was a gradual process in Australia, and all came from the same place. When my reenactment group bought all the leather in the deceased estate of two brothers who were shoemakers in central Sydney, as a big job lot, I got these, plus a 600mm linisher which I don't have anymore, all for $450. I also got a stack of free leather.

Unfortunately, the electronics on the grinder and the drill press are dodgy, the brothers installed hardwired extensions on the cables which are just cut and twisted into the original wires. I'm leaving them well alone until I can have an electrician fix them or learn enough to do them myself. It could be that it's not worth it, but I don't know enough to make that call. Any pointers?

In spite of dodgy looking electronics, both of them run beautifully.

The grinder is missing the tool rests and the end plate of one guard, but I like having a grinder that gives me full access to the wheel for some projects, so I've got the guard removed on one side for that and a wire wheel on the other, which doesn't need a tool rest.

The drill press has some issues too. As the reader might notice, one of the handles is missing. I can't get imperial all-thread to replace it with, unfortunately. One of the bolts that holds the sliding things (rams?) that support the motor has stripped the threads in the cast iron. I fixed the spring when I first got it and it works ok, but isn't 100%. In spite of all this, it does a great job. I can set the speed slow so that I can drill through stainless steel with ease and I have even used it to drill 8 holes through hardened stainless blade steel (420), when I was modifying a multitool.

I feel the need to point out that not one of the holes in the table was drilled by me. That was all done by the previous owners.

The vice is good but one of the screws holding the fixed jaw on is stuck. Now that I have replaced this vice with the multi-jaw vice on the window bench, I'm not sure what its future will bring.

1/2 Cup · Mar 15, 2018

Theodulf firstly G'day and I don't know how I have missed your thread. :headscrat

Nice work on the bench and I see you have the same taste in tool brands as me, namely Dawn, Sidchrome, Brobo and Waldown just to name a few. :thumbup:

Its great to have another Aussie on the forum.. :thumbup:

Cheers

Theodulf · Mar 15, 2018

1/2 Cup said:
Theodulf firstly G'day and I don't know how I have missed your thread.

Nice work on the bench and I see you have the same taste in tool brands as me, namely Dawn, Sidchrome, Brobo and Waldown just to name a few.

Its great to have another Aussie on the forum..

Cheers

Thank you 1/2 Cup. It's good to know that I'm welcome. :thumbup:

Before ever posting myself, I read large chunks, though not all, of your thread and I have been quite impressed.

Would you believe that I got this Brobo 200mm grinder for $200? It's an ex-school one, which was used very little. It's got the switch on the side of the tower which can be locked in the off position with a padlock and a slap switch for the main off switch. Since going to various schools for prac teaching myself, I have seen others that are the same model.

I got it from a welder who came a couple of times to mend the furnace at my old job at the precious metal factory. He offered it to my boss, to sell to the factory, but we didn't need it, so I jumped on it.

cros13 · Mar 16, 2018

Theodulf said:
I am turning 26 this year, the same age at which my brother bought his house, but I am miles away from that goal and if I ever hope to achieve it in the first half of my life, I'm stuck living here with my parents for a long time in order to save the money to put a deposit on a house. Hence the name of this thread.

Don't feel bad bud. ALOT of us are in your situation.

Most people forget to realize that Sydney is the 3rd or 4th most expensive city in the world to live in.

I had a deposit ready for a house, around 80k saved, and was looking at buying my first home, but soon realized with my wife studying and on 1 wage only we couldn't afford to live and pay a mortgage.

My work mate was doing it, working 12 hour days, and weekends just to keep his head above water on one income. He had no social life, he never bought anything for himself, no toys, no treats, nothing.

I saw how miserable it made him, and said i never want to end up like that.

Talked to my wife, and decided to use that 80k and build an attached granny flat on the back of my fathers house. The house was small, 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom. I added 2 more bedrooms, a second lounge room, separate entrance and a new bathroom. Its now essentially a Duplex, but without a kitchen. We "moved in" 4 years ago and so far It allowed us to save and pay cash for our wedding, have a 2 month honeymoon, and allowed me to build my dream shed in the backyard. (check out my thread!!!)

Now we are saving for a investment property.

At times i thought to myself "geez I'm 31 and 'still living at home', but just the situation many Gen Y'ers are facing living in Sydney.

My brother in law is 35 and still living with my inlaws, and quite a few of "the boys" at work who are in their mid 30's, all with families, have inlaws living with them too or vice versa.

And funnily enough, the work mate of mine who is struggling to keep afloat, told me "you know what, some of the other guys might "snicker" at you for "living at home" but your the smart one. You can still have your toys, you can go home at 2pm and spend time with your family, you have no stress and your debt free.

Don't feel bad about your brother. I recently was reading that the price of houses has risen 45% in Sydney in the last 5 years.... The average house price here is now 1.2 million and the average wage is what, 70-80k per year?

But enough about that rant....

Garage space looks great, work benches look great!

Looking forward to more updates!

Theodulf · Mar 16, 2018

cros13 said:
Don't feel bad bud. ALOT of us are in your situation.

Most people forget to realize that Sydney is the 3rd or 4th most expensive city in the world to live in.

Yeah, you're certainly right. I'm hoping to move away in order to own my own home, probably a bigger and better one than anything I could even hope to rent in Sydney.

cros13 said:
Talked to my wife, and decided to use that 80k and build an attached granny flat on the back of my fathers house. The house was small, 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom. I added 2 more bedrooms, a second lounge room, separate entrance and a new bathroom. Its now essentially a Duplex, but without a kitchen. We "moved in" 4 years ago and so far It allowed us to save and pay cash for our wedding, have a 2 month honeymoon, and allowed me to build my dream shed in the backyard. (check out my thread!!!)

I have read your thread cover to cover. Very impressive! More recently, I've been watching some of your Youtube videos.

I may not have read as closely as I thought, though, because I never realised you were at your Dad's house...

Before building the new garage, how did you swing the deal by which you got sole use of the existing garage?

cros13 said:
Don't feel bad about your brother. I recently was reading that the price of houses has risen 45% in Sydney in the last 5 years.... The average house price here is now 1.2 million and the average wage is what, 70-80k per year?

My brother was lucky, he bought when it was beginning to look grim, but before it turned really bad. However, his house is in one of those new neighbourhoods where all the houses are the same and it's built really flimsy. He only lives 4km away, so I still get to see him regularly.

At my old job at the precious metal factory, I was getting less than 40K and people who had been there for 10 years were only getting about $1 per hour more than me... Guess why I went back to Uni? The annoying part was that in every other way, it was a great job.

Thanks for the words of encouragement. More posts are on their way, including one about a project!

Theodulf · Mar 16, 2018

This is my welder.

A guy in my reenactment group who makes armour needed help picking up some high performance steel that he can heat treat (harden and temper) for high end armour that resists getting dented from our full contact fighting style. I helped him do so with my ute and he very generously gave me this MIG welder in exchange, because he has now got a TIG welder.

He tells me that one can now get a welder that is smaller and lighter than this, but would have to spend mega bucks to get one which is meaningfully better from a functional perspective.

It is fully functional, he did however recommend that the hose on the gun be replaced, but says it can still be used as is. I'm yet to be able to afford gas or safety equipment with which to use it, unfortunately.

I have however thoroughly cleaned it. Some of the pictures below are taken part way through the cleaning process, so the contrast between the clean and dirty surfaces can be fully appreciated. The first image is when I first brought it home last year and the workshop is in a bit of a different layout which I have since changed.

1/2 Cup · Mar 16, 2018

Theodulf great score with the welder. :thumbup:

Theodulf · Mar 17, 2018

Some might appreciate this. This is what I made for my Honours year studying Visual Arts with a Jewellery Design Major.

It's a crown, the pressed metal technique is a revival of an ancient technique called pressblech, which was used on warriors' helmets in Germanic societies in the Dark Ages. The Sutton Hoo Helmet is one of them. The plaques are silver. It's actually a very clever way of using what looks like a lot of precious metal, but really isn't, because they're very thin.

My inspiration came from the myth of the Wild Hunt and these helmets had arguably the first depiction of the Wild Hunt. The Wild Hunt is a recurring theme in Myths and Legends across different cultures, ghostly or otherworldly hunters whose appearance spells doom.

I created a modernised version of the Wild Hunt and took inspiration from things like Ghostrider and Mad Max as well as ancient Myths and Legends (this was in 2014, before the release of Fury Road). The accompanying Research Paper I wrote is quite an exciting read in spite of sounding boring because it's called a "Research Paper."

The title of the artwork is "King Herla II" after a leader of a British version of the Wild Hunt, King Herla.

The engine and gearbox I pulled to bits for the clutch plate that's part of the base was a learning experience. Before I began, I didn't know what parts I wanted to use, just that I wanted the base to be made with car parts. It was bought from a wrecker, it came out of a Nissan Micra and was seized up with gunky dried up oil.

OOBER · Mar 17, 2018

Good score on the welder. If he gave you the gun that goes with it, try to look up parts for it. The guns usually have a replaceable internal metal liner that the MIG wire travels through and is much cheaper than replacing the entire assembly. I did mine a couple of years ago. They run <$20 US.

I like your setup with the ute. Looks like it has everything you need to get some work done!

Theodulf · Mar 17, 2018

OOBER said:
Good score on the welder. If he gave you the gun that goes with it, try to look up parts for it. The guns usually have a replaceable internal metal liner that the MIG wire travels through and is much cheaper than replacing the entire assembly. I did mine a couple of years ago. They run <$20 US.

I like your setup with the ute. Looks like it has everything you need to get some work done!

Thank you for that tip. If I can get the part, is it not too complicated to replace it myself? And yes, I have got the original gun and hose but it's not in my pictures.

Thanks for the compliment about my ute. I've just popped over for a quick look at your thread and the truck you built looks like it can handle some serious business too. I think I need to read your thread in full. Looks interesting.

ChevyEFI · Mar 17, 2018

Really like the Ute.

Question for you please. Are the double fold down hand boxes like yours still available new?

Theodulf · Mar 17, 2018

ChevyEFI said:
Really like the Ute.

Question for you please. Are the double fold down hand boxes like yours still available new?

Thanks for the props on the ute. :thumbup:

The "organiser" in the image is a Stanley:

http://www.stanleytools.com.au/products/detail/STORAGE/Tool+Organizers/Stanley+Double+Sided+Organisers

I got it as one of the gifts from people who came to my 21st birthday but I've recently given it away to another friend. A quick Google reveals the same one is still available new in a couple of places here in Australia, but prices seem unreasonably high for a plastic toolbox.

There's one on Ebay for $85 AUD, another website has it for $52.

JohnDoeRSA · Mar 17, 2018

Purgatory

hehe

I like where this is going, we all have to start somewhere but I too started in my parents garage... slowly acquiring tools to learn with and recently got my house with a garage...

Keep up the great work, it should like you have a good plan, all thats needed is time... for everything to fall into place... so all the best of luck, let us know how your journey goes...

Theodulf · Mar 17, 2018

JohnDoeRSA said:
Purgatory hehe

I like where this is going, we all have to start somewhere but I too started in my parents garage... slowly acquiring tools to learn with and recently got my house with a garage...

Keep up the great work, it should like you have a good plan, all thats needed is time... for everything to fall into place... so all the best of luck, let us know how your journey goes...

Thank you for the words of encouragement.

I have seen your thread. I'm envious of all your space. Good stuff!

cros13 · Mar 17, 2018

Theodulf said:
I may not have read as closely as I thought, though, because I never realized you were at your Dad's house...

Before building the new garage, how did you swing the deal by which you got sole use of the existing garage?

I never really mentioned it, but I guess you can say its half half now right? I've pumped ALOT of my own cash into the place in the last 10 years, the extension being the major one.

My old boy is pretty laid back, he had his car in the garage, and i told him i was going to boot him out to make room for a rusty old Datsun :lol:

He said as long as i build him a carport to shelter his car he didn't care, so i had to work quite hard for that pristine spot!

Theodulf said:
Yeah, you're certainly right. I'm hoping to move away in order to own my own home, probably a bigger and better one than anything I could even hope to rent in Sydney.

Trust me, we have considered moving too. But its extremely hard for both of us as we are so family oriented. My old boy is 82, getting on in the years now so I'd like to be near by to care for him when he needs help.

I had a workmate get a transfer to the Brisbane branch. He is on the same wage and got a brand new house for half the price of one he had here. He essentially halved his mortgage.

Its extremely hard for me as i want a decent plot of land so i can have another (MUCH BIGGER!!!) shed! And the crazy thing, by bigger, im only talking something like 700sq Meters... that's the insane part, I'm not asking for much at all!.

I literally cant find a single thing in Sydney that fits that only criteria in my price range. Anything in a new development is between 600-800k JUST FOR LAND...... and that's still around Penrith, or worse, even further out near Warragamba, both over one hour from the CBD.

4 years ago a workmate purchased in a new development during a stage 2 release near Orchid Hills, He was able to secure a 950sqm block for 350k. He had to camp outside the sales office for 3 weeks to get his block as it was on a "first come first serve basis" He rotated out with his wife, his parents and his inlaws for 3 weeks, with someone sitting in the deck chair on the sales office porch at all times, as if you left, you lost your spot... and there was 3 people infront of him in the line. By the time it was only 1 week until release, there was about 20 people camping there, accounting for all the blocks being sold on that release, The day of the sale release, all the blocks were sold and accounted for 1 second after the lady flipped the open sign... i wish i was joking......And now a 700sqm block in that development is over 700k, in 4 years.....

It's actually extremely depressing.....

Rudi.

JohnDoeRSA · Mar 17, 2018

Theodulf said:
Thank you for the words of encouragement.

I have seen your thread. I'm envious of all your space. Good stuff!

Dont be, you will never have enough space :headscrat

.. I'm also envious of all the nice BIG garages on here.

Theodulf · Mar 17, 2018

cros13 said:
My old boy is pretty laid back, he had his car in the garage, and i told him i was going to boot him out to make room for a rusty old Datsun

He said as long as i build him a carport to shelter his car he didn't care, so i had to work quite hard for that pristine spot!

I bet it was worth it though!

cros13 said:
Its extremely hard for me as i want a decent plot of land so i can have another (MUCH BIGGER!!!) shed! And the crazy thing, by bigger, im only talking something like 700sq Meters... that's the insane part, I'm not asking for much at all!.

If only you could get a garage condo unit here, like what some North American members have on the forum. As far as I'm aware, we don't have anything like that. But even if you could, it would not only be away from home but you'd have to hack through Sydney traffic to get there and back.

Theodulf · Mar 17, 2018

JohnDoeRSA said:
Dont be, you will never have enough space .. I'm also envious of all the nice BIG garages on here.

That's the truth. One just has to keep organised in the space they've got and make the most of it.

Theodulf · Mar 17, 2018

I got this 30 litre air compressor for free!

I haven't used it all that much, but it comes in useful for blowing dust and **** out from inside something, that's what I did with the welder.

The only hose I have is a thick 10m one with no reel or anything, so it's inconvenient to take it out and use it, but that doesn't really matter because I don't use it often.

The big issue is that it walks along the floor from the vibrations it makes, right up until the point where it pulls its power plug out of the wall and stops running... I imagine some other members have had this problem too. Is there a thread I can read about solutions others might have come up with for the same problem?

1/2 Cup · Mar 18, 2018

Theodulf a free air compressor you are in real. :thumbup:

As for your vibration problem and the compressor walking away, try some soft rubber matting under the wheels and front mount in one piece.

Regards

Theodulf · Mar 18, 2018

1/2 Cup said:
Theodulf a free air compressor you are in real.

As for your vibration problem and the compressor walking away, try some soft rubber matting under the wheels and front mount in one piece.

Regards

I knew this crummy old camping sleeping mat would come in useful one day!

Thanks for the tip - it worked perfectly!

Now to cut it up so I can put the compressor in its proper home with it - the plan is to take out the second from the bottom shelf on the shelving unit in the North-West corner and put the compressor there.

1/2 Cup · Mar 18, 2018

Theodulf pleased that it did work well for you.. :thumbup:

Theodulf · Mar 18, 2018

Probably won't stay here forever, but it's good for now, I just can't read the dials.

Terrick down Under · Mar 19, 2018

Keep posting, I like how you are going. Our first house was $1250 per month, I only earned $1100 per month. It was very hard. And Sydney is very expensive.

hewey · Mar 19, 2018

Welcome Theodulf :beer:

Great to see another local on here. Your metal work with that pressed metal crown is awesome. And you've done a really good job organising a little workshop space really efficiently too - nice work.

The Sydney housing market is a killer. My brother moved out Bathurst way about 4 years ago and hasn't looked back. We bought in June in the blue mountains, better value and less busy, but we're lucky the commute works for us. You're doing the smart thing staying at home as long as you can and raising cash, much harder when you're paying market rent at the same time.

Looking forward to seeing what else you get up to :rocker:

Theodulf · Mar 19, 2018

Terrick down Under said:
Keep posting, I like how you are going. Our first house was $1250 per month, I only earned $1100 per month. It was very hard. And Sydney is very expensive.

Thanks for the words of encouragement. Once I get the last of the materials, I'll be making a post about building a new shield for reenactment combat.

hewey said:
Welcome Theodulf

Great to see another local on here. Your metal work with that pressed metal crown is awesome. And you've done a really good job organising a little workshop space really efficiently too - nice work.

The Sydney housing market is a killer. My brother moved out Bathurst way about 4 years ago and hasn't looked back. We bought in June in the blue mountains, better value and less busy, but we're lucky the commute works for us. You're doing the smart thing staying at home as long as you can and raising cash, much harder when you're paying market rent at the same time.

Looking forward to seeing what else you get up to

Thanks for looking in on my thread. I've read part of your thread too, the part that wasn't ruined by Photobucket.

Theodulf · Mar 20, 2018

Slowly, a bit at a time, I have been completing the rather unglamorous task of rounding the edges and deburring the holes in these scale armour plates. They are laser cut, so every edge is sharp.

I am taking my time with this project mostly because the helmet that will go with this armour is taking a long time to complete. Also, the other armour I'm using at the moment is doing its job just fine too.

The plates are made of hardened stainless spring steel. It is nigh impossible to come up with a better performing metal for armour. I bought them at $1USD per plate when I was working full time. There are about 300 plates in the finished armour and I have some spares because I bought 400.

When I first got them, I tried putting one plate in a tumble polisher at work as a test with the little green ceramic pyramid media in an attempt to round the edges and the inside edges of the holes. At the end of an 8.5 hour workday, there was absolutely no change whatsoever. The seller wasn't lying when he said they were hardened!

I decided to assemble them into armour regardless, but that turned out to be a mistake, the cord that laces the plates together was getting cut (by the edges of the holes in the plates) after only three fighter practices.

The armour that can be spied in post No. 1 is made from these. I'm not going to show a proper image of it in order to keep everyone in suspense.

It will all be rebuilt with newly smoothed plates.

Theodulf · Mar 20, 2018

I should probably write up an introduction to my reenactment group to give some context to my projects, so here goes.

I'm in the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA). The name was originally a joke. The group is worldwide, there are branches everywhere, and it has been around for just over 50 years.

People can wear costumes from whatever culture and period they like, pre 1600. We all have SCA names, a Medieval name that we can choose. Theodulf is not my real name, it's my SCA "persona's" name. In practice, these names become like nicknames and are often so entrenched in our friends' minds that they find it weird to call us by our real names even when we hang out outside of an SCA context. I'm most often called "Theo." My real name is David.

My persona is from Post-Roman Britain, in the period that gave rise to the King Arthur Legends. They were still copying a lot of their customs from the Romans long after they left, but my persona has some influences from invading Saxons as well. My armour and other equipment is a bit of a mixture of both cultures.

When we fight, which is the most important part of the SCA to me, we use wooden swords (and other weapons made of wood) and we have to hit one another with them hard enough that it would cut through armour if it were a real sword. We get lots of bruises, but we have very stringent armour requirements for all the squishy bits and all the crunchy bits.

For example: Helmets must be made of at least 1.6mm steel (16 gage in Imperial). In practice most fighters wear 2mm+ (14g). There must be half an inch of closed cell foam padding inside the helmet - no metal can ever touch the wearer's head - and a chinstrap which both prevents the helmet from coming off and prevents the front of the helmet from ever touching the wearer's face. The openings in a helmet must be <1" (measurements are Imperial because the SCA started in the USA) and our weapons are correspondingly required to be >1.25" so they can never go through a gap in a helmet.

This, and similar requirements for other vulnerable parts of the body, allows us to wail on one another hard. It's an awesome sport.

SCA fighting is unusual in that there are no judges. We rely on an honour system by which the fighter receiving a hit judges whether it is hard enough to count as "good." Fighters who do not take hits they ought to, though, are asking for trouble, because we train hard at this. I can, and other fighters can, turn the pain scale up to 11, 12, etc for our opponents if they decide 10 isn't hard enough.

Fighting isn't the only thing we do, we have feasts, with historical food, and we're all wearing period garb, we have camping events, at which we have people teaching classes on Historical arts and crafts, but they're generally on at the same time as fighting, so I don't get to do much of that. And we have a rich culture of partying. We have lots of songs we sing and stay up until the small hours of the morning at our camping events.

Here are some photos of me fighting. The silver (stainless) helm is the one that will match the armour I'm working on. I'm making a new chinstrap for it because it made my face bleed (pictured). I decided to refurbish it while I was at it. The black helmet is the one I'm using now.

Theodulf · Mar 21, 2018

Can any readers give me some advice on welding gloves? - For the welder I have posted about already, it is a MIG.

I went to two stores today and tried on every pair at each store. I went in knowing that gloves often have fingers too long for me, particularly my little finger.

I was impressed by the thickness and general tough feel of these two pairs, but both had pinkies too long, as I feared:

https://www.totaltools.com.au/31677-prochoice-pyromate-blue-heeler-welding-gloves-blue-and-gold-kevlar-kbw16e

https://sydneytools.com.au/uni-mig-umwg1-l-professional-series-welding-glove-large

I ended up buying this much cheaper, much thinner pair because they appeared to fit my pinky better:

https://www.totaltools.com.au/31675-prochoice-pyromate-black-jack-welding-gloves-bgw16

On closer examination once I got home, I discovered that it was an illusion. Because these gloves were thinner than the others, I was able to "shove" the little finger of the glove down over my little finger more effectively, giving the illusion that they fit better even though in reality, the little finger was still too long, like every other pair.

Now I'm wondering if I ought to have opted for one of the thicker, tougher pairs, in light of the fact that every glove seems to have a little finger that's too long. The thicker pairs also had softer linings, too.

Any words of advice?

Below 265 SQ/FT Welcome to Purgatory: 3.6x3.4m (12x11') Workshop at my Parents' House in Australia

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