Letter of the MONTH

Dear Greg,

Recently, my grandfather passed away. He was an avid reader of Popular Mechanics in the 1950s and ’60s.

When I was introduced to your magazine 15 years ago when I was a teenager, I was passed down wellread copies of The Shed by my pops. I must say they were pretty tatty by the time they got to me. He used to say [that] it’s good learning for you and the knowledge you will pick up will take you through life. Pops used to say it [that] will challenge you but also inspire your thinking.

Over the years of reading The Shed I’ve been amazed by the diversity of content that shows the creativity that lies in New Zealand. I’ve shown friends from overseas who can’t believe [that] we have so many skills for such a small population.

I really like reading your My Shed articles with my daughter, especially the unusual car collections, and would encourage anyone who’s got a vehicle in their shed to have a go restoring it. Keep up the good work.

Yours sincerely,

Jack McCormick

(via email)

Thanks for your email, Jack. It is just great for us to hear how long The Shed has been a part of your family’s life and we continue to deliver. Much appreciated, thank you. The Shed team

Dear Sir,

I am a little disappointed in your recent article on Lichtenberg wood burners [Issue No. 80].

Along with the majority of your readers, I had no idea of the process and had to read to the end of the article to get a sketchy outline of the way it works.

Also, in the article and in the followup Dead Man’s Switch [panel], there are references to positive and negative wires — no, no, it is phase and neutral!! Ken Buckley

(via email)

Thanks for your email, Ken, sorry to hear of your disappointment with that article. Many of our team of writers are sheddies just like our readers and often the articles they write are them learning and discovering shed tasks as they go. We hope readers got enough inspiration and good advice to give this process a go for themselves. Ed.

You’re quite correct … this slipped past the proofreaders who have been booked into Specsavers. The terms ‘active’ and ‘live’ are also permissible, and when marked on a connector are often simply P and N. The article presented some concerns over safety and the focus was more on ensuring that it was safe to build and use. We’re grateful that our readers are diligent and, more important, safe. Mark Beckett, The Shed electronics specialist