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how to... potter, productively in the shed.

The following admission probably marks me out to be extremely sad, but I’ve got to admit that when the newscaster on the radio read out the piece that said sheds are good for us, I let out a cheer. Luckily there was only me to hear it.

The gist of the news item was that pottering in a shed is good for the human psyche and an ideal way to relax. Apparently it provides thinking time and a different type of mental exercising from the working day, it also harks back to a simpler time when the connection between physical work and life was much closer. Of course, those of us who used to earn a living pottering in ‘sheds’ – albeit massive sheds with all sorts of ‘bloke toys’ like five head moulders – were already aware of the therapeutic effect of making something, anything, in a shed.

Let’s clear a thing or two up here right away. Pottering is different to working. If you set out to do some work, there’s a clear intent as to the tasks in hand and what needs to be achieved. Pottering on the other hand means you’re just in your own workspace and anything could happen.

It doesn’t have to be anything major that you make and it can be as simple as ‘making space’ to do something in, so long as it furthers the cause of your classic motorcycling experience. This ‘pottering’ can also be described as the little bits and pieces of jobs that, on their own, appear to be inconsequential but, when added up, take on a value far outweighing their own worth. Deep eh?

Surfacing

Well, let’s surface a bit and be a lot less deep. Take the other day for instance, the time had come to rearrange the container and shed. For a number of reasons the ‘I’ll stick it there for the time being’ phrase has been a common one in The Basement and it had got to the stage of ridiculousness, as I couldn’t move in the place. A couple of hours pottering about got some sense of order back in the place and a few other tasks could be prepared.

Our project Can-Am has come to the stage where the engine really needs to be stripped and checked over. It is after all going to be a prize in a competition and we need to make sure the engine is in prime condition before it is given away.

It was obvious that the crankcases needed repainting so, one quiet afternoon I pulled the whole engine apart. Not a huge task as it is only a two-stroke, then sent the cases off to CC Clean Carbs to be soda blasted and sonically cleaned. Back they came and ready for some form of painting. Thanks to a bit of forethought and pottering I’d prepared a few things to make the painting process go a bit easier.

I’m sure you are all aware of the problems caused by paint getting into threaded holes and engine mounting holes in cases. But, how to stop this happening? Okay, do you use a tube of gasket cement or instant gasket with a tapered nozzle? Ever forget to clean the nozzle out and end up with a long, solid piece of silicone after it’s gone off? Don’t throw it away, save it in the drawer and when you need to protect a hole during painting, press it in. I only had one or two left, they do wear out, so I set to and made a few more... it’s not difficult and while you’re waiting for one to dry, there’s ample opportunity to potter around and tidy up.

I had enough time to take six plastic boxes – those big ones that are about 2ft x 3ft x 18in – full of spares for various bikes and sort them into a large drawer, thus freeing up valuable shelf space... which will no doubt be filled with stuff soon. I still didn’t manage to make enough to do all the threaded holes for the case screws and some of the other holes are too big for this type of treatment. I’m thinking here of oil filler holes, the answer there is some twists of paper that expand in the holes. A little bit of pottering about found some ideal bits, originally instruction leaflets of things long gone. With the preparation done, thanks to some pottering about, it was a simple task to come along one evening and spray the cases a nice satin black.

Activity

While all this Can-Am activity has been going on, the BSA B40 that I attempt to ride trials on has been neglected but not forgotten. Knowing full well that it was time to do something about the alloy mudguards which had split, been repaired, split again and been repaired again, the answer was some smart, white Bultaco type guards and they’d need a set of new mudguard stays.

The easy way would be to buy a set of commercially available ones that look good and are close but, where’s the fun in that? I tried my Bultaco stays in place and found they’d need altering anyway. A pottering session produced the answer, when some scraps of steel and a short length of tube turned up after being kicked under the bench some time ago. A cutting of mdf was easily shaped into a former to bend the tube around, the angles for the flat plate mounting brackets were worked out on a sheet of paper... a large sheet.

Some gentle filing and hacksawing got the stays to the stage where someone is to weld them. This task is not one that I’ve any great ability at, nor any equipment to do it with, so I have to defer to other people but I’m happy with the work that I’ve done for this part of the project. The  point is, it’s a lot better than sitting watching the telly, not that there’s anything worth watching now Alex Jones has been kicked off Strictly... happy pottering.