Progeny of the World's Most Beautiful Garden Shed

Garden Shed

When Cindy, her dad Lou and I built the World's Most Beautiful Garden Shed five years ago, there was a slight misunderstanding; when I went to buy the polycarbonate for the sides and doors of the shed, I initially bought clear polycarbonate.

However, it turned out that Cindy wanted an opaque polycarbonate because she didn't want anyone to be able to see into the shed from the street and see her garden tools.  So it was back to the store to buy more of it.  We couldn't return the material we had already bought because they had cut it for us.

So we've had a LOT of clear polycarbonate just sitting around for the last five years and no idea what to do with it.

That is, until we went to see the Butterflies of Malaysia exhibit at the Foellinger-Freimann Botanical Conservatory in Fort Wayne, Indiana last April.  While we were there, Cindy spotted a mini-greenhouse made from clear polycarbonate, just like the stuff we had left over.  Of course, that led to an "ah-ha" moment and a project added to the "to do" list.

Son of Garden Shed

However, as it turned out, I also needed to build a smaller container for the propane tank I use to make  flameworked glass beads.  Although the garage where I make the beads is detached from the house, it's not safe to keep propane tanks inside a structure.

So I enlisted Engineer Lou once again to help me devise a small box that would hold the tank but make it easily accessible when I need to hook it up to make beads.

Ease of use was an essential element, as was protection of the tank and especially the regulator from the weather, so we designed it to allow both the front side and the top to be hinged so that both pieces can be lifted at once to get the tank in and out when it needs to be refilled, or just lift the front to connect the hose when I just want to turn on the tank and work.

With the Propane Tank

That led to some creative work with the continuous hinges, but we did finally get it together and I think it's going to work just fine.

And--Preview of Coming Attractions-- Cindy's new mini-greenhouse is currently under construction and should be completed just before she's ready to start her tomato seedlings.