Mens Sheds

[kevinlightfoot]

I'm thinking of going along to my local Men's Shed,this would be at Blidworth Notts,do any of the members have experience of these places.I have a well equipped workshop myself but I am fairly new to the Notts area and I sometimes feel a little isolated working alone,the forum is great for chat but human contact with like minded folk would be even better for the mind and the soul methinks.What are your opinions?

 

[loftyhermes]

I'd say go and have a look, won't hurt anything. There's also one in Worksop and also the Hub in Huthwaite, not sure if that's along the same lines as men in sheds though.

 

[SVB]

Interested to know how you get / got on.

From the men shed website I wasn’t sure where the balance between woodwork and thearapy was. I was interested to go for the former but currently (fortunately) neither need or can offer the latter.

Simon

 

[kevinlightfoot]

Went along last week and looked promising,I wanted to go for my first session on Monday but suffering from man flu so it looks like next week now,will report after a couple of sessions ,regards Kevin.

 

[Sideways]

From personal experience - good places to go. The social element is rewarding.
It can provide access to pieces of equipment that not everyone has / can afford / has space for.
On the other hand, equipment is often secondhand and used by a diverse range of folk so its routinely out of adjustment, blades and cutters worn, etc.
You may need to spend some (a lot of) time fettling the gear before it is capable of doing anything near accurate work - maybe not even then.
I first went with idea of access to machines - e.g a miller and lathe - these days I go along regularly but mostly for the companionship strangely provided by irascible, opinionated old farts like me its amazing what skills and experience people have to share ...

 

[Freddyjersey2016]

I have been going to our local Shed for around 2 years, we have a regular group of about 12 blokes, a mix with different levels of woodworking skill nearly all retired. We now have two workshops in 20foot containers, with power / light and a range of mostly new hobby level woodworking machines (lathe, bandsaw, pillar drills, mitre saw...); lack of space is our main problem, we dont have the space for more kit. We have kitted out the workshops and now have a reserve in the bank; we make simple stuff to sell at local craft markets - welly racks, bird nesting boxes, bug hotels, trugs, raised planters which sell (disappointingly we find that turned stuff does not sell) We are trying some wall clocks at the moment. It is not Fine Woodworking magazine level stuff, but we have a social time, there is always time for some tea and cake before we go. As in a lot of bits of life, the only way Sheds will get better is go along and get involved, and pay some modest subs.
We want a larger Shed workshop, but in the area we are based, finding one we can afford is not going to be easy

 

[Steve Maskery]

I used to be involved with the Community Workshop at Ollerton. It's been around for 30-odd years, but is a similar idea. It was very helpful to me at a difficult time (even though I can well identify with Sideways' description of some of my colleagues!). I have no wish to return, but I do miss one or two of the other users.
Go along. You have nothing to lose and possibly much to gain.