San Remo shed arrives

The San Remo Community Men's Shed arrived today. It was unloaded into the fenced enclosure.

The build phase of the shed will begin on 24th November with three ment taking one week to erect the shed.

The San Remo crew can hardly wait, with plans already underway on how to fit it out, machines already collected and waiting in storage. This shed should hit the ground running.

Sorted Stuff

Alan Eaton and a crew of fine men have spent many hours sorting bottling, boxing and labelling many thousands of items for the Kincumber Men's Shed Store.

Here you see the outcome of their efforts. Neatly arranged, sorted and labeled boxes and plastic containers filled with the myriad items that it takes to complete the jobs that come our way.

The effort is much appreciated and it certainly assists productivity to be able to find that right screw, bolt, nut or fastener just when its needed.

Well done !!!

but has all that collection in the suitcase been finished?

Toy troubles

If the "Toy Team" create any more toys and models the Kincumber Mens Shed will be looking like Santa's Workshop before Christmas this year.

The "wee" houses are easy to knock together and paint up but we are not sure that the market research has been done on the viability of wooden toys for young folk in this day of high tech and high gloss products.

There have been production line difficulties in the "Road Train" toys as standards have not been rigorously applied in the design and cut out of the couplings, the height of the bogies or the size of the wheels.

Never fear though the team led by Jack Nixon, Len Johnston, Frank Nicholson and all the toy crew are working through the problems and getting this process back on track .... pretty soon now KMS will be looking for ISO 9000 accreditation .... well maybe not!

At least there will be toys for The Shed to donate for gift hampers to be distributed at Christmas this year.

Horsing about

Yet another trojan .. oops I mean wooden horse has invaded the Kincumber Stables ... I mean Mens shed.

Maybe tis the buildup for the Melbourne Cup, as this time last year the horses were also in the mainstream of shed restoration work and some new horses created for the Our Lady of Loreto Garden Melbourne Cup.

For some previous horse posts have a look here...

1. finished products
2. horse invasion
3. hamlyn terrace cup
   

Real Sheds doing Real Things

Kincumber Men's Shed was abuzz with the news that the shed had won an award.

There it is sitting on the sign-in book in front of the shed this morning. For those who either can't read the photo or haven't seen the award .. the etching in the glass award says ..

Central Coast Community Congress
Real People Doing Real Things
Community Building Awards

Voluntary Group/Organisation Award

Presented to Kincumber Men's Shed
sponsored by Housing NSW 2008.

Peter Jessop and Kim Hopkins were also acknowledged in these award ceremonies held at the Terrigal Surf Club last Thursday evening. Despite the inclement weather both Peter and Kim turned up to accept a Certificate of Nomination in the Category of Individual in a Voluntary Capacity.

As the Certificate of Nomination for the Shed says.... Community Building is about people from the community, including individuals, groups, government organisations and businesses taking steps to find solutions to issues within their own communities using the strengths and assets of the community.

Peter, Kim and all the men of the Kincumber Men's Shed extend their thanks to those that nominated them for inclusion in these awards.

Its not the shed that won this award, its the combined efforts of every individual man that turns up and does his part in making the Kincumber Men's Shed a welcoming community of Real Men doing Real Things.

and the award goes to ....

Here are the nominees for the Voluntary Group/Organisation award at the Central Coast Community Congress Community Building Headway Awards. The event was held upstairs at the Terrigal Surf Club on a night of wind and rain. Conditions were even worse due to roadworks by council and the resurfacing of the adjacent car park.

Undaunted, the nominees for this category all turned up and received recognition of their nomination with a certificate and a hand shake from Debbie Coleman newly appointed to the Department of Housing Central Coast Community Development team.

Both Peter and Kim were on bended knee in supplication to win the award.... and were successful. It was gratifying to receive the award on behalf of Kincumber Mens Shed and all the good work done by the team of "shedders". Quite the applause from the gathered crowd acknowledging all the fine work by the Kincumber Men's Shed.

Separately, Peter and Kim were also nominated for individual award for an Individual in a Voluntary Capacity. They were even accompanied by Stretch Ross on this occasion, our friendly concreter from the shed. None of the chaps won this award which was taken out by Yvonne Lamont of the WoW girls.

Food and drinks flowed freely until all were brave enough to venture into the inclement weather and travel homeward.

Further photos of nominees and award winners can be found here.

Friendly Fridays

For those members that just cannot spend enough time at the shed, there is now Friday Morning.

Having completed the sound proof lining of the shed compliant to the council requirements, the Shed can open for six days a week. The toolbox meeting has decided to open for one extra day. For those members who are keen, there are now three opportunities to gather at the Kincumber Men's Shed: Monday, Wednesday & Friday.

For those men that had commitments other days there is another opportunity to turn up and enjoy the cameraderie of the shed, get started on that weekend project or get some advice on how to DIY.

Kincumber Men's Shed

now open

Friday

Gosford Forum for Men

There were 8 present at OMi NSW Mens Forum
at Gosford on 15th October 2008.

Thanks to Kim and Keith.

Alf sent an apology from Albury, John from Central Coast and Kevin from Bligh Park plus others. Keith presented a copy of the minutes of the National Body Steering Committee
meeting of the Australasian Mens Health Forum held at Freemantle W.A. On 5th August. Also lists of contacts. Kim spoke about Mens Sheds progress and handed copies of the contacts in the Central Coast Sheds, Hunter Sheds and Central
Coast Groups together with Hunter Groups.


Present were Keith, Eddy,Don, Jim and Kim also present is Jim,Doug and Ralph at the Gosford RSL Club attending the Forum For Men where it got underway at about 11am with a fair lot of bussiness to discuss and wrapping up about 1pm for lunch and departing the Club 45 minutes later to go our respective ways.

It was a very enlightening experence .

Doug Wakefield

OMNi Tamworth

Travelling Saw

The crew from San Remo Community Men's Shed were keen to secure the table saw generously donated by the Kincumber Men's Shed.

Ralph brought along his trailer and loaded up at Kincumber with the help the Kincumber Table Saw Loading Brigade. Firmly secured with a few "truckies hitches" the table saw and compound mitre saw wended up beside the lake to storage for the San Remo shed.

The San Remo Table Saw Unloading Brigade , that included Ralph, Kim and Lloyd ably supervised by George were on hand to offload. Transferred without a hitch ... now if we could just get that shed erected all this generously donated equipment could be put to good use.

No escape

This Sun story was an excellent opportunity to promote the shed.

Excellent job by the chaps who spoke with Laurie Maher and the reporters from the Sun newspaper.

It was unfortunate that in an endeavour to lighten the story, it was focussed on men escaping from home lives. Unfortunate because the men that come to the shed are not about escape at all.. they are there to improve their lives, work for the community and build valuable relationships with other men.

Most women, especially partners of the 'shedders' are more than happy that their menfolk have found productive ways to spend their time, found other men with a common interest and become a part of a team that is building a valuable resource in and for the local community.

We all know that there is no escape at the shed... definitely more jobs to do here than at home but the cameraderie of our peers teaches us, encourages us and supports our lives as men valued within the shed and the community.

Gate Installation

Graham installing the gate that he made from materials in his own workshop. The gate was made for a newly arrived resident at Nautical Village. Due to health reasons he was unable to do the job himself or easily find someone else commercially to undertake such a small job, he spoke to Don, a neighbour in the Village. Don discussed the matter with Graham & there we are, a new gate installed ready to be painted by owner.

Story and photo courtesy Don House

Car boot sale

Charles selling his wares & handicraft objects at the Uniting Church Car Boot sale.

Weather a bit of a problem as he had to occasionally retreat back into the Shed. Despite conditions sale was reasonably successful. He was ably assisted by fellow members who were present on the morning.

One spectacular sale was one nail for which a grateful stallholder donated 35c.

Photos and story
courtesy of Don House

Table Saw upgrade

The new table saw arrived today. The old table saw certainly saw a great deal of work. Fortunately, with sufficient funds in the bank the Toolbox meeting took the decision to upgrade. The new saw will allow for more accurate cutting and much safer operation.

The arrival of the new Major Woodworking Table Saw with welcoming Commitee and subsequently in position waiting for Bob the Electrican to wire up.

Also received delivery of a mini woodturning lathe to be used for demonstration purposes at fairs etc. Also very good for beginners to become familiar with wood turning tools with safety.

Mynah review

Sue Turner of the Benevolent Society dropped by the shed this morning. John is seen here showing her how the Mynah Bird traps operate.

Sue is active in community development in the area around Erina and Green Point she has some opportunities that might help residents in those areas and can see that the shed can be a component in these developments.

Luggable Lecturn

The local Lions Club have a need for a lecturn. Their list of requirements for this particular piece of equipment included ....

1. easy to assemble
2. light to carry
3. one person operation
4. fit in a normal car
5. structurally sound in use
   
6. presentable for formal occasions

The Kincumber Men's Shed accepted the job according to the designs developed by the Lions Club and have built the "Transportable Lecturn". It is of course much lighter then the one build for the Kincumber Neighbourhood Centre but functional for the clubs requirements.

Its all in the detail

Not only did Kincumber Men's Shed receive the very useful and generous donation of the dual framing saws there were materials to accompany. As seen in this photo rich framing materials the catch the eye and engage the hand are just what the men of the shed enjoy. It lifts the spirit to work, not only with good tools, but also with materials that are rich in texture and detail.

A big thank you to all our generous donors!!

Productivity Saws

Kincumber Men's Shed had purchased a new compound mitre saw. The new Ryobi saw stands ready for all the work the "shedders" can throw at it.

The saw has been mounted on a bench with raised side supports level with the saw surface to assist in ease of use when cutting, especially for repetitive jobs.

The old saw was donated to the San Remo Community Men's Shed who are most appreciative of donations to to kick start their workshop.

With all new equipment in the workshop, the Kincumber Mens Shed team are all geared up for increased productivity ... or more time at the Toolbox Meeting.

Engineered Wood

I had to ask what Alan Hagan was putting together with three tiers of wood with mysterious holes and carefully structured wooden rods for support.

Imagine my amazement when it turns out to be a pen holder. I am totally without imagination because I only ever use an old mug or tin to gather my writing instruments together.

This design comes from the rigorous mind of our resident engineer Peter Jessop who likes to keep his pens .. "just so". Any interest in further orders for the ultimate pen holder .. or is that the pen- ultimate holder... let Alan know you are in the market.

in total awe

Kim

Team KMS

The chair at the centre of all this activity is getting the full makeover treatment from the furniture renovation team at Kincumber Mens Shed

Charles, Phil, Frank and Les have all the skills needed to repair and recover almost any piece of furniture they are presented for a challenge. They will take it apart, resurface and rejoin or glue the components. Then they will restring or reupholster, repaint or repolish the finished chair and its not only as good as new, quite often its better than when it started out.

Good work team !!

Framing saw

Donations just seem to keep coming. This one is fortuitous for the production of the Hospital Art Frames. With two drop-saws offset at 45 degrees to the bed and both at 90 degrees to each other this setup makes it much quicker to produce the Hospital Art frames.

All set with some added framing material as well to make some fancy frames for shedders artwork.

Springfield Store

If you are driving by Springfield General Store stop in and say hello. Tom a regular "shedder" is often there as his wife runs the store.

The Springfield General Store is also looking for some of those excellent handicrafts and well crafted items that the shed produce for display or even to sell.