Winterslow Men's Shed Charter:

Following on from recent enquiries from members of the public and to help you better understand the scope of work we undertake at Men's Shed, we would like to clarify the following:

We WILL:

• Advise you at the outset whether we are able to carry out the required repairs or not, the approximate likely cost of any materials needed for the work and the likely timescale required

• Contact you for approval before incurring any additional cost

• Complete the repairs to the best of our ability

• Take reasonable care to keep your article safe from damage whilst in our care

• Keep you informed via phone call or email of any changes to the timescale of repair

• Advise you if we are subsequently unable to carry out the required repair work

• Advise you via phone call or email when your article is ready for collection

We expect YOU to: 

• Advise us of any known defects not apparent from an initial visual inspection

• Collect your item from us within a reasonable timescale of us advising you that it is ready for collection

• Collect your item whether we have been able to carry out the required work or not

• Make a financial donation to Winterslow Men's Shed to at least cover the cost of any materials we had to purchase to carry out the repair

• 
  

We DO NOT:

• Take orders for construction of new projects

• Make house calls to discuss repair/refurbishing projects. Please bring your items to the Shed on a Thursday between 9.30am and noon.

Thank you for your understanding and for adhering to our Winterslow Men's Shed Charter!

Shedders In Action #2:

The best part of the Men's Shed is the mix of our members' backgrounds, personalities and skills. This variety leads to many different approaches to our projects. 

While we mostly spend our time repairing broken items or replacing parts, occasionally we get to build something from scratch. When we do, it's fascinating to see how each of us tackles the task.

Generally, Shedders fall into four broad categories:

1. The "Planner Who Never Builds": These plan so much that the project never gets started. Luckily, we don't have any of these!

2. The "End-to-End Planner": They document a full plan and get it done. This is a great trait that many of us at WMS have.

3. The "Iterative Builder": They plan a bit, do a bit, and repeat until the project is finished. This is also a fantastic approach we see often.

4. The "Improviser": They make it up as they go along, getting the job done after a few deviations. This isn't a bad way to work, and it's a category the author probably fits into.

So, when a local school donated some pallets and asked us to build a mud kitchen, volunteers were quick to step up.

Breaking down pallets is surprisingly difficult and requires a lot of physical effort. Since our customers are children, it was crucial to remove all the rusty nails and make sure there were no splinters. We used a thickness planer to shave a few millimeters off each side of the boards and then smoothed the edges with orbital sanders.

After a lot of discussion and some research into the average height of the target school children, we laid out the prepared pallet wood to ensure we had enough for the design. 

Although the two or three of us working on the project had a clear vision in our heads, we needed to create a shared 3D view that we could all agree on and build from.

In Part Two of this story, we will show you the 3D tool we used and the final design. 

For now, here is a look at the initial design, some photos of the pallet wood before and after preparation, and our trusty thickness planer—a real time saver. 

Shedders In Action #1:

Among the many things that draw us to the Winterslow Men’s Shed, fixing things and finding a great tool bargain are right up there.
So when one of us had a large garden bed to dig, the chance to pick up a non-running Qualcast petrol Rotavator for £30 was too good to pass up. All we knew was that it had been used last summer but now wouldn’t start.

The next day, with the new carb fitted and fresh petrol in the tank, the engine started on the second pull—progress!
But we had to quickly shut it down as the thick grey smoke pouring from the exhaust was in danger of triggering a visit from the fire brigade!

The most common causes of smoke from a 4-stroke engine (which uses engine oil for lubrication, unlike a 2-stroke that has oil mixed into the fuel) are either being laid on its side—allowing oil to seep into the air filter—or simply being overfilled with oil.
We suspected both were true in this case. The dipstick showed the oil level was too high, and there was oil around the engine and the air filter. So, the next steps were to clean the engine thoroughly—especially around the exhaust—and siphon off about half the oil from the crankcase.

We took the rotavator outside into the fresh air and fired it up again. Although it still produced some smoke at first, it quickly cleared. That final puff was just the leftover oil we hadn’t been able to clean.

And there we have it—a £250-ish rotavator saved from the scrap heap for under £50.  Time for tea and cake to celebrate!

What We Do:

Activities at the Shed comprise repairs, refurbishments and repurposing of mainly wood and electrical items. We also support village community projects such as creating owl boxes, Christmas trees....?

Tools 'Wishlist':

We have been fortunate to receive some generous donations of tools, both hand and power, materials and a couple of work benches, but more would be most welcome.

Training Sessions:

In the near future, we hope to run some training sessions on how to use various power tools safely and effectively, all held within a informal and friendly environment. 

Repair fees:

The Shed does not charge a fee for repairs or refurbishments items. We ask that a donation be made by the person who brought in the item, in order to cover at least the cost of materials used.

Payment can be made in cash or via bank transfer (unfortunately, we cannot accept cheques).