Worthys Community Shed started out with just three members meeting each week in a Scout Hall. That was in September 2017, but we didn’t really get going until we were able to construct our own Shed / Workshop. We managed to purchase (for next to nothing) a sturdy Shed that had been used for a Fruit and Veg business within the car park of a local pub. That building was dismantled and rebuilt in a plank by plank and screw by screw operation during the hot summer of 2018.
We obtained grant money from local Councils and the Royal Voluntary Service & Asda Foundation Fund, which assisted with groundworks and equipment. In October 2018 we had our official opening, with attendance from Winchester’s Deputy Mayor.
We now have a small but committed band of ten core members, plus other supporters. Our motto is “we make, we mend, we repair, we restore.”
We’ve helped a local school with shed repairs; we’ve installed a concrete base for a village recycling scheme; we’ve built hedgehog houses, boot-pullers, and planters. We’ve mended chairs, a barometer and even an umbrella.
We now have two qualified PAT testers so we are able to carry out simple electrical repairs.
Our motto is “we make, we mend, we repair, we restore”.
We’ve helped a local school with shed repairs; we’ve installed a concrete base for a village recycling scheme; we’ve built hedgehog houses, boot-pullers, planters. We’ve mended chairs, a barometer and even an umbrella.
We’re based in the village of Kings Worthy, near Winchester, Hants, meeting on Thursday afternoons, and we are always eager to welcome new members.
Shedders Rise to the Challenge:
Folk from Worthys Community Shed have stepped up to the challenge to make a clock.
The SBS Clockworks Challenge is a friendly competitive team project involving Men’s Sheds, alongside similar groups from the UK (mostly Kent and Hampshire), France, Belgium and the Netherlands.
Step By Step (SBS) is a Council initiative promoting men’s health and well-being. The challenge was to “make the best clock possible” with at least four members co-operatively involved, the team had just a few weeks to design and make our Clock before the July 30thdeadline.
The first pic shows the carved head, made from Yew. The head rotates once per hour (on the hour facing forward) the carving alone is approximately 30cm high and has a lot of detail including the odd surprise in the detail as it rotates!
The yew wood came from a local source and the year it was cut was on the log so from that and the annual rings we estimate the timber is approximately 120 years old.
This can be important in trying to match timber, it will be better seasoned and the moisture content is more stable and less likely to split, bow or twist when working the timber, also the heartwood may change in colour.
The second pic is the driving mech for the head (which weighs in at 3.5lbs). The mech is electrically driven from a rechargeable battery and made primarily from Meccano components. The head rotation, up to a point, can be changed to make the head rotate faster or slower depending on personal taste – eg; once each half-hour etc.
The primary drive source is a 6-volt motor with a built-in planetary gearbox system with an output shaft speed of three revolutions a minute. This was further reduced to the required head rotation using Meccano gears to once per hour.
One issue we had to overcome was the weight of the head, it is relatively heavy, so all drive components had to be able to cope with the weight and stress in turning the head.
The last pic is the Yew wood support column, with a cutout section to house the pendulum. The column backing behind the pendulum bit is purple heart veneer, which can again be easily changed to suit personal tastes (we tried loads of colour and styles, but thought this was the best overall). The pendulum is a monkey’s fist made in purple paracord; the colour and the knot were chosen to represent the scout group where the Kings Worthy Community Shed is located.
The box housing the clock face is made from white English oak complete with dovetail corner joints.
The whole clock stands at approximately 1m high and is battery operated – Andrew Maundrell Worthys Chairman