The Nepean Men’s Shed Newsle�er No: 67 issued 22/11/2017 Page No 1

SHED MEN AT WORK

In their Community

SHOULDER TO SHOULDER NEWSLETTER OF THE NEPEAN MEN’S SHED INC.

No:67 - Issued 22/11/ 2017

Shed and Postal Address 18 Simeon Rd. Orchard Hills. NSW 2748

Email: admin@nepeanshed.org

Web: www.nepeanshed.org

SHED Meeting Times: 9am to 2pm every Monday, Wednesday & Friday except

Public Holidays.

SHED PATRON Stuart Ayres MP for Penrith, Minister for Western Sydney, Minister for WestConnex, Minister for Sport.

COMMITTEE President: Tony Hudson 4751 4726 Vice President: Eoin Milne 0415 687 718 Secretary: Bob Maynard 0411 247 886

Treasurer : Denis Clunie: 4739 1935 Committee: Paul James 0427 284 355

Ken Garbutt 0412 603 936

Henk Hamersma 0424 917 465

Public Officer : Bob Maynard 0411 247 886

Web Master & Editor of Newsletter : eMail:admin@nepeanshed.org

Tuesday 16th November, an outing was arranged to the Zoo. John, Henk, Chris, Wayne and his wife Maureen, got the Blue Mountains Train to Wynyard then bus to the Zoo. A few highlights, saw gorillas being feed and baby gorilla hanging to mother. The eagles and owls area is excellent. We got a ferry return to Circular Quay, train to Central, then a Blue mountains that only stopped twice to Penrith. An excellent day was had by all and we only lost Henk.

SIGs

Many Sheds have SIGs, but despite the number of members of the

Nepean Men’s Shed, we don’t. So what is a SIG? It certainly isn’t a

Scientific Investigative Gathering or a Shed Insurrectionist Gang it is

in fact a Special Interest Group. These are groups of members within

a shed who share a passion or interest in a particular topic, hobby or

outlet. Other Sheds have SIGs such as musicians who form a band, or

songsters who form a choir, or enthusiasts who fly model planes. In a

way we do have a SIG and that is those who use Room 3 to pursue

their interest in model transport however it is not a structured group

that have regular Room 3 time, plans or discourses.

So we are asking members to talk to one another to see if there are any

common interests amongst yourselves so that SIGs can be formed. For

instance are there many ukulele players, photographers, electronic

gurus or even budding Morris dancers within the shed membership?

The idea being that members who have special interests form groups

and meet within the shed (or maybe elsewhere) on occasional shed

days or even on non-shed days. The number and variations for SIGs

are limitless so have a think about it, chat to others and then raise the

issue with the committee as funding for your group may be available.

If any member or members have an idea for a SIG then please see Bob.

The Nepean Men’s Shed Newsle�er No: 67 issued 22/11/2017 Page No 2

Check Out These SitesCheck Out These SitesCheck Out These SitesCheck Out These Sites

http://mensshed.org/

https://

www.beyondblue.org.au/

http://www.49.com.au/

https://www.menshealth.com.au/

http://malehealth.org.au/

Check out these two sites.

You could be surprised at what your

local council has on.

https://www.visitpenrith.com.au/Whats-On/

http://bluemountainscitytourism.com.au/whats-on/

Dates for the Calendar

26/10/17 Bunnings North Penrith BBQ Team A

02/11/17 Bunnings North Penrith BBQ Team B

09/11/17 Bunnings North Penrith BBQ Team C

16/11/17 Bunnings North Penrith BBQ Team D

23/11/17 Bunnings North Penrith BBQ Team A

30/11/17 Bunnings North Penrith BBQ Team B

07/12/17 Bunnings North Penrith BBQ Team C

14/12/17 Bunnings North Penrith BBQ Team D

NMS at the Penrith CBD Corporation Tree Lighting Event –

17th November 2017

The Shed was invited to have a stall by the Penrith CBD Corporation at its annual Christmas Tree Lighting event which was held during the evening of 17th November 2017. A market type stall was created and the organisers had kindly provided us with a free double space enabling us to

have a 6 metre long by 3 metre wide area in which to tout our goods. Due to the larger than normal market stall space we were able to show case some of the bigger shed wares such as the wishing well (made by Kevin) , a bird box and the Mynah bird trap. Many pyrographic items were sold and,

of course, all the small wooden toys were snapped up. Other items that were popular were the small round wine tables much sought after by Caravaner’s and the sauce holders in the shape of the seated picnic tables. About three reindeer were sold but of most surprise was the sale of the large wooden frog that has lived at the shed since early days.

Despite the threatened showers it proved to be a very successful night. Thanks go to Paul Mills, Paul James, Col Johnson, David and Ongley, Keith Sharples and ‘clerk of the court’ Richard Andrews. Bob. And thank you Penrith CBD for the opportunity to have the stall.

Men’s Shed Donates Props for Local education

The Nepean Men’s Shed Newsle�er No: 67 issued 22/11/2017 Page No 3

Supporters

www.penrithcity.nsw.gov.au

www.veolia.com/anz/

www.bunnings.com.au/stores/nsw/north-

penrith

www.pcsignage.com.au/

http://fashionfloors.luxaflex.com.au/

www.facebook.com/lenhookeplumbing/

www.flowerpower.com.au/stores/penrith/

www.facebook.com/GlenbrookButchery/

www.mriceman.com.au/

www.thewesties.com.au/markets/

www.coateshire.com.au/branch-finder/nsw/

sydney/erskine-park/

The first ever Zone 9 CLUSTER

MEETING

It took us 10 years to have our first Cluster Meeting but I can now safely say that the concept has been accepted with great enthusiasm by the sheds in Zone 9. The planning for the next meeting in March 2018 has already begun. Dural Shed has offered to host this meeting.

Nine sheds from Zone 9 (Attunga, Katoomba, Lower Mountains, Parramatta & District, Kenthurst, St Clair, Dural and Nepean) participated with 25 representatives in at-tendance.

The day started with a ‘not so brief’ tour of the Shed. The meeting finally got underway 10 minutes late (due to our visitors reluctance to leave the workshop) with an overview of “what’s happening in AMSA, followed by introductions and updates on what each shed is doing.

After ‘smoko’ the topic was “Shed issues” which proved to be very interesting. Topics ranged from Project Management, Mental Health Support’, fundraising, dealing with

prospective members/visitors with a mental health disability and their carers, Workcover, Invoicing v donation, and fairly much everything in between. The sharing of experiences on these matters was fantastic.

The next question to be addressed was “Where do we go from here”…….the enthusiastic response from attendees was that they wanted to continue with regular Cluster Meetings, 3-4 times a year, as the concept provides sheds with the opportunity to see how other sheds operate and to learn how they have dealt with common issues that confront sheds regularly.

One interesting point raised was the pro-spect of sheds working more closely together on projects/repairs. The example give was….a small shed that does wood work only to have access to welding, metal machining etc. Great possibilities with this one.

Thanks to Nepean Men’s Shed and particularly Terry, Denis, Tony, Derrick, Bob, and Paul (James) for their support and manning the BBQ and Paul (Mills), Joe and crew for cleaning the workshop the day before. Ron Langley

A short treatise on the finite art of collecting glass

cutters - a dissertation by Bob - or a tractate on

accumulating glaziers’ tools – a disquisition by

the same bloke

People ask me why do I collect glass cutters. The

answer is the same as the question why do people

climb Mount Everest. The answer being because

they are there (or it is there – depending on which

actual question was asked). However there is a

simple answer regarding the glass cutter question;

glass cutters are generally cheap, they are small and

no one else collects them.

Glass cutters can

often be found in

antique (?) shops at

the bottom of a

wooden box in the

far corner of the

smallest room in the

store and under all

the other unsaleable

donated items. A bit

of rummaging

around in the said

box amongst all the

other rusty old tools

will

occasionally find a

glass cutter. Then begins the haggling with the store

owner as to the financial worth of the tool. The shop

keeper or assistant believes that they are the most

sought after antique and will want to charge you a

fortune for the item, but generally a few dollars end

up being passed across the counter. A word of ad-

vice though is not to try and pay by credit card as the

card charge will probably be more than the tool

itself. Once, unwittingly, I paid $10 for a glass cut-

ter in a country antique shop but on another occa-

sion, when I

explained my curious hobby to the store man, he

disappeared and emerged five minutes later with a

specimen for which I paid $2.00. On another occa-

sion I had bought a $3.00 cutter and had left the

store and was sitting at nearby traffic lights in my

car when the panting store keeper knocked on my

side window and explained that he had the cover for

it and gave it to me just before the lights changed.

The cutters in my collection are varied and include

multi-wheel types, diamond tipped types and a Japa-

nese model which looks like a Stanley knife. Some

have cloth or leather covers but none have the in-

struction book with them! I have green ones, blue

ones and lots of red ones, some have wooden han-

dles but most of them have the flattened metal

thumb grips and many cutters have

different sized slots used for snapping the cut glass.

The simple common Red Devils are not all the same

as some were made in the USA, some in the UK and

some in Germany. Strangely I do not have an exam-

ple of a modern oil filled glass cutter.

Shed member Steve Cody must share my passion for

glass cutters too as he occasionally brings me one

and has been known to go cutter hunting. I encour-

age all fellow Shed members to follow Steve’s

enthusiasm and to add to the unusual accumulation.

Finally I

welcome all other Men’s Sheds to a challenge to see

if any can beat my collection.

My collection at the time of writing this article num-

bers 35 glass

cutters and is kept at the Shed. A private viewing

can be arranged if you ask politely.

The Nepean Men’s Shed Newsle�er No: 67 issued 22/11/2017 Page No 4

Cutting the driveway ready for concreting

Now the fence has been moved, it is time to do the next stage of the project.

We hired a saw to cut straight edge ready for con-

crete between driveway and retaining wall fence.

Also a cut at front door to install a pipe under-

ground for front garden watering.

Next we need to dig out excess dirt and rubble to

an even depth ready for

concrete.

Some reo will be cut and put in with spacers .

Then we can organise a day with volunteers to help place

the concreate when it arrives.

Supporters

www.pcs.nsw.edu.au/

http://pfdframing.com/

www.wsc.com.au

Rolanda_43@hotmail.com

www.herrmanntiles.net.au/

We are looking for sponsors.

Perhaps you could help us with

material, service and we would

even take money. The cost of

running this large shed is not

small and so any help is

appreciated.

This newsletter goes out to over

300 addresses.

of which over 200 are to other

organisations, council,

businesses and university.

Thank you.

Your Logo

could be

here

Wanted: Boat Holders

The Shed has been contacted again to provide volunteers to assist at the National Rowing Championships to

be held at the Sydney International Rowing Regatta in March 2018.

Earlier this year a group of shedders assisted at the 2017 rowing championships as boat holders and all

enjoyed the experience. Boat holders are responsible, as the name suggests, for holding the rowing boats in

position until the starter’s hooter is sounded. Also the pontoons on which the holders lie (yes it is a lying

down job) have to be occasionally positioned depending upon the boat’s length. This part of the job is fairly

easy but can’t be done lying down – shame.

The advantages of volunteering for this activity are: a). you get to work with fellow shed mates; b). you get

a free volunteer shirt; c). you get food and drinks provided; d). you get to lie down on the job and e). the

Shed gets a donation. The disadvantage is that you may have to miss a Shed day or two (Monday and

Wednesday) during the week of March 19th-25th. However all in all it is a bit of fun and not too onerous.

So I am seeking 12 or more volunteers from shed members to assist at the rowing regatta. If you are

interested please see Bob.