Warco supports Men’s Sheds movement

We were delighted and flattered to be contacted by a representative of the Men’s Sheds organisation, namely by David Downes-Powell, the Vice-Chairman of the Men’s Shed in Minster, near Ramsgate in Kent. The Minster Shed, fully up and running since the summer of 2022 is based in the outbuilding of the Bell Inn pub, which was decorated and fitted with workbenches thanks to grants from the local council and the village Co-Op.

Connection, conversation and creation – that’s what joining a Men’s Shed is all about. Men’s Sheds encourages local communities to come together to build, fix and restore both ‘projects, as well as themselves!’ It is a wonderful initiative with the aim of banishing loneliness and isolation, and the Warco team support it wholeheartedly.

The Shed began initially with woodworking projects, but were then excited to establish a metalworking shop. They had a lathe, stick and MIG welding facilities as well as a forge, but they needed a little more kit. That’s where we came in with our donation of a WM14b Milling Machine. This compact size mill was perfect for the Shed, with a belt drive system that provides exceptionally quiet operation and excellent accuracy levels.

Once the Warco mill arrived, the Minster Shed team set about building a stand for it, and installed electrics to their new metalwork room.

Their first project has been from one of their toolmakers, Ian, who wanted to embrace turning and milling, with a complex design of a plumb bob – see drawing below.

David says of the Shed and the current metalworking projects, “In all respects the Shed is going from strength to strength. The only problem with the Shed is that things progress with the speed of pitch through a funnel, as we only have two, three-hour sessions a week!”

Here we see the mill being used with a jig on the bed for precise drilling for a woodworker:

We look forward to hearing more from Minster Men’s Shed and sharing more about their metalwork projects.

For more information about Men's Sheds visit: menssheds.org.uk