Garnock Valley Men's Shed

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Garnock Valley Men's Shed ABOUT US: Garnock Valley Men's Shed (GVMS) is community group who helps support and enhance the wellb

We are pleased to announce the launch of our shop, on Saturday 17th October and is open from 10 am till 12.30Please call...
10/10/2026

We are pleased to announce the launch of our shop, on Saturday 17th October and is open from 10 am till 12.30

Please call in and browse

We make all sorts of items planters, bird boxes, pens, bowls, ornamental herons (garden ornaments) keyrings, Halloween pumpkin boxes,

We can also make things to order including walking sticks

All items are individually marked as suggested donation

Please note the Halloween pumpkin boxes are as photographed here, only six will be available on in the short term and will need to be ordered

The first 2 photos are a sick made by me of my spaniel with his retrieving dummyThe second 2 are of a first carved stick...
01/10/2026

The first 2 photos are a sick made by me of my spaniel with his retrieving dummy

The second 2 are of a first carved stick made by a member of his dog that has passed

12/09/2026

We had a stall at The Garnock Valley Carves event today

The whole event was well organised and such a great day for all the family

We have been to a number of these yearly events and I’m happy to say this years event was the biggest and best so far

Thanks to the organising team and all the volunteers who made this great day happen

A crook made by one of our members
01/08/2026

A crook made by one of our members

Today we had 2 visitors at the Shed Dot and Steve who commissioned Andrew one of our members to turn a very large piece ...
01/08/2026

Today we had 2 visitors at the Shed Dot and Steve who commissioned Andrew one of our members to turn a very large piece of Elm Burl into a bowl

He made a superb job of it as you can see by the smile on Dot’s face

This is Andrew presenting the bowl to Dot

29/07/2026

A video of the finished bowl

An absolutely fabulous bowl made by one of our members, this is a commission for his friend.The first picture shows the ...
29/07/2026

An absolutely fabulous bowl made by one of our members, this is a commission for his friend.
The first picture shows the raw material

The other photos are self explanatory

The final picture shows a pen which he also turned from material taken from the Reginald block of burr.

It was great to see the progress as it happened, a lot of work went into this beautiful work of art.

Well it’s done, from a lump of wood that was described as looking like a cow pat, to a beautiful hand turned bowl.Just g...
29/07/2026

Well it’s done, from a lump of wood that was described as looking like a cow pat, to a beautiful hand turned bowl.
Just getting it on the lathe was a challenge having to trim off excess (so not to waste any of this stunning piece of wood I used the trimmed piece to make the hand turned pen shown in the photos), all the loose bark was then picked off by hand revelling the burls true texture.
The turning of the outside commenced turning took a lot of time ensuring not to damage the natural texture of the burl.
You never know what is inside till you start turning, during turning a hole was exposed making the process even more challenging (the hole I think adds to the unique appearance along with the burl’s natural texture on the outside).
Once happy with the outside shape it was then sanded to 600 grit, sealed with 3 coats of cellulose sanding sealer (sanded to 1000 grit between coats & on completion of the last coat).
The face plate used for connecting the bowl to the lathe was transferred from (what would end up being the inside of the bowl) to the now finished outside of the bowl.
The hollowing out of the bowl again was challenging the shear amount of wood to be removed, the hole & various other voids required the process to be done slowly taking away small areas at a time.
Once the inside hollowing out was complete it was also sanded to 600 grit & finished in the same way as the outside (3 coats of sanding sealer sanded to 1000 grit between coats & after the final coat), 3 coats of acrylic lacquer were then applied to both the inside & outside of the bowl.
The entire bowl was then finished off with a burnishing cream & polished.
Thank you to Dot for entrusting me with the opportunity to turn a wonderful piece of wood into a beautiful work of art, a huge but enjoyable learning curve & if I say so myself a stunning end product.
Thanks to Garnock Valley Men’s Shed with their assistance during the entire process.

4 very nice barstools for sale, we would like a donation of approximately £100 for all four
20/06/2026

4 very nice barstools for sale, we would like a donation of approximately £100 for all four

Walking stick for sale commemorating the victory at El Alamein, yew top on ash, with paracord wrap£40
16/06/2026

Walking stick for sale commemorating the victory at El Alamein, yew top on ash, with paracord wrap

£40

Address

Ladysmith Road
Kilbirnie
KA256BH

Opening Hours

Tuesday 10am - 1pm
Wednesday 10am - 1pm
Thursday 10am - 1pm
Friday 6pm - 8pm
Saturday 10am - 1pm

Telephone

+447790641681

Website

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