New Plymouth Menz Shed

03/04/2026

12/03/2026

Sadly, the shed recently lost a top bloke and valued member.

Gary brought a great sense of humour, attention to detail, wealth of knowledge, and strong sense of community to the shed.

I'd like to share a sentiment expressed at his funeral, which was a great send off....tho far too soon...."If you're a bloke, and over a certain age, suck it up and get checked."

He will be missed.

31/12/2025

27/11/2025

As the project progressed Peter W persisted with the router in pine offcuts until he was satisfied with the results (producing a couple of nice serving platters along the way), and paused the project from time to time to help out with community projects.

The project itself generated a good bit of interest from other members as it took shape, and sparked a few ideas for others along the way.

Time and effort paid off with what is a stunning piece of furniture, unique and crafted from beginning to end. From milling the timber, design and glue up to inlays and finishing.

Top job.

26/11/2025

Over the past few months, a couple of the guys at the shed made some very nice and somewhat challenging furniture.

To highlight the effort that went into each piece, I thought I might as well as two part post on each one.

Peter W came in with an idea for a slab of Macrocarpa coffee table. Curved legs and all.
These took a bit of nutting out, various jigs were made, and some creative clamping employed.

A steep learning curve at times, an absolute pleasure to see not only the progress of the piece but seeing Peter turn an idea into a stunning piece of furniture....and learning every technique to make it along the way.

21/11/2025

If you get a chance to pop up to Pukeiti this weekend, it'll be well worth it. Two of the sheddies have entered this year. Wayne B, with a floating top hall table, and Peter W, with an artdeco inspired coffee table. Both pices they guys have made from milling to oiling, problem solving and learning a few new tricks along the way. All the best, and a great effort on both pieces of furniture.

18/11/2025

It's been a little while since I've managed to put up a post, too many hat to wear some times of the year. So I'll try and do a round up of some of the sheds goings on over the last few months.

Firstly a massive thank you to Harcourts New Plymouth for their generous donation towards lathe chisels, and bandsaw fence to enhance usage.

The sgarpening station is also getting good usage. Keeping no only new tools at their best, but giving old tools a new lease on life.

We now have three or four guys who are right up to speed of the sharpening station and with the use of this precision piece of kit, tools are able to be kept at optimum sharpness. This not only means that they work well and provide a desired result, but a shape tool is a much safer one.

20/10/2025

This morning we had the opportunity for the intermediate wood turners to pick the brains of our skilled turner. Peter F has been turning for many years and gave a few of members a demonstration on some of the finer point of bowl turning to help the guys elevate their work.

Hopefully others in the shed will be inspired to get the safe set-up of the lathe and start turning as well, which Pete and the other are keen to help out with.

At the end of the session, Pete gave us a bit of an impromptu chat about his other passion, NZ bird life. Which, while short, was fascinating and a subject he clearly has a great depth of knowledge for.

27/08/2025

Time for a little round up of things going on in the shed.
One or two of the guys are working in bigger project, so I'll save their progress for a more focused project post. On any given day there are little hits and bobs being done, small fundraising jobs and quick personal projects.

14/08/2025

Sheds like NPMS rely on the generosity of funding and grants providers to keep thing's going.

We recently recieved a substantial grant from ANZ Staff Foundation, for the purchase of a Wetstone tool sharpening system and an bandsaw. Both pieces of equipment will enable the NPMS to do more within the shed and for the non-profit organisation.

Having a dedicated sharpening station will no only mean sharper and therefore safer to use tools, but reduces ongoing costs associated with keeping tools at their best.

So a huge thank you to the members of the ANZ Staff Foundation ANZ Aotearoa for their generous contribution.

https://www.anz.com.au/newsroom/new-zealand/2025/07/new-plymouth-menzshed-helping-build-relationships/

(Please fell free to like, comment or share this post, the really does help get the word out there as to what we do...cheers)

06/08/2025

The months seem to fly by even in the middle of winter.

We now provide Gabby's Starlit HOPE 100 blocks (for stamp handles in their activity pack) each month. As August is already ticking along, today was the day to get them done.

A long standing community project that everyone in the shed gets stuck into when needed and have a good natter while doing it.

01/08/2025

Unfortunately the shed will be closed on Mondays until further notice. We hope that this will be a temporary time change. Fortunately we have capacity on the remaining days to accommodate current members.