At the Dural Mens Shed we encourage the blokes to follow their dream and this can come in many different forms. Some have now learnt welding and others learnt how to turn some lovely lathe woodwork, or create great metalwork on the plasma cutter. One great dreamer is Colin Heald, and his dream from 72 years ago is to build from scratch a Hot-rod (Ford Roadster).
Colin’s dream began in 1953, when as a teenager doing a Technical College course in the city, he would stop at the newsagent at Central Station and grab the Hot-rod magazines. He was so obsessed with the Hot-Rods that he decided one day he was going to build one (not bad for a 15-year-old!!) Now retired, and with the facilities of the shed available, he made a start on the build in July last year.
Working consistently each week, Colin reckons he still has eighteen months work to finish it. Many parts are not available now and so he has had to use his vast experience in the trade to build “hands on”, so for example all the body panels will be hand built by Colin.
At the shed there is another member who is a Mustang fanatic and so he has supplied Colin with a Mustang engine for the Hot-Rod. Colin is shown proudly with his half-built Hot-Rod and the other photo shows what the finished product will look like.
The Dural Mens Shed has 150 members, and our main days of general operation are Thursday and Saturday from 9am till 2pm. There are particular activities on other days.
Mondays – there is a special woodturners day where the men can use one of our 12 lathes and there is an opportunity for trainees to be given guidance by some experienced woodturners.
On Wednesdays a group of 8 to 10 men from the local Warrah Home undertake basic timber work under the supervision of our men and each Friday during school terms we have 12 boys from Galston High School, who are taken through some trades, including welding, woodwork and electronics.
This gives them a taste of what to expect in the workforce and is under the guidance of about 12 of our experienced shed blokes. It is an intergenerational mentoring program which is enjoyed by both the men and boys and is highly regarded by the school and parents.
The shed is situated on the corner of Kenthurst Rd and Pellitt Lane as part of The Centre Complex. Contact email is [email protected] or visit the website @ www.thecentredural.org.au/dural-mens-shed/
