Iain Millar – Page 4 – Pentlands Men's Shed

Author: Iain Millar
Retired IT project manager / IT manager Developer of the basic website for Pentlands Men’s Shed Keen dinghy sailor – sails a Laser dinghy and a Mirror dinghy at St Mary’s Loch Sailing Club Reluctant gardener Originally from Forfar – lived in Aberdeen for 24 years before moving back to the Edinburgh area

Talk on Health Screening

Posted on 07/10/202212/10/2022 by Iain Millar

Pentlands Men’s Shed members enjoyed an interesting and informative presentation from Kathryn Sinclair from NHS Lothian on the subject of Health Screening. This focused on the National screening programmes that are most relevant for men – specifically Bowel Cancer screening, and Abdominal Aortic Aneurism (AAA) screening. As well as being interesting in their own right, these topics triggered wider discussion about other health subjects that are important for Shed members.

The ethos of Men’s Shed is to improve men’s well-being, and by both raising awareness of important topics and getting men (who are often reticent about such things) talking about these in a safe and supportive environment, this talk was absolutely in line with what we are all about.

Community Chest – Dust Extraction Equipment

Posted on 19/09/202220/09/2022 by Iain Millar

Thanks to the Community Chest, who gave Pentlands Men’s Shed a donation to purchase dust extraction equipment to be used in and around the Shed. The equipment, consisting of two separate set-ups, includes high-performance HEPA filtration to protect members from working in dusty conditions which could be dangerous to health.

2022 Great Big Green Day

Posted on 19/09/202219/09/2022 by Iain Millar

A number of our members attended the Currie Great Big Green Day on Saturday 17 September 2022 to promote and raise awareness of the Shed. Several useful discussions were held, which may lead to future activities and presentations / talks to members, and the event was deemed a success.

Sawdust for oil spills

Posted on 06/09/202206/09/2022 by Iain Millar

I spilled some oil in my garage the other day and with nothing obvious to mop it up, I brushed some sawdust from the other side of the garage onto it. When I swept up the oil-soaked sawdust, the floor was amazingly clean.

Premises! The story in pictures.

Posted on 12/08/202217/01/2024 by Iain Millar

We obtained an old modular building to use as our new premises, and while it needed a lot of work, it was delivered to the site on 4 June 2021. With great excitement from all involved, it was swung into place by an expert truck / crane operator, and the real fun started as we refurbished it. This work remains ongoing however we are close to having a functional Shed workshop and meeting place.

Protect your extension leads

Posted on 01/07/202201/07/2022 by Iain Millar

A tip courtesy of Hugh: To deter people from stealing extension leads from campsites, gardens, etc, wrap a bit of electrical tape round them in a few places. This makes them look old and repaired – which makes them unattractive to most passers-by. Most people only want new ones or ones in good condition!

Currie Primary School Projects update

Posted on 11/06/202226/10/2022 by Iain Millar

The Covid Pandemic imposed a huge amount of delay but Pentlands Men’s Shed eventually delivered some long-awaited projects for Currie Primary School. The school provided some wonderful feedback for the work carried out, and you can see the finished results below:

Currie Playgroup Assistance

Posted on 10/06/202210/06/2022 by Iain Millar

Stewart went along to Currie Playgroup where he sorted a few things out, including removing sharp edges from a gate, fitting a new latch to another gate leading to the main road, and fitting replacement casters with brakes onto a cabinet / bookshelf to make it safer. Nice one Stewart!

Warm(er) hands while working

Posted on 10/12/202111/12/2021 by Iain Millar

If you suffer from cold hands while working, but find that gloves inhibit your ability to handle tools or materials, some manufacturers make fingerless gloves that may help. But these can be expensive, so what are the alternatives?

Sensory Wall & Finger Guards

Posted on 30/11/202101/12/2021 by Iain Millar

Stewart has made a “Sensory Wall” for a local playgroup. ‘What’s a Sensory Wall?’ I hear you ask. An excellent question! It’s a board with all sorts of items attached. These make sounds, have different textures, move in different ways, and are all intended to give the children something to stimulate their minds. You’ll see what it is in the photos below.

While at the playgroup, Stewart also fitted “finger guards” to some doors, to prevent a recurrence of a child getting fingers caught when a door was closed.