You don't need to know what you want to do. You just need to know you want to do something.
Here's what's on offer at the shed — every tool, every project, every space. Pick one, try it, or try all of them.
The Workshop
Where most blokes end up
This is the main room. Big workbenches. Timber everywhere. Sawdust on a good day. It's where you'll find the majority of the shed on any given morning.
What you can do
- Timber work — furniture, boxes, repairs, restorations, toys, planters, whatever you want to build
- Metalwork and welding — we've got gear, and blokes who know how to use it
- Building — we've built a 1920s Atkinson Steam Truck and a quarter-scale Allchin Traction Engine. Bring us something broken, we'll get it going
- Repairs and maintenance — your own projects welcome, within reason
- Learning the basics — we'll show you how to use every tool safely, from a hand plane to a bandsaw
Tools and equipment
Our workshop is fully equipped for both woodwork and metalwork. Members have access to table saws, bandsaws, wood and metal lathes, drill presses, welders, planer/thicknesser, disc and belt sanders, a central dust extraction system, and a comprehensive range of quality hand and power tools.
When
There's nearly always someone about, but if you're coming down for the first time, make it a Monday, Tuesday or Thursday morning, 7:00am to 11:30am.
The Art & Craft Studio
It's not just about nail guns and wood varnish.
We opened the Art & Craft Studio in March 2019 and it's been going strong ever since. It's a lighter, quieter space for blokes who want to make things that don't involve a saw.
What's on
- Painting — oils, acrylics, watercolour
- Drawing and sketching
- Craft and mixed media
- Leather work
- Whatever else a bloke with a creative streak wants to have a crack at
When
Art studio — Wednesdays, 9:00am to 2:00pm. Craft studio (incl. leather work) — Mondays & Thursdays, 8:00am to 11:30am. Come once, come every week, come when you feel like it.
The Garden (and the Chooks)
For blokes who'd rather be outside
We've got a working garden — not decorative, productive. It's where the potted plants and herbs we sell in the Shed Shop are grown. There's also a chicken coop. You'd be surprised how many blokes turn up to feed chooks.
What you can do
- Potting and propagating for the Shed Shop
- Maintaining the garden beds, paths, structures
- Looking after the chooks
- Eating the occasional tomato off the vine and pretending it didn't happen
Community Projects
Real builds for the real community
A big part of what we do is build things for the neighbourhood. This is where the shed earns its stripes — not just as a place for blokes to hang out, but as a workshop that gives something back.
Recent and ongoing projects
- Street libraries — including our signature big London-red phone box designs, plus smaller versions for front yards. You've probably walked past one
- Native beehives — built, sold, and installed across Brisbane backyards
- Possum nesting boxes — form-ply, built to last, sold to locals
- Building of the 1920s Atkinson Steam Truck (2022–23)
- The quarter-scale Allchin Traction Engine build (2020–21)
- Planters, gates, park benches, repairs — wherever the council, a school, or a neighbour has asked for a hand
Come with an idea. If you've got a project you want to build — for yourself, for your grandkids, for your neighbourhood — bring it to us. If it's a good one, half the shed will want a piece of it.
The Social Side
We don't just work — we talk, eat, listen and learn
- Smoko break — daily, around the kettle. Mandatory.
- Shared lunches, occasional BBQs, the odd field trip.
- Newsletters four times a year so you know what's coming up.
Seen enough? Come see it in person.
Photos and words only get you so far. The shed makes sense the moment you walk in — the noise, the smell of sawdust, the kettle whistling, blokes laughing at something stupid. There's nearly always someone about, but if you're coming down for the first time, make it a Monday, Tuesday or Thursday morning, 7:00am to 11:30am.