Woodwork, Wood turning and Metalwork
Woodworking is very popular at IDMS due to the wide range of excellent facilities, machines and materials available. Members are encouraged to undertake their own projects using Shed resources. Additionally, there Is always a list of manufacture, repair and refurbishment tasks requested by individual local customers. These include garden benches, bird boxes, bird tables, ornaments, planters, furniture and trophies to name but a few. We also take on projects for the local community and council. So there is a wide variety of projects to both exercise existing skills and to develop new ones for which training is provided.
Similar to woodworking, metalwork and engineering projects are also worked on at IDMS.
The Picture Gallery gives a selection of pictures about our facilities, activities, projects and community involvement.
Model making and crafts
Some of the members enjoy the facilities available for model making, laser cutting, laser engraving and 3D printing and are able to discuss and share experience and knowledge on how to tackle different projects. Existing members have many years of model building experience including, boats, ships, aircraft and railways.
Ships are popular models built at IDMS. Ship and boat models are mostly built from purchased kits and assembled very much in the same way as as the real thing, with frames and planks. A recent large model completed in the shed was of HMS Victory. Shedders had many satisfying hours working on this one.
Model railways are also popular with some of the members.
3D printing
IDMS have two 3D printers – SeeMeCNC Rostock Max V2 model and a Creality Ender 3 v2 model. Drawings in 2D are created using DraftIt software and 3D drawings are created using FreeCAD software. Cura software is used to generate the gCode files for driving the 3D printers.3D printing
Laser cutting/engraving
A Creality Falcon 2 Pro 22W laser cutter and engraver is available for a variety of projects, mainly using basswood up to 5mm thickness although much thicker woods can be engraved. Lightburn software is used to create the files needed for the laser cutting and engraving.
Interest groups – Music group, Art group, Book group
The Music Group meets every Monday from 4pm to 6pm in the Craft room or the Social area.
The Art Group meets every Thursday from 2pm to 4pm.
The Book Group meets on a regular basis.
Allotments and Community Farm
The Allotments and Community Farm is located at Old Port Road. There is a polytunnel where members of the public can lease small plots within the facility. There are 24 allotment areas, each measuring 20 by 20 metre plots and again these can be leased. There is a garden shed which is used as a social area, a toilet and a small car park with a barrier installed.