Projects

Here are a number of examples of projects people have completed at the Devonport Community Workshop

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Space Shuttle for Book Week at Bayswater Primary School

Thea de Malmanche, a Parent Helper at Bayswater Primary School (BPS) recently visited the Devonport Community Workshop (DCW) to get help with a special build project for Book Week at Bayswater Primary School. Book Week is an annual fundraising event, supported by Scholastic Books. It involves book sales, visits from guest authors and getting to dress up as your favourite book character.

The 2024 theme of book week was 'Space'. As part of this, the school's library was accessorised with space decorations and props, including a walk-in interactive space shuttle.
The Space Shuttle was designed and constructed by Thea from BPS and the team at DCW.

Thea had this to say about the project
"Thanks to the Devonport Community Workshop for assisting with this project. The deadline and quality of the final product would not have been possible without the hard work and expertise they contributed. The children were very happy with the result."
"Also special thanks to Lucie and Constance, for helping with decoraring the spaceship, as well as the wonderful team of mums who helped with decorating the library for bookweek."

Thea de Malmanche, Parent Helper at Bayswater Primary School.

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Michelle's Stained Glass Artwork

Michelle recently visited the Devonport Community Workshop (DCW) for help to create a timber frame for a stained glass artwork that she had made. Michelle made the artwork using German hand-blown glass and the colours are stunning. With a lot of help from Peter Monti they made a very strong and beautiful frame from cedar.

No stranger to DCW at the Claystore, Michelle has been working with the volunteers on projects, off and on for about 25 years and says “I have found the Claystore of tremendous value as a creative space. To me human beings need to make things, it’s very therapeutic to be creative in a manual way, but we are losing all these skills, they are being (unintentionally) lost and devalued.”

The volunteer team at DCW are committed to making sure crafts and skills are passed on through helping customers to learn as they tackle the many projects we see come through the door.
If you want to learn more about the Devonport Community Workshop head to our website at www.dcw.org.nz or pop in for a chat at 27 Lake Road, Devonport.

Michelle is a stained glass artist and grew up in and around Devonport. At the age of 17 she moved to the UK to study art and through her studies and work, has managed and constructed many large scale, site-specific stained glass works. To learn more about Michelle’s background and experience, visit her website at www.michelleandrou.com

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100th Rat Trap for Takarunga Hauraki Ecological Restoration Forum

A brilliant day picking up upcycled trapping tunnel #100 (held by Bruce Foggo in the middle) from Devonport Community Workshop (Claystore) along with 11 of its cohort for supply to eager Pest Free Stanley Point trapping volunteers this evening. Derek Wye, on the left, has crafted a precise tunnel building process and ironed out many kinks during the march to a century

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Chair restoration

Brett is working on a family project to revitalise this chair for his daughter. Lots of paint stripping by hand before repainting and handing over to his wife to make the new seat cushion.

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SpongeBob SquarePants sets

Who lives in a pineapple under the sea and became the hottest star on Broadway? Why, it's SpongeBob SquarePants!
Well done Peter Monti from the Devonport Community Workshop (@The Claystore) for helping the team at the Rose centre prepare sets for their SpongeBob SquarePants production this weekend.
As the photos show the set looks fantastic, and especially the items created by the team:
• the Chum Bucket
• Mt Humungous
• the Krusty Krab sign

Mike Eaglesome, General Manager at the Glass Ceiling Arts Collective had this to say.
"Hi Peter
Once again, thanks for your help with the set for Spongebob. It might not seem like a big job, but having you involved gave us the jig-along that we needed to get the sets built on time.
Please see the attached photos. I reckon the sets are the stars of the show. Amazing.
Of note: we have smoke and bubbles that spew out from the Mt Humungous volcano during the eruption."

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Sofa Legs

Recently we made eight taller sofa legs, plus stained and varnished them for an older couple that wanted their lounge furniture raised to make it easier for them to get in and out of.

A seemingly simple project that required seven of our stationary machine tools to complete: table saw, thicknesser, miter saw, band saw, drill press, disc sander and belt sander.

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Gate repair

Another project completed opens the "gate" for a Devonport Family.
The Devonport Community Workshop has just made a new latch for this gate as the kids were struggling with the old one.
We also modified the gate so the family dog couldn’t escape, gave it a new paint job and reinstalled it.
The whole family can use the gate easily now. This was a DCW collaborative project between Derek, Steven and Brett.

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Coffee Table restoration

Huge thanks to the Claystore aka Devonport Community Workshop for their help restoring my neglected coffee table. The team of experts led by Brett Marshall helped me bring it back to it's former glory in their workshop. Morning Tea coming your way on Monday - Thanks so much, so grateful!
Claire Warner