On a drizzly Saturday afternoon, there's still a couple of blokes fiddling with their projects before heading to lunch at the Ballarat East Community Men's Shed.

They're enthusiastic though - most politely decline the opportunity to have their photo taken, concentrating more on what's in front of them.

It reminds you of walking into your grandfather's shed, and spotting all the strange odds and ends.

In the metal workshop, there's a rocket-shaped wood heater sitting next to ten thousand almost-finished projects, most of which will be refurbished and sold to keep the shed open and help community projects.

The men are proud of the fact they fully own the premises, which also features a common areas decorated with portraits of long-time members.

They even held a 'mortgage burning' party to celebrate when they paid off the loan.

This week is Australian Men's Shed Week, highlighting the contributions the initiatives make to their members' health and wellbeing, and for the wider community.

Here in Ballarat, there's the Wendouree and Sebastopol sheds, as well as the monster Ballarat East sheds.

As well as the tinkering and finely-crafted wooden toys, the shed's a vital place for isolated men in the community to share a meal and some stories, and find others with common interests.

That's a lifesaver, according to Ian Humphrey - he said he found himself homeless for a time, but was looked after by mates he'd found at the shed.

"If it hadn't been for the guys at the shed - my car was parked in Main Road, and they kept an eye on that, they were going to move it up here," he said.

"Because they'd known me and they knew I was out there somewhere, there was 50, 100 eyes trying to find me.

"That was my road back to recovery, and that's what everyone does here."

Committee member Paul Tims said it was a place for blokes who found themselves alone and uncertain to reconnect with people.

"It's somewhere to come and you can use some of your old trades, or hand them on to other people, or learn new things," he said.

"We've got tradesmen from all walks of life, and an ex-fighter pilot - there's stories and stories they can tell you."

Just getting out of the house was a big step for Mr Humphrey when he first came to the house almost 10 years ago.

"10am is smoko, so you come in here for smoko and the noise has gone from zero to 100, everybody's into each other's stuff, always asking how'd that go," he said, smiling.

"The thing is, you've got that devil on your shoulder urging you forward - there's no pressure, and there's someone just taking an interest in what you're doing.

"You don't get the walls at home sitting by yourself, whereas here it's in your face."

Both men said the shared Thursday lunch was a highlight, with guys reaching out to each other and forming strong bonds - Mr Humphrey said it was like being in the military, creating a fraternity of sorts.

RELATED STORY: Sebastopol Men's Shed build on the starting block

"It's an organic organisation, and the guys that come are retired and it fulfils their inner needs, whether it's chopping a bit of wood, or going out to pick up something from somewhere," he said.

"The man hours, it could be a million bucks in salary expense, but they're all volunteers who do it for nothing."

Mr Tims said the next focus, now the premises was paid off, was to get more money and projects back into the community, through selling woodwork and metalwork projects and refurbishing items.

The shed, on Eureka Street in Ballarat East, is open every day except Fridays and Sundays - drop in for a cuppa.

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