What do you wish you would have been told in school?

[jbburgoon]

I start a new year teaching 7th and 8th grade shop, Monday. I thought it might be interesting to hear what more "seasoned", hands on type folks wish they would have heard or been exposed to at a younger age. Include your profession, age, and your bits of wisdom. I would like to compose a list to share with my students.

Thanks, Jim Bob Burgoon

 

[Larry Marley]

Hi Jim,

It has been more than three decades since 7th grade, but I still picture my shop teacher explaining tool safety and what can happen.

I wish he also emphasized that wood moves, and how to plan for it.

 

[john lucas]

My shop teacher made us hand plane boards flat. We didn't have much instruction and I don't really know if the planes were tuned, it was too long ago. As novice woodworkers we didn't really have the skills to make accurate cuts. I think it would have been more useful to show us how to cut the board and then make it fit using the hand plane. This would have done 2 things. It would have taught you how to make things fit when you don't have the best of tools and it would have introduced the hand plane in an easier to use and control method.
I think learning to use hand tools is extremely important but it's difficult when they can watch Norm use every power tool in the world. They don't realize that it takes practice and sometimes higher quality tools to do the cuts really accurately. Teaching them how to sneak up on a cut with a chisel or plane is a good thing and that would allow for a lecture on sharpening and tuning these tools to make controlling them easier.
When I seriously got into woodworking I made everything with a jigsaw, router and hand plane. Cut it rough with the jigsaw or handsaw and true it up with either the plane or router. I made all the same joints with the router that I now make with the table saw. This allowed me to do woodworking in a small area. I didn't really have a "shop" until I was 40 and used part of the basement.
Of course since we are on a turning board I would never miss a chance to tell you the lathe is important. Projects on the lathe are quicker and don't take as much patience or wood in the beginning. It allows you to introduce people to sharpening, sanding and finishing, all with a limited space, materials, and time. It also allows you to teach form and discuss how turning can be a basis for expressing art.

 

[Ron Sardo]

In 7th grade I took metal shop class. The instructor was showing us how to weld. He was talking about safety and went to explain how we should be careful about loose clothing and make sure it is tucked in. Back in the 60s teachers had a thing against shirt tails hanging out.

As he was telling us this, his tie caught on fire. Being 7th graders, we thought that was the funniest thing in the world. We where in stitches. Even funnier was when one of the other students threw a bucket of water on him to douse the fire.

The class didn't stop laughing for a week.

I took from that class that no one can be too careful when it comes to safety, no matter how much we think we know.

 

[David Wilkins]

Honestly, I wish I had listened better, I was told what I should have done.
Regarding ww'ing, if they want to do it, they really only have to apply themselves and anything is possible.

 

[MichaelMouse]

1) Where the emergency power cutoff is located.
2) Where the throw zones of the various machines are located.
3) Why there are "wooden fingers" (pushsticks/featherboards) for a machine, and how to use them.
4) Where the shop rules were posted, and why they were the rules.

For instance, an automatic D for the day if someone turned on a machine unprotected while standing in the throw zone. Automatic E if someone else was in the zone. Other common infractions short of sword fighting cost one grade from the A they began with. Making gestures at another with tools was a trip to see the assistant principal.

I made a board in front of each section, beginning with the scrub and progressing through smooth, scribing and planing for thickness, squaring edges and making them parallel. Then we talked about the machines we had which performed all those operations. Sweaty business, but that way I only had to have one plane of each type at full fettle.

 

[Richard Baker]

In whatever area of endeavor, you must have the will to do the necessary work in order to succeed.

A simple example is to create a fine finish. Much (dreaded) sanding work may be required, checking for scratches, sometimes backing up one or two grits, and so forth to prepare for a good finish vs. a mediocre finish.

To learn to play a musical instrument well much practice (work) is required.

Perhaps not the best examples, but you get the idea.

 

[Keith Krebs]

I wish my old shop teacher had spent more time discussing the art aspect of woodworking. I also wish they had introduced me to the existance of woodworking clubs and organizations.

 

[loberg]

Two things come to mind. A book named "There's a reason it's called work." And paint the danger zones around blades, bits and other moving items. I did this in my shop for 4H and found it kept safety up front. Oh, if you don't have SawStop table saws call your insurance company (for the school) and explain to them it would be cheaper to buy the saw for your class than pay out for a missing finger. Our high school did and they have two of them and no multi $K settlements.

 

[Bill Turpin]

After a 42 year career as an industrial mechanic

I made my living having never had a shop class, it conflicted with band. This simple logic was taught for electrical troubleshooting. However this can be applied to other skills.

Using a volt meter, start with what you know you got. Go to where you don't have it. That is your trouble spot.

Corolliary: Start with what you don't have, work backwards until you find it. There is your trouble spot. This works with electricity, cars, fuels, water, air, etc. You would be surprised at how many tech school grads were never taught this!

 

[Charlie Knighton]

i wonder what else.....

i only took 1/2 year of shop, six weeks of different skills, just an overview, i took this in the sixies

a fellow turner, Terry Mitchell, and i went to see the shop teacher a while ago, his name is Chester Lane

he gave me a turning blank of oak, he stored it in a cardboard barrel
he said it had been cut about a year

that was the first piece of oak i ever turned, i called it 365 Amen
i wonder what else.....

 

[John Beaver]

What do I wish I had been taught earlier?


Patience...
And the importance of sharp tools.

 

[Barry Elder]

I wish that my shop teacher had arranged "demo" classes with different "experts" in different fields. Then our young brains would have been exposed to many different ideas instead of the limited ability of our little shop.

 

[idahohay]

I took a lot of shop and all I remember is the wood shop teacher demonstrating a kickback on the table saw (on purpose) and another demonstration on spontaneous combustion using linseed oil. I still have all my fingers and never burnt a place down with careless oily rags.

 

[Wipedout]

I have a 7th grader that started today and he is taking shop. Having worked with him the hardest part I think has been coming up with a plan - what do you want to build - what materials do you need - cut list etc.

He just wants to come out to the shop and build "something" It is hard getting it into his head to plan to build "something" make sense?

I teach the woodworking merit badge for our boy scout troop and what I learned as how important it is to mix the "lessons" with the "handson" it is a fine balance to make it fun

 

[MichaelMouse]

I have a 7th grader that started today and he is taking shop. Having worked with him the hardest part I think has been coming up with a plan - what do you want to build - what materials do you need - cut list etc.

He just wants to come out to the shop and build "something" It is hard getting it into his head to plan to build "something" make sense?

Of course it's hard. Kids don't plan, they react. With little knowledge of what's possible in, or necessary to make a project, they're further in the hole than we know. That's why "school projects" which teach basics are so important with middle-schoolers. The box is always first with me. Teaches square, parallel, some joinery and how to measure to allow for it. Second is the shelf. First turning was Shaker pegs into a shelf to make it a coat rack.

Shop class was where a lot of kids at our school learned fractions. Math class had passed them, but measuring half of 38 3/4" was as obscure to them as the Big Bang.

 

[AnnHerbst]

I wanted to do woodshop in middle school.

I'm a community college mathematics instructor, in my late 50's.
I wanted to take shop, but as a girl, of course could not.

My dad was not handy so I experimented in making things with his hammer, crosscut handsaw, slot screwdriver, screws, nails and found wood. I was good at taking things apart and as I got older (by necessity) putting them back together.

I got to turn once at a summer church school event. I ruined my father's big screw driver using it for a chisel to make a backpack frame. I was the one in my family that taught myself to sharpen my grandfather's axe to chop firewood when we went camping. I still have and use that axe. During the past 30 years, as an adult, I have taken many classes at hardwood lumber stores on how to use the tools I am compelled to collect.

In the past 18 years I have introduced 9 of my 13 nieces and nephews to woodworking and 6 of them to woodturning in summer activity visits. I want them to get to make things for themselves and others. That is what I wanted as a youth--to know how to make things and how to use tools properly. When I was young, through trial and error and reading books, that is what I was driven to learn.

Ann

 

[GeorgeH]

I'm retired law enforcement and 7th grade was so long ago, my only memory of working with wood was a napkin holder I made using a coping saw. What they didn't tell me (but I found out about mid way through 7th) is that there are more girls in cooking class than there are in wood shop. That delayed my making a transfer to cooking class by about six months. But I've got seven decades of life behind me and fifty of those with the LOML. I still cook, but I have only one regular girl in the kitchen.
Well, all that's true, but not really on point. I wish someone had spent a day talking about the connection between math and shop; as well as math and music. Perhaps it should have been obvious, but I didn't realize how much those classes helped my math grades until my freshman year in high school. When the other kids in geometry class couldn't understand the reason for spending time learning about geometric shapes and why anyone would ever need to know why those types of calculations could be useful in life, I understood because of what I had seen and worked with in shop.

 

[Jerry Rhoads]

Wow, there are a lot of good answers. I really like what John Lucas said about turning.

I am a carpenter by trade. But it rarely calls for any woodturning.

We had a very good shop teacher, however he did not teach us anything about the lathe. The only thing anyone done on the lathe was make a billclub.

I was in my mid twentys when I, with the help of an older carpenter built my first lathe. It latter became my first grinder, when I got a Crapsman mona-rail
lathe. But now it is buried somewhere, as I have aquired four quality lathes.

A good thing to teach is spend money on quality tools that you will use a lot.
For tool that you only use once in awhile, lower priced may do.

Have fun teaching!
Jerry

 

[Jerry Hall]

Mastery of any field, and what it takes:

- 90% perspiration and 10% inspiration
- 10,000 hours, plus or minus, of serious concentrated effort, often with the help of a master
- a life long commitment to excellence and improvement

Craft and shop can be the subject of the mastery, or a useful metaphor for whatever commitment the student ultimately undertakes.

 

[Brent@TurnRobust]

I recommend you try to instill the importance of taking time to do a thing well. That's hard in an era of video games and fast food.

I recall in 8th grade the project was a little shelving unit that hung on the wall, It had three shelves and a little drawer under the bottom shelf. I picked out some highly figured crotch grain walnut for the side boards (best boards in the stack, don't you know...) and when they went through the planer there was some pretty significant grain tear-out. I wanted to use the power sander, but my teacher insisted I start with 60 grit and a sanding block. I went through all the grits, finishing at 400.

I don't know how long it took, but that little unit still looks pretty good 37 years later. I know because when my Mom moved to the nursing home a few years ago and we sold her home and furnishings, that was one of the few household items that made the trip with her - after hanging in her kitchen since the first day I brought it home.

So, teach them "right" is more important than "fast".

Brent at Robust Tools

 

[Paul Bennett]

I would like to see more focus on woodturning. I think it could be offered as its own class. There is so much to learn about the subject. I would suggest contacting local turning groups for help. Members could take a class on specific areas ie. bowl turning, spindle turning, tool sharpening, turning green, the list goes on.

Turning would be a great hobby for life. Limited tool purchasing. All you really need is a lathe a few tools, bench grinder. You could turn pens in an apartment.

I think if you presented a good turning demonstration to your students you would be amazed at their interest.

 

[Dave Roller]

Here are a couple of quotes I have on my shop wall. I learned them as a small boy, and I still remember them at age, well, ....

I will study and prepare myself, and someday my chance will come.


What we do in our working hours determines what we have in the world. What we do in our play hours determines who we are in the world.

The first is from A. Lincoln; the second from George Eastman.

 

[Dick Sowa]

Well, my 7th grade shop was probably like a lot of others...abeit 50 years ago I managed to learn safety rules, how to use the power and hand tools they had, and how to do some simple joinery. In the end, I managed to complete a couple of projects...one of which I still have on display in our den.

But the real message, which never hit home till decades later, was how long lasting and memorable that one class would be. While I never did woodworking for a living, I did keep it as a hobby, and credit my 7th grade shop class for that introduction. Most kids won't understand or appreciate that the one class they are about to take, will give them the skills and confidence to continue woodworking their entire lives.

 

[Don O. Jr.]

Advice and opportunities missed

I should have listened to my father and taken typing in high school. I typed all my college papers with 2 or 3 fingers and continue that today.

I wish I had taken mechanical drawing class.

I took a couple of shop classes in Jr. High. Some wood, some metal, some ceramics, some small gas engines. Still use some of it. Wish I would have been told that working with your hands was a viable career goal. To work with your hands you have to work with your head first.

 

[Tony Latham]

The joy of building some finely crafted item and giving it away...

If you can teach that, YOU have really given them a gift.

TL

 

[MichaelMouse]

Didn't He say all anyone needs in yesterday's recruiting speech?

 

[underdog]

I wish I had taken mechanical drawing class.

I took two. They are only as good as the teacher. Both of mine were....

(to put it politely)

...very hard to get along with.

 

[Jack Savona]

???

Didn't He say all anyone needs in yesterday's recruiting speech?

He? Recruiting speech?

 

[Donna Banfield]

I'm female and wanted to take shop, but wasn't allowed. I'm also a math-impaired female. My eyes glaze over anytime I look at sometime more complicated than 2+5 = (Umm, I think it's 7, right?)

I might have been more interested in buckling down to try to understand math had I been allowed to take shop. I wish I understood angles and other geometric calculations that I now see are valuable things in woodturning.

So, I wish someone had said (and I listened) how important math would be to me in my woodturning. Maybe then I could read an article written by Mike Darlow without the queasy sea-sick feeling, because it's about 10 seconds before my head's gonna explode.

 

[jbburgoon]

I'm now 3 weeks deep

As my pace quickens, to learn new things I must deliberatly slow down and think about what I am doing to get it right. This is the first time in the past two weeks, I've had a chance to check back in. School is off to a fast and furious start. I got a wake up call from one of my associates. He gave me a clip to attach to my key ring so I could put my keys on a belt loop rather than in my pocket, like I have been doing for the last 26 years of teaching. I don't know how many times in the last two weeks, my keys with the belt loop clip have ended up back in my pocket, instead of the NEW place they are supposed to be. This lesson has taught me to be more patient if they don't get it right the first time. I attempt to apply the same concepts to woodturning as teaching. I stress TECHNIQUE in everything we do in my room. I must PRACTICE to get better. EVERYONE has to start right to end right. The easier it is to practice technique, the more likely it is to be applied when tasks become more challenging. I'm teaching drafting (orthographic, 3 view drawing) at this point in time. We are practing format, and techniques by sketching, before we move to using the tools to do the same thing better. Thanks for all your great input!

 

[odie]

As my pace quickens, to learn new things I must deliberatly slow down and think about what I am doing to get it right. This is the first time in the past two weeks, I've had a chance to check back in. School is off to a fast and furious start. I got a wake up call from one of my associates. He gave me a clip to attach to my key ring so I could put my keys on a belt loop rather than in my pocket, like I have been doing for the last 26 years of teaching. I don't know how many times in the last two weeks, my keys with the belt loop clip have ended up back in my pocket, instead of the NEW place they are supposed to be. This lesson has taught me to be more patient if they don't get it right the first time. I attempt to apply the same concepts to woodturning as teaching. I stress TECHNIQUE in everything we do in my room. I must PRACTICE to get better. EVERYONE has to start right to end right. The easier it is to practice technique, the more likely it is to be applied when tasks become more challenging. I'm teaching drafting (orthographic, 3 view drawing) at this point in time. We are practing format, and techniques by sketching, before we move to using the tools to do the same thing better. Thanks for all your great input!

Howdy Jim Bob.......

Here is something I wish I had known about 1982, when I first made some attempts at bowl turning on a Shopsmith.

click on this link to view my thread in the "AAW Newbie" forum:

http://www.aawforum.org/vbforum/showthread.php?p=52447#post52447

ooc

PS: When I was in High School (graduated in 1967), I took Industrial Arts, which was a metal and wood shop combined. Back then, I was more interested in metal working, but did do a few projects in wood. I can recall a wood lathe there in the shop area, but I had yet to have any interest in it.