Subject: Adult (community school) metalworking classes

From: [email-masked] (Will Martin)
Date: 18 Feb 1994 14:35:15 -0600

I never took "shop" in high school, and I have no experience with
power metalworking tools. I see ads for community school evening classes
in metalworking, and am tempted to take one. Anybody out there have any
advice as to choosing such a class, and any recommendations as to how
to get the best out of it? 

Regards, Will
If header address doesn't work, try:
[email-masked] OR [email-masked]

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From: [email-masked] (Andy Dingley)
Date: Sat, 19 Feb 1994 00:01:16 +0000

In article <[email-masked]>
           [email-masked] "Will Martin" writes:
> I never took "shop" in high school

You didn't miss much. I did metalwork at school (in the UK) where it was
*very* much a dumping ground for the dummies. Suited me fine, I was studying
that much maths & physics (a *bad* case of spotty geek) that a break to go
and bash some metal was a great idea. As a result, no-one took it that
seriously. Even the teacher was disheartened. As he put it, we did a couple
of years at a couple of hours a week. Totalled up, it was about the same as
two weeks of an apprenticeship. How skilled do you think a two-week
apprentice is ?

> I see ads for community school evening classes in metalworking,

Good idea. You'll often find the same teacher as in a high school class,
but they'll be far more more motivated, partly because of the smaller groups,
partly because the people there are doing it through choice.

> Any recommendations as to how to get the best out of it?

Find a *project* to work on, don't just go along and "make something".
It gives you a direction while you're there, an incentive to get it finished,
and something to look at when you've finished. A perennial favourite in the
UK is to buy a set of castings for a small steam engine (yawn) like a Stuart
Turner 10V. Whatever your opinion on the obsession of model engineers and
steam engines (is it the same in the US ?), it is a useful sort of machining
project.

-- 
Andy Dingley   Codesmiths of Newcastle   [email-masked]

Klein bottle for sale.     Apply within.

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From: [email-masked]
Date: 19 Feb 94 12:46:09 PST

> to get the best out of it? 

Go over to the school and talk with the instructor.   Tell
him what you aims are and ask what he suggests.

Several years ago, I did exactly that and it worked out great.
In addition to the "career" courses, they also offered several
classes for people who needed to update skills, work on projects,
etc.   They were often scheduled at the same time as the "career"
classes, but this often led to helpful interaction.

The first time I took that class, I was required to make
the "standard" first project, a gear puller.   After that,
I was allowed to define my own project each semester.

--  Alan E. Frisbie               [email-masked]
--  Flying Disk Systems, Inc.
--  4759 Round Top Drive          (213) 256-2575 (voice)
--  Los Angeles, CA 90065         (213) 258-3585 (FAX)