Woodshop at local school. Ideas.

[Biff Johnson]

Hi All,

I live in a rural part of Oregon and have been volunteering at the local school in the wood shop for about 5 months. The wood shop class has been just for high school students but this year they opened it up for junior high kids. The shop teacher is a great gentleman who is actually a retired teacher but works a few days a week to teach shop and outdoor survival. He does an extremely good job considering what he has to work with.

The shop looks like an ad out of a 1960's Life magazine. Most the machines are old Delta Rockwells, the newest tool is an early 80's Grizzly planer. Hand tools are almost non-exsistent.

Since I have got there I have repaired the lathe, planer, tablesaw and a myriad assortment of sanders. I have also donated hammers and hand saws. Supplies are few and all the lumber is donated, most of it is very rough cut and gnarly pieces.

This school is kindergarten through high school all in one setting and is very small and tight knit. Naturally it is also a very poor school. The wood shop budget is about $300 per year. Yes, $300 per year!!! I can spend that on one project!!!

Frustration is setting in because I see these kids craving learning woodworking but so often their advancement is held back because of shoddy, sometimes unsafe tools. The teacher and I have to make all tablesaw cuts because there isn't a guard for the saw. The belt sander is broken and Delta says parts no longer available. The lathe tools are so worn that I won't use them.

So I told you this story to ask all you members have any experience in this situation? I know the economy is in the tank and businesses aren't able to contribute much. I have asked the local (45 minutes away) Woodcraft and received no response. The big box hardware stores say they don't donate. The local hardware store (30 miles away) will give a discount but no freebies. The shop teacher holds fund raiser about once a year but that money just covers tool repair and essential supplies.

Any thoughts?

[Jerome Hanby]

I'm sure this flies in the face of current government school ideas, but I attended a high school that was an AVC (area vocational center). The trade classes took in work for the educational value for doing the work and to generate some funds for the class. I wonder if something similar could work here to raise money for new equipment.

[Von Bickley]

One of our local high schools built picnic tables to sell to raise money. A local lumber yard sold them the material at cost.

Everybody can use a nice picnic table.....

[Bruce Wrenn]

Look at SIMPLE bird houses. A bird house with five bucks of materials that sells for $10 is a good deal. Sell a hundred, and that's $500 towards new tools. Unfortunately, I taught shop at a time when every kid was going to become a computer programer (yeah, right.) There was no money for shop supplies. We were on a "block system," which means I had 120 kids per year. System budget for supplies was $200 per year, not per semester. I became a very good "dumpster diver."

[Jerrimy Snook]

Biff,

Contact Woodlinks and AWI. Both organizations have Oregon chapters. I attended a Woodlinks seminar last year and was amazed at the dedication of the instructors involved. Woodlinks is a US and Canadian organization that brings industry and education together. I will send a pm to you with more information.

Jerrimy

[Biff Johnson]

Look at SIMPLE bird houses. A bird house with five bucks of materials that sells for $10 is a good deal. Sell a hundred, and that's $500 towards new tools. Unfortunately, I taught shop at a time when every kid was going to become a computer programer (yeah, right.) There was no money for shop supplies. We were on a "block system," which means I had 120 kids per year. System budget for supplies was $200 per year, not per semester. I became a very good "dumpster diver."

Sounds like a very similar situation! The teacher and I do provide a lot of materials out of pocket. Unfortunately some of the equipment is getting so bad it is too dangerous to let the kids use. There is not even a working screw gun or a set of forstner bits!

Thanks Jerrimy, I will contact Woodlinks next week!

I'm just amazed at how little understanding the administration has in the value of an active shop program. These so called "child experts" don't get the fact that very few of these kids will go on to college. Shop saved my butt in school and got me on the track to a very good job in the trades.

[Tom Walz]

Mr. Johnson:

You asked for thoughts so here goes.

1. Could you provide a little more information about the location of the school? It might make it easier for members to identify local resources.
2. We have a program where we donate safety glasses to schools and I would be happy to do that for you as well. These are actually glasses for extreme sports as well but they are ANSI and Mil Spec rated for safety. The major problem we've had with them is that kids want to take home so we better send you a couple extra pair.
3. There is a Voc Tech that builds sheds and sells them. You might try pre-selling sheds and get deposits to cover the cost of materials.
4. When I cut I may use several smaller cutting boards. Rather than scrub them each time I like to have several so that I can just put the dirty one in the dishwasher and pick up a new one. Small cutting boards are very hard to find especially at any sort of a decent price.
5. John Economaki, founder of Bridge City Tools, wrote an article about building his try square for Wood magazine. I am working with the school in Ontario that has the students building these out of brass and Rosewood. It takes very little material but it does take a lot of careful work.
6. Would you be interested in any slightly used tools? Over the years I seemed accumulated duplicates of many tools. I would be happy to put some of them a USPS flat rate box and ship them down.
7. We sell tools so I have access to tools at a good price. In addition we have sample tools around the office. If you would put up or send me a list of what you really need I would be happy to see what we could do to help you.
8. We can certainly help you with saw blades, router bits, drill bits and hand tools.
9. The company does have a budget for charitable activities. Unfortunately it is a small budget because we are a small company. If you were to present some sort of informal plan I believe we could find you some money. (Schools tend to be obsessive about presenting a budget of exact items and to the exact penny. Please don't go to that much trouble.)

Conclusion: Generally, in a situation such as yours, you get much better results if you have a plan for what you're going to do and a list of what you need.

If anything I have offered appeals to you please send me a PM and will see what we can do for you.

Tom Walz

[Carol Reed]

Google 'crowdfunding.' Interesting concept.

[Mike Heidrick]

If you do work/repair on a tool or donate a tool out of pocket and teach the kids to use it, and a kid gets hurts, are you liable?

Not sure I have ever heard of an IL school offering "outdoor survival" as a class. Is this a public school or a private school?

[Brian W Evans]

Try this site: donorschoose.org (http://www.donorschoose.org/) I don't have any experience with it personally but it's been around for quite a while and I've heard stories from numerous teachers (I am also a teacher) who have received donations through the site.

Good luck.

[Joe Hillmann]

What about teaching the kids to build there own tools? Or to maintain hand tools?

Just a list of ideas here.

They could make there own wooden mallets.

They could make there own chisels, Using oil hard stock for the blades (would cost about $1 each for 3/8 inch wide chisels) and it would be a great way to teach them to sharpen tool which is a good life lesson.

They could each make there own beam scribes.

If the students had there own chisels and mallets all the school would have to supply is a japaneese saw or a coping saw and you could teach them to make dovetails or box joints (being able to make dovetails by hand is something to be proud of)

You could show them how to refurbish,tune and sharpen a hand plane. (If you have never used a sharp and tuned plane you are missing out, they do amazing work)

Once you have a working plane in the shop you could teach them how to make a straight edge (actually a set of three straight edges) http://home.comcast.net/~jaswensen/machines/straight_edge/straight_edge.html Once each student has three straight edges they can cut one in half and make one half into a try square, use the other half as a short rule by placing accurate marking on it with there chisels, one they can use as a longer rule by also carefully marking it and the third can be kept as a straight edge for reference.

Once they have there chisels and mallets and rules they could build tool boxes with 1/2 inch lumber with dovetailed joints.

Teaching them how to drive screws by hand without stripping the heads is a skill that they could uses there entire lives.

Teaching them how to use a hand saw (I personally feel that my high school shop classes skipped right over proper hand tool use, care and tuning and it was something I had to learn on my own, and I was then able to take what I learned and use it on power tools to get better results)

Teach them how to read a rule; metric, standard, decimal and fraction.

Teach them the safe way to make cuts on a table saw (blade heigth, what the fence is for what the miter square is for, why you can't use the fence and miter at the same time, how to safely use the miter and fence at the same time, how to use feather boards, how to rip narrow strips) you can go over all these even without them running the saw.

Teach them how to properly square up lumber(Joint two sided, plane the third, and table saw for the last then possible a light run through the jointer to clean up the saw marks) I know several wood workers who swear that the jointer is only for the edges of a board and somehow it magically makes them parallel, and that a planner is supposed to take the twist out of boards.

Show them how to use bench hooks and dogs and woodworking vices (assuming the shop has them)

If you show them how to use a hand plane show them how to use a shooting board(built using the try squares they already built) you should have no problem using a a single try plane for a jointer, face plane and shooting plane so you only need one plane to show them these teniques.

Show them how to maintain power tools, show them how to change planner blades, how align a table saw blade to the left miter slot and how to align the fence to the miterslot, how to check and adjust a jointer bed for parallel.

Show them the many things a lathe can be used for other than just turning. (this might not work so well for grade school because some lathe teniques can be a bit "iffy" if not done with proper guidance.

Have them make there own sanding blocks with wedges to hold the paper in place.

If there is a wooden door somewhere in you school remove it and teach them how to hang a door and trim it out.

Teach them the basics of electric distribution in a home, bring in an old breaker box and show them the difference between a 220 and 110 circuit, show them how to wire up a 3 way switch. Show them how to wire up a lamp. Show them how to put a new end on a electric cord.

Have them cut out there name from a piece of 1/4" plywood using a coping saw.

Teach them how to steam bend wood or to bend wood by doing lamination glued together.

I know many of these ideas don't end up with the kids having a finished project but it is all information that will be helpful to them later in life.

Is there an artdepartment that does photography and developing? If so have the kids make 4x6 pinhole cameras and learn how to use them in art class.

[Gary R Katz]

Hi Bill,
I live in Eugene and have a radial arm saw I never use. It's an older Delta in great condition (other than a lot of saw dust) and I might even have a blade for you. I was going to sell it on CL but this would be a much better use. Let me know if you're interested, I'll send you my email and we can work out the details.

[Michael Wildt]

- Check the local craigslist for free items like tools, wood pallets and furniture. Might find some old dressers that could be restored. It teaches how to make repairs and how to refinish.
- Any chance you could hook up with a local sawyer
- Can you get the school interviewed in the local paper or radio station, might bring some attention to the needs. Like offer to pick up old tools for free etc.
- Do an open house at the school and invite local businesses and/or town to tell them about what the school is all about. Never know if someone has a good contact.

[Myk Rian]

Yahoo Groups hosts "Freecycle" forums. You might want to check into that and ask if anyone has equipment they will give away.
groups.yahoo.com

[Biff Johnson]

Hi All,

I've had an amazing number of responses to this post! Thank you to everyone and if I haven't responded to your PM's yet, I will!
Most people are asking specifically what we need so here's a short list, ranked from wild to mild!

1. Miter saw, prefer sliding style so wide stock could be crosscut instead of using RAS.
2. Cabinet style table saw with a working guard!
3. Cordless drills
4. Bandsaw that is not from the paleolithic era.
5. Random orbit sander
6. Router bits
7. Bandsaw blades...have to get the size because I forgot.
8. Drill bits. Brad point, forstner
9. Hand saws of all styles. Shorter length seems to work best for most kids
10. Basic hand tools. Screwdrivers, scribes, awls, chisels, bevel gauges, levels, adjustable wrenches, mallets
11. Lathe tools. Chisels, driver spur for #2 mt, center finder, turning gear like coats, aprons and face shields, sharpening jigs
12. Router bits
13. Wood burning pens
14. Ear protection
15. Sandpaper, finishing supplies, glues, brushes and other consumables like screws, nails, drill/driver bits, etc.
16. As always....clamps!


Thank you so much, guys and gals. You have restored my enthusiasm in this program. I didn't think we would get much beyond crude birdhouses and wavy cutting boards but there is a bright future on the horizon!!!

[Timothy Wolf]

I checked out a book from the library a while back, I can't remember the title (I know I am an incredible help) but it was about getting wood for projects for free and then had some neat projects in it made from the free wood. Pallets was one of the the main sources, I used to work at Sam's club and we had pallets made out of decent hardwoods that I wanted to take home but they wouldn't let me, The author recommended going and talking to motor cylcle shops about the crates and pallets the motor cycles arrive in. He said they would often be made out of exotic woods if the motor cycle is imported. I would also look to other woodworkers or shops that may have a scraps of wood piling up, possibly offer a tax deduction for wood donations. If anyone can help me with the name of that book, I couldn't find it on Amazon (because I don't remeber the title)

[Greg Portland]

Biff, where are you located in Oregon?

There are various WWing guilds in Oregon and many of them are very supportive of local school programs. If nothing else, they can give you some pointers & let their member's know that you need tools.

Some things my shop class did (funding was about the same 20+ yrs ago):
1) Raw materials are often free if you're willing to pick them up. Find local builders who will have 1/2 sheets of plywood, 2x4s, etc laying around. While there are less projects in a rural area you may have local sawyers who are willing to donate some time if you supply the trees. This could turn into a field trip experience for the students. Our school accepted tree donations and had the sawyer mill the wood (taking a portion for himself). It was a win-win... the home owner got the fallen tree out of the yard (+ tax deduction), the sawyer got a tax deduction + some wood, and the school got a bunch of lumber for free.
2) Make everything possible (already suggested above). Marking gauges, tool jigs, etc. make good class projects.
3) Spend a lot of time @ auctions / yard sales and have the students refurbish the old planes, chisels, and hand saws. Some people may prefer the tax writeoff value versus the amount of cash they'd get on the sale.
4) Have the kids each build a project and hold a crafts fair to sell the items (or piggyback onto an existing fair). The kids get some of the $$$ and the program gets the rest.

[Tom Walz]

I did some checking and I am in.

Really cool project and school. Up in the coastal range of Oregon.

Dirt poor. The only way they have a Phillips screwdriver is if an instructor brings one from home.

Tom

[Timothy Wolf]

I was thinking about this a little more and remembered that I get some scraps from a friend that does hardwood flooring. You might also look at seeing if someone needs an old barn torn down or something like that

[Guy Belleman]

Setting the kids into a business mode for a month is a good part of woodworking. I might suggest to make a project where each student comes up with an idea to get one set of tools or a fund raising project. One student could call every Sears for donations, while another calls every Lowes, etc. Our cross country team raises almost a $1000 each year just doing a one day car wash at the school. Refinishing projects and small items to sell might also be ideas. Budget, research, design, planning, and presentations can all be part of the student task. Let me know if you need a project guide and grade rubric, as I can adapt one of mine very quickly. Keep us advised of how this all turns out.

Also, rather than building a woodshop that can do it all right now, I would target various modes. For instance, I might personally target getting about 10 mini-lathes and start classes on turning small items, like pens and christmas tree ornaments. After that, then branch out to other areas. Build a program and it will grow. Kids like hands-on programs, even though many schools are getting rid of their of auto and wood shops, and going to computer labs.

Guy Belleman
Science, Math and Technology Teacher
Edgren High School, Misawa, Japan
email: guy.belleman--at--pac.dodea.edu where the --at-- is an @

[Biff Johnson]

Fellow Woodworkers,

I can't thank you enough for all your input! Several members on this board have made substantial contributions to this school in the form of cash, used and new tools and supplies, not to mention a wealth of great ideas! You have no idea the difference your generosity has made! Students and staff had big smiles today!

I'd like to share some photos of the shop classes in action today. The high schoolers are working on independent projects while the middle schoolers are finishing up small bookshelves.

The school is Triangle Lake Charter school, located about 40 miles NW of Eugene, Oregon. This is a very small community that is extremely tight knit. Generations of families have gone to this school and many of the teachers and staff have children or grandchildren in the school. The school is the epicenter of the community.

With your help, we hope to take these kids to greater levels of woodworking and build basic skills that will last them a lifetime. Our goal is to take them from rough lumber through finished product in a safe manner.

I would value your opinions on what brands are the best buy in used equipment? We hope to raise enough to purchase a sliding miter saw, a cabinet table saw with quality fence and guard, band saw, jointer and belt sander. Some members have offered used equipment, maybe others will be able to assist with shipping or delivery?

If you have any questions or would like to assist please contact:

Tosh Dickenson c/o Triangle Lake Charter Schools
iwouldworkwood@gmail.com
(541) 998-3359

http://www.blachly.k12.or.us/

[Paul Steiner]

Biff,
Sounds like you are off to a start. Here are some things I have learned in my years of teaching.
1. Contact your local Lions club, they are big on eye care and I bet they will donate safety glasses.
2. If you have 50 students and you find 50 6" 2x4 cut offs in a dumpster you have a class project. Its all about your creativity.
3. Next find out the policy on repairs in the county. My county pays for repairs to machines and it does not effect my budget. Your county may have a similiar policy that no one takes advantage of.
4. Serve the school, find out what the school needs and build it. You would think students want to take projects home, but actually they would prefer to have their work on display where their friends can see it. My students have built podiums, bookcases, picture frames, benches, shelves, chairs, etc. Find a project for the school and if it takes 5 sheets of plywood order 3, 4 or 5 extra for a class project. Even with the extra you will be able to do it cheaper and better than anything that could be ordered out of a catalog.

These are some things I have learned and I did not see posted yet. Good Luck, pm me if you want some project plans I use.

[Biff Johnson]

Just an update, I inquired about a CL ad for a gentleman selling custom milled hardwoods. Turns out he owns a small milling outfit and generously donated a bunch of alder and some hardwood cut-offs. It's great to see people supporting this program!

[Biff Johnson]

Received a fantastic load of packages from Tom Walz today. Thank you Tom, Jerrimy and Augusto for your generosity! For the first time, kids weren't waiting to use the only drill! There were screwdrivers that worked! There were drill bits with sharp edges!!!

If anybody else would like to contribute in form of tools or supplies, here's some other items we could sure use. PM me for info and I will remove the item from the list. Thanks everybody for their donations, kind words and sound advice!

Supplies:
Wood screws of all sizes
Wood glue and bottles
Finishes and supplies...stains, oils, putty, etc.
Nails of all types
#2 screw gun tips and bit holders
Sandpaper
Wood!
Craft supplies and hardware (magnets, hinges, latches, paint brushes, nuts/bolts, etc)
Elastic hair ties
Storage boxes for supplies
Gift cards to Home Depot, Lowes, Woodcraft, Sears (all within 45 miles of us)

Hand Tools:

Set of forstner bits
Drill bits 1/8 to 3/8
Carving tools
Files...mostly rasps
Mallets...rubber, deadblow and carving mallets
Router bits
Set of wood chisels
Bar clamps 6" to 36"
Shop aprons
Woodworking vices
Scrapers
Putty knives

Power Tools:

Tablesaw or a guard/fence system
Router table
A couple random orbit sanders
Jigsaw
Bandsaw
Belt/disc sander
Cordless drills
Pocket jig set
Belt sander
Wood burning equipment (I don't know why kids are so fascinated with burning wood???)

[Darrin Davis]

I am a high school woodshop teacher in the Texas. We are very fortunate to have a healthy budget for our woodshop and metal shop classes but we also get federal grant money each year through the "Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Grant." You need to be talking to your school's CFO and Superintendent and ask why in the world your school is not enrolled in this grant program. The total federal money within this grant is well over 1billion dollars. (maybe that's why our gov. is going broke but that's for another discussion) Our high school of about 550 student receives, annually, 22,000 dollars from this grant. This get equally divided between 4 to 5 departments each year. You do the math! Maybe your pencil pushers behind their desks need to actually step up and take care of their programs within their schools and quit playing games on their computers all day! Sorry for the rant. I kind of wear my emotions on my sleeves when it comes to administrators that have struggling departments within their schools and so much can easily be done about it.

[Biff Johnson]

I wanna be your volunteer, Darrin!

Thanks for the tip...I will follow up on it. I got tired of waiting for something to happen with this program so I'm just forging ahead! (With a lot of help from Creekers!)

[Biff Johnson]

Thank you to: Paul DeCarlo, Snook's Saw Service, Carbide Processors Inc and Eastside Saw!!!!

[Steve Mellott]

If you belong to AAW ($38/year), apply for an Educational Opportunity Grant. Last year, the AAW (American Association of Woodturners) gave our local woodworking club $1000 and we bought 2 Delta Midi Lathes.

Steve

[Biff Johnson]

Thanks for the tip...I will check them out!

[Biff Johnson]

Found a w-working teacher forum where one of the school shops building little folding camp tables once a year and sells them. Super simple design and basic materials. Anybody else have an idea like this?

Thanks!