Who took shop class in school?

[Steve Ash]

I was able to visit a high school wood shop today. The teacher is a young man that I coached in baseball 15 or so years ago, and have stayed in touch with ever since he was just a little tyke. He is very proud of the projects his students are doing right now, a gun cabinet, set of oak bunk beds, chests, guitar cases and so on.

It reminded me of my old high school shop class and my teacher Mr. Whitens, all the projects we as students were doing. Then I wondered about all the kids that take shop class and if they stuck with it later on.

How many of you took wood shop in school, was it a positive thing, did you have a good teacher, what did you make?

[Jim O'Dell]

Hi Steve,
I took shop as a sophmore. Mr Pryor was our teacher. He was a pretty good Sax player also. (Was in a local band that an upper classman played keyboards in. The upper classman was Garth Brooks keyboard player later on.)
The only thing I remember building in class was a Mahogany telephone stand. It had a shelf in the bottom for the phone book. Arched top on the back piece. Finish was Deft. Man, that was 34 years ago. Now I feel old;) Jim.

[Fred Voorhees]

I sure did. The trouble these days is that Wood shop is one of the first things cut when budgets get tight. Makes my heart sink when I think of that! I sure do remember my high school wood shop teachers. Mr. D'Orlando was the man! He was a great guy and had a lot of patience with his students. I also had Mr. Dautrechy and he was a little rigid, but still, a wood working teacher all the same. We could use more of them these days.

[Hunter Wallace]

You know...I never did. I often wonder if it had been something
I was MADE to do versus WANTED to do if things would have
been different. It's not that I have a problem with authority or
anything, I just don't like being told what to do!!!;) :D

[Art Mulder]

Steve,

I suppose that up front I should admit that I'm 41.

I took shop class in grade school, grade 7 + 8. Learned some basic drafting, a bit of basic metal working, and some woodworking. I still have the small wooden nut dish that I turned, the mahogany serving tray, and I think that is all. My Mum has the bookends. :-)

This was the mid seventies, and things were still segregated: The boys took shop, the girls took home ec. Our school system ran on a six day cycle. Even then, not every school had a shop. We were bussed in one morning per cycle, stayed the full morning, and then bused back to our own school. My sister's kids went to that elementary school years later, and I'm pretty sure that the shop was long gone.

My highschool was too small for a shop, but one year it was offered as an option to bus a group of us out to a larger public school and take shop for 2hrs every Wednesday afternoon. This would have been back around 1980. And I still have the pine magazine rack that we built.

In neither shop were the kids allowed to touch the table saw. In grade 7 we used scroll saws and lathes. In grade 8 we could use the band saw.

But to be honest, while I enjoyed those classes, I suspect that it was my dad's influence that gave me the idea/confidence of picking up woodworking again as an adult. My dad was a finishing carpenter, so we always had a garage with tools in it. I fiddled around in there as a kid, helped my dad out a few summers, and in general gained the confidence to give things a try. So back in '95 when we wanted some bookcases, and didn't think much of the particle-board-junk in the stores, I borrowed some clamps, bought a second hand TS, and things developed from then on...

[Lee DeRaud]

Yes, but it was back when dinosaurs walked the earth and if you wanted to glue two pieces of wood together you had to find a sick horse and skin him yourself. The teacher was missing most of his right forefinger, which didn't exactly inspire confidence but did occasion much snickering when he used the next available digit to point things out in class.

[Rob Blaustein]

Yes, but it was auto shop not wood shop. There was an excellent wood shop class as well that many took (I remember them all walking around with neat chess sets that they build) but I guess the notion of learning to hot wire a Chevy was too much of a draw for me. Ah, public high school in Brooklyn, NY. As it turns out, I made the wrong choice--most of what I learned in auto shop is outdated (when was the last time you sanded your spark plugs or did a tune up?)--probably wouldn't be the case with wood shop.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I didn't......I ran with the chem, physics, trig crowd! I did take 3 drafting classes and basic electricity.

[Greg Koch]

I had Woodshop, Handi/craft (ceramic, plastic, leather, etc.) in the 7th grade, Woodshop and mechanical drawing in the 8th grade, and Metalshop in the 9th grade. I like them all. I made a protable smoker in metal shop for my parents to take with them fishing. I still have a table I made in Metalshop that I use in my garden.

Woodshop was a lot of fun too, and we had some strange times when we forgot to turn on the fans in the paint room.....Duh!

I worked during my High School years and had no shop classes then...

Greg

[Ron Jones near Indy]

I took 2 years of drafting and 1 year of woods in high school.:cool: Must have liked it.;) I've been teaching it for 38 years!

[Mark Hollingsworth]

I took wood shop as a sophomore way back when. Don't remember the teachers name but I sure remember the day that I dragged my little finger across the jointer along with the board I was jointing. That finger is a little shorter than the one on the other hand.HMMMM!!! But I still have the mug that I turned out on the lathe and the wooden handle that I glued on is still on it too. I remember the name of the glue was Weldwood and it was a powder that you mixed with water. Since its now been 40 years, it must have been pretty good stuff. Thanks for joggin my memory. Mark

[Mike Cutler]

Yep.
Took woodshop in the grades 7,8,9,11. Metal shop in Grade 10, until the teacher cautioned about the metal furnace exploding. I was outta there within the week.
Took Mechanical Drawing in the Grade 10.
I had really good teachers. When I screw up, I look at what I did, and suddenly remember a lesson from a zillion years ago.

Funny thing is. I spent a lot of time on a lathe in school, and haven't touched one since 1976. I wonder if the technique would come back,or if I'd eat a chunk of wood.:eek:

[Dewayne Baker]

I took shop 3 years of high school and loved it. I liked the teacher but the projects we where inspired to build where simple. Cutting boards, picture frames and small tables.

Tools where just the basics no router table, planer or sharpening supplies. I found out just how much I didn't know when I took up the hobby 20 years later.

Now I feel I could teach far more than the teacher did way back then.

[Keith Christopher]

Hopefully this won't sound too haughty but I took shop in 7th grade and by then I was helping my grandfather every summer build furniture. so making the simple shop projects was very boring to me. Making candle holders, some birdhouses. . .The teacher was kind enough to allow me to make a chessboard which was cool. (which I still have to this day begging me to put a table around it.) He was a true talent and he often had projects he was working on at home in class. for me, I just wish it had been more challenging but I was exposed to much more than the others.

[Andy Hoyt]

By a fluke of nature there were only six boys in my class during the 7th grade year. Thirty three girls though! What a year!

Since we couldn't field a team for football, the school asked one of the teachers to put a shop class together. He was Roy Bruninghaus and his claim to fame was that he had spent two years pitching batting practice to Ted Williams. We made tie racks in the fall. Spent the winter playing ice hockey with no shift changes. In the spring we went back to the shop and built a desk for the school.

Fond memories. Thanks for jogging them, Steve.

[Jim Young]

My school was too small. I also ran with the calculus, physics and chemistry crowd. If we had woodshop I wouldn't have taken it anyway, back then I was not into making things out of wood. During high school I was heavy into model building, cars for the most part. I built my workbench out of 2x4's and a sheet of plywood, that table was really rickety and would wobble. Mt love for woodworking didn't come untill I owned my first house that needed repairs.

[Corey Hallagan]

Sadly I did take wood shop and the teacher was horrible. He ruined most of the projects in the class either with poor instruction or finishing techniques. We could only make a book rack. I remember he stuck most of the book ends thru the planer one day and one by one they were ejected from it cracked and broken. After the first one you might have just wondered if something was wrong? He mixed up some kind of finish for us all to use on what was left of our projects and it bleached them. I don't know where he came from but he stunk! My dad was not happy. My dad still has the walnut table he made in shop. It needs a fix and he is bringing down for me to work on this summer.
My sons shop teacher was pretty good though. I know they closed down the metal shop last year. Who knows how long the wood shop will stay running.

Corey

[Wes Bischel]

Warning, semi rant - no it's a full on rant:rolleyes:
Ah, school shop - brings back some of my earliest lessons in bureaucracy - kinda like bureaucracy 101. To explain, the principal of the school had deemed it important for the girls to take shop and the boys to take home economics, so many were chosen/made to take these courses by the administrators - very progressive in the early 70's. I was raised by a single mom - I already knew my way around the kitchen, laundry room, etc. - but noooooo, couldn't take shop - no exceptions. I spent the year bored to tears, and trading recipes with the home ec teacher. Even though it was thirty years ago, it still ticks me off.

Wes

[Roger Los]

Never took wood or metal shop in high school, I was a geek. But I did take it in about 6th grade, I think. I'm trying to remember what I can, which isn't much...I do remember getting in touble for walking behind the table saw, which was a no-no. I think we made a cooling rack, which I think ended up being conveinantly lost during a move. ;)

[Marcus Ward]

What a thread. I took wood shop 9th-12th grade, every semester. I had a great teacher, Don Muench. He was an old surf hippy who would regale us with tales of his exploits when he was younger, and teach us really good woodworking skills as well. He was an incredibly gifted, kind teacher. He made everyone feel important. He managed to scrounge some really nice tools for our shop too and we could build pretty much whatever we wanted after the first year. I heard a few years ago he passed away and I never got to tell him what a great influence on me he was. Last month I wrote his widow and told her.

[Vaughn McMillan]

I had a semester of carpentry followed by three semesters of woodshop my sophmore and junior years in high school.

I never really finished the carpentry class, because there was a football player wannabe who decided it was his job to harass me and a buddy of mine (the two long-haired kids in the class). When it got to the point where he tried to start a fight with me while I was midway through a cut on the tablesaw, my buddy and I went to the Principal to demand action. His response was "Oh Bruce...he's always such a handfull." Wrong answer. Neither the teacher or the Principal would do anything about Bruce, so we bailed. Flunking a class was nothing new to me. I had already dropped out of high school once by that time. (The class was lame anyway...we were supposed to be building 1/4 scale houses, and all I remember was ripping a lot of 2x4s into smaller stock.)

For reasons I don't fully understand, I signed up the next semester for woodshop with the same teacher (only after being assured Bruce would not be in the class ;) ). Since I'd already learned the basics and proven I knew how to use the tools (or learn to use those I didn't), the teacher pretty much let me build whatever I wanted for the next three semesters. I did a couple cutting boards, some speaker cabinets, an entry gate for my parent's house (which was in use for about 20 years until they sold the house), an end table, turned a mortar and pestle and a couple pair of nunchucks for myself. Everything I made is still around. Mr. Henderson taught me a lot that I still use today, and my experience in his class gave me the background and the confidence to be able to learn to use other tools on my own.

For my final year of high school, I switched schools and didn't take any shop classes, but by then I was using my granddad's shop whenever I wanted. During that time I made several speaker cabinets, another end table, and a nice little lap steel guitar.

- Vaughn

[Scott Donley]

It was farm shop where I lived at the time. Woodworking, metal working, how to fix tractors and the like. How to plant and plow the school owned fields. Yes it was a small school, 19 seniors in my graduation class "70"

[Allen Bookout]

The teacher is everything! When I was a freshman I took one year of woodworking and the teacher was a real nice guy named Mr. Chestnut but the problem was that you had to make a perfectly square block with hand tools before that you could do anything else. After months of trying to make a square block (and I mean really square) a young kid starts to loose interest. I think that he noticed that and allowed me to make something else which didn't turn out all that great either. I slipped away and went full time into sports except for the mandatory classes.

To bad about the way that it turned out. The life of an athelete soon fades away but the woodworking life can go on for most of your living days.

[Dev Emch]

You Betcha!

First of all, wood shop was a required class. Your read correctly. For us, it was a required class! This was 7th or 8th grade.

Then in high school, i took advanced wood shop and metal shop. I also took AP math, physics and chemistry. Never really had an interest in chess but chemistry was a blast...... literally! We learned real quick how to combine sulfer, charcoal and patasium nitrate into a fun chemical project.:D Later we learned how to titrate which was good as you cannot mix H2SO4, Nitric acid and Glyercin in a big cook pot!!!!!!!!

My physics teacher was giddy as a school boy when he saw my metal shop project. It was a 50 cal. black powder cannon turned on the lathe with a fancy walnut base. He made me along with one of his teacher pets load it and fire it across the lake as an aside for the class. I shot it with a 120 grain load and the flame must have shot 4 or 5 feet out of the cannon. Everybody loved it.

Needless to say, this was a small town in late 1970s america. Fonzy was hot and you could get away with all this. Today, i would be arrested two or three times per week for doing what we did in high school! Yes, it was the best of times.

[scott spencer]

I took shop class in juniour high....wished I had in HS. The last time I saw my teacher, he was hawking the Shop Smith at the mall.

[Andy London]

Back when I went to school only under special situations could a student (grade 10 to 12) taking academic take what they called vocational class's but I managed to talk them into allowing me to take woodworking. The woodworking shop was awesome, loaded with top of the line General tools.

Politics were at play although I didn't realize it till years later, my dad mad been mayor of our town for years and I guess the ww teacher had ran a few times and never won.

As a background, by the time I was in grade ten I had already been building and selling craft and small furniture projects using pretty much all hand tools and doing well.

After a few weeks in shop the teacher told me I did not have what it took to be a woodworker. I hung in as I really wanted to try these tools I did not have (dad couldn't drive a nail straight so the tools we had are the tools I bought), I built dad a nice oak gun case from a picture, I recall he gave me a 55% of the project. I have that gun case now as dad has since passed on, as a professional ww, I would personally give it an 8 out of 10 if built buy an adult and a 10/10 if built by a teenager. I dropped shop shortly after that and went into electrical.....glad I did in a way as I had the ww skills and the electrical I learned has saved me hundreds over the years.

I've since gone back to this teacher who is now retired and shown him some of my projects....all I ever hear is not bad.....there are names for people like that.

Andy

[William Lewis]

Had wood shop one year in 7th grade. Made a book shelf, don't remember much else tho. That was a long time ago, LOL. What age does your memory start to fail you ? Can't remember lol.

William Lewis

[Tony Falotico]

You Betcha!

First of all, wood shop was a required class. Your read correctly. For us, it was a required class! This was 7th or 8th grade.


Same here...... 7th and 8th grade at East Northport Junior High School (Long Island, NY) all boys took shop. One half year Wood Shop, one half year Metal Shop. No Exceptions. Girls took Home Economics.

First thing we did in wood shop (after learning about all the tools and how to use them) was to square a piece of stock using hand tools only. Had to get it approved and passed by the teacher before starting a project.

In metals shop, one metal project was required (I made a copper pail), and one ceramic project. Pour it into the mold, cleaned it, fired it, finished it and fired it again.

Those were the days, Times sure have changed !!

[Brian Hough]

Can't remember much of what i made,itwas back in 1963 &1964.I do recall cutting boards & knife racks.What i remember mostis the shop teachers name......Mr. WOOD !!!!

[Kirk (KC) Constable]

I had both wood and metal in 8th grade, one semester of each. Very basic. Pine Aggravation board and metal table lamp.

I had one year of woodshop in high school, but I cut most of it. In fact, I cut most of my classes in high school. :(

KC

[fred woltersdorf]

shop was required way back in the olden days when i went to school.woodshop with mr govoni,drafting with mr dimick(the coolest teacher i ever had), and metalshop.built a coffee table in woodshop.i think the only power tool we could use was a lathe.don't remember much about metalshop.drafting served me well as i worked as an engineer for 35 years.

[Joe Unni]

I took a quarter each of wood shop, metal, shop, cooking and sewing in the 7th or 8th grade. It was a requirement.

The only project I really remember is a napkin holder and one small side project the teacher (Mr. Valenti) let me do. It was this tiny cross (maybe 2 1/2" x 1 1/4") that I gave to my mom. We had just lost my dad. I punched INRI on the back. To this day she still has it displayed on the Madonna she has on her dresser.

I can't say that I "got the bug" from shop class, but I do remember what it felt like to shape the wood with rasps and sandpaper. I seem to remember the pleasing feeling when rough and sharp would give way to silky smooth and rounded over.

Oh, the year before I took shop, Mr. Valenti lost two fingers - right in class :eek: My hope is that he wasn't giving a safety lesson.

High school...

My name is Joe Unni and....I was in the band.:o

Enough said.

Great thread and some very fond memories.

Thanks,
-joe

[lou sansone]

took all wood shop I could get

7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th grades

lou

[Mark Singer]

I took many shops in Junior High and then in high school it was math , science, and actually it seems very blurry....was I drinking? Was I at a concert? Were there girls? I can't remember:confused:

[Ray Moser]

Had to take Industrial Arts (shop) in 7th and 8th grade. The teacher made you start by handsaw cutting three boards for a bench hook. When you had cut them, he would check them with a square and if there were not perfect-"Do it over" Pretty tough for a 12 yr old to hand cut a 6 inch wide board perfectly square. In the meantime he sat around with his feet up on the desk. I was an adult high school math teacher myself before I realized that his idea wasn't to make us experts with a hand saw but rather to keep us busy while he did minimum work. In spite of him, I enjoy woodworking and still probably couldn't cut a 6 inch board perfectly square with a hand saw.

[tod evans]

wood, metal,auto and drafting.....but like mark, it`s all a blur:) .02 tod

[Jim Becker]

I had drafting and electrical shop...didn't take wood shop for some reason. Thus, I didn't start woodworking until about 6-7 years ago as a branch out from home improvement projects.

[Rick Thom]

I count myself fortunate to be educated in a time and place where practical skills and knowledge where seen as important. 2 years in elementery school (shops) and 4 years in secondary school (science and technogy) gave me a good knowledge and understanding of most trades including ww, auto mech, welding, sheet metal, electrical, drafting etc which eventually led me into civil engrg and a 25 year career in telecom.
I had excellent teachers throughout my formal schooling and many since.

[Richard Wolf]

From the other side.
It was 1970, I was 22 years old. I just graduated from college and my first teaching job was in Ossining, NY, (Home of Sing Sing Correctional Facility).
I was teaching wood shop and had some kids in my class that were 19 years old. I can tell you that most of them were not college bound.
Tools and machines were old, very little money in the budget for wood or supplies. It was a real challange.
The only bright side to that job was that I was the HS ice hockey coach. We played all our games at Rye Playland, where the Rangers still practice.
Unfortunitly, programs were cut the next year and someone with more senority bumped me out of there.
I finally moved to Long Island and taught for eight more years but for I realized I hated kids.
I think I also realized I wasn't the type to work for someone else. While it seems like a dream job, be in a wood shop all day and mold minds, it wasn't all it was cracked up to be. When I left teaching in 1979, the money wasn't even enough to justify as combat pay!

Richard

[Russ Massery]

Where I went to high school shop was a requirement. It was a great program, it consisted wood, metal,electric,drafting,and small engine repair. They came in great use later on in life. My interest in woodworking started from my boss retiring and setting up a woodshop next the machine shop I worked in at the time. He offer to help build some kicthen for my old house. I enjoyed it so much, I started putting a shop together for myself.Have doing it ever since.

[James Ayars]

I took the combination half year wood shop/half year home ec class in 7th grade('76-77) as it was required of everyone. Neither was any fun or educational. I had been helping my dad for years building things. Also the previous year, I had started spending my summers and weekends roofing houses with my dad as he believed young men should do physical work thus driving nails and using a saw were nothing magical to me.

In high school, I spent my time in chemistry, physics, German etc. Plus our high school had no wood shop just auto tech, graphics, print shop and drafting.

The high school I teach in now had a wood shop until about ten years ago. Great equipment, but the teacher really couldn't do much with it as his classes were full of low life trash and hoodlums. He was a good teacher but had his fill, took a reduced retirement to get out early and now works part time at Wal Mart. All that A+ equipment disappeared in a couple years, probably into a school board members garage.
James

[Gregg Mason]

Took it, liked it. We had a great shop with big iron. And a great instructor.

[Roger Bailey]

I took woodshop in jr. high. I still have the bowls I turned. My teacher left me with a desire for woodworking and the knowledge to appreciate great craftsmanship when I see it. I do not know what ever happened to Mr. Tom Holcomb but I would like to say thanks to him and all the shop teachers out there.

[Shelley Bolster]

No woodworking class here, I had two strikes against me. :rolleyes: One, I was a girl and two, I was taking the Academic courses. However, the fact that I was on the University entrance program never stopped them from throwing me into a sewing class (where I learned to sew a tote bag while wear a dress I had made at home :cool: ) and a cooking class. The boys made cool stuff like pizzas and steaks but us girls had to learn all about nutrition and how to make an awesome white sauce! :mad: Classes in early seventies up here still were governed by gender....sorry Wes, but I agree it is a good thing to allow both sexes to experience "the other side" although I can understand your utter boredom taking those "home-ec" classes.......now you know what girls for decades have had to endure!:p :p ;)

[Allen Grimes]

Unfortunately I went to one of those high schools that recently cut the shop program, right before I started going there. I would have loved it though.

[tod evans]

No woodworking class here, I had two strikes against me. :rolleyes: One, I was a girl and two, I was taking the Academic courses. However, the fact that I was on the University entrance program never stopped them from throwing me into a sewing class (where I learned to sew a tote bag while wear a dress I had made at home :cool: ) and a cooking class. The boys made cool stuff like pizzas and steaks but us girls had to learn all about nutrition and how to make an awesome white sauce! :mad: Classes in early seventies up here still were governed by gender....sorry Wes, but I agree it is a good thing to allow both sexes to experience "the other side" although I can understand your utter boredom taking those "home-ec" classes.......now you know what girls for decades have had to endure!:p :p ;)

oh quit whining! i do the cooking at our house only i`ve stopped wearing my homemade dress the neighbors where starting to talk:)

[Don Bergren]

I took woodshop in high school. Freshman year was with Mr. Bailey and was a mix of things offered such as printing, ceramics, plastics, woodworking, leatherworking. During my sophomore though senior years I split things with half a year of woodworking shop and half a year of metalworking shop. Sophomore wood shop was with Mr. Newcomb, and Mr. Darby for junior and senior years. Mr. Hartford taught metal. I've stayed with both as best I could since then, but metalworking is not something I often do these days. I do have a small metalworking lathe that I occasionally use when I need to make a specialized part. But woodworking is my main interest these days.

In high school woodshop I built a wall mounted mahogany gun rack/cabinet during my sophomore year that held my guns vertically. Unfortunately it, as well as my guns, was lost in a house fire several years ago at my brother's house (my brother and his family lost everything so the gun rack and guns were not as important in my mind). During my junior year we built a storage shed to be auctioned off. In my senior year a small team of us built a boat. There were other small things I built as well, but the ones mentioned were the most fun. The boat was really interesting because we had to deal with coming up with a way to accomplish steam bending. For steam bending we used a broken off metal light pole that was once in the school parking lot (a kid in school broke it off with his car but wasn't injured). We plugged the ends and rigged it for steaming, and the big bonus was that we got to build an open fire outside woodshop to heat the steamer. I loved high school woodshop and the lessons and fun have always stayed with me.

[David Fried]

As I recall the basic courses were required with advanced classes as electives.

So, I took Mechanical Drawing and Basic Shop. Mechanical Drawing was a blast and gave me an edge in college. I survived basic Shop, making a pine shelf stained almost black. Thirty years later my sister still has those shelves in her basement bathroom.

I really wanted to take home economics because that's where all the girls were and I figured knowing how to cook would be helpful.

Things changed and a few years later my younger brother took home ec. and his girlfriend took shop!!

I look at the middle school shop projects, now that my son is in middle school, and I'm thrilled. His first project was totally dictated. The second project was explained to them but the design was up to them. In the display case in the school entrance is a display of clocks. The kids were given those small (approx. 2 inches) clock inserts and told to make a clock. The variety and originality is great!!


Dave Fried

[Shelley Bolster]

oh quit whining! i do the cooking at our house only i`ve stopped wearing my homemade dress the neighbors where starting to talk:)

Mr. Evans..........you are soooooo in for it!!! :p :p :p




I really wanted to take home economics because that's where all the girls were and I figured knowing how to cook would be helpful.


Co-ed might have made cooking class a little more palatable David..........but Noooooo - they had to keep us separated at all times!

Funny, kids today laugh in surprise when hearing how there was such a division of the sexes in the school system. It is perfectly natural now for girls to take the woodworking classes.....in fact - for the last three years running, the high school here has presented the top Woodworking Award at the end of the year to a girl. Funny, I have been in the audience each time and the shop teacher makes a point of saying "This one is for Mrs. Bolster" while he calls a girls name to accept the plaque. :D Oh yeah, in no way am I implying that girls are better than boys ....but after having to put up with more than a little discrimination, it is good to see that one can be appreciated for their skills and talents irregardless of their gender.:)

[Tyler Howell]

Theater and music was the crowd for me. Shop wasn't offered in the school I went to. Still remember some of those cast parties and concert tours:D :D . And there were girls .....Not a blur:rolleyes: .
Wish I had. Most of my WW ed has been through trial and error. TOH type shows and mags. Two neander classes in the past year, and of course SMC.

[David Fried]

Co-ed might have made cooking class a little more palatable David..........but Noooooo - they had to keep us separated at all times!


They actually started integrating things just before I got out of high school. In gym, in addition to co-ed volleyball, etc. they started offering classes. I took a class in basketball. The basketball coach explained the game, offenses, defenses, strategies, etc.. I'll never be a player but am a knowledgable fan now! Perhaps the only thing I ever got out of gym class.

[David Fried]

[B][I][COLOR=navy]
Theater and music was the crowd for me.


That explains the thong!!:D :eek:

[Bryan Somers]

No wood shop for me. Took an imediate dislike for that teacher and he never did anything to change my mind. Took auto shop, found out I didnt like fixing cars. Took agriculter shop wich also had woodworking machines. It was taught by J.W. Busik who was an outdoorsman, and one of his many passions was wildlife habitate. Woodduck boxes and bluebird boxes, his classes built many and he taught me how to use a jigsaw, and showed me creating things can be fun. I have alot of respect for him and even in my forties he would say to me "my friends call me J.W." he was still Mr. Busik.

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

Wood working, Metal working, Electronics, Draughting, three years of auto mechanic class, Industrial arts math, (which was NOT math for dummies, but more math that you would USE in a trades job). Tried to get a job as a mechanic after HS, but could not, worked at a steel fabricators, learned to weld steel, and aluminium as well.

Loved the WW class, and the MW class, loved it all, but for me it was basic stuff, we did more at home, or my grandpa's work shop that we did in the WW class, but still I enjoyed it!

Cheers!

[Ken Salisbury]

The very last thing I would have wanted to do was take shop classes when I was in school. Since my Dad and Granddad kept be humping it in the shop at home it was nice to get away from the slave labor and go to school and take art classes.


http://www.oldrebelworkshop.com/daffypaint.gif

[Paul Canaris]

I think it was Mr. Sweat. He was a product of the German apprentice system. Had a set of wall to floor tool cabinets he made when a student that were hand carved and very impressive. What I remeber most is that he would not let us touch any of the power ;) tools and insisted that sandpaper be used on a push stroke only.:confused:

[Aaron Mills]

Five years in a great wood technology program in high school. The teacher, Mr. Ng, has taught in the same shop since the 1980s. Here's a link to his shop and some of the work his more recent students have done:

http://www.deltasd.bc.ca/se/wood/

[Dan Oliphant]

Metal shop and drafting, industrial arts one year (back in the 60's) did a little wood carving in the industrial arts class.

[John D Watson]

Yes Sir'ee, I was very lucky and started WW in grade five with a scandinavian cabinet maker, Mr Sandmark. He was my neibour as well and I was under his tutoledge right up to grade nine when I moved into machine shop full time (should have stuck with the wood). We weren't allowed on the machinery until grade nine so I've alot of hand tool experience. That remindes me that one of my first projects is sitting in a drawer in the shop awaiting refinishing. I better get to it. Thanks for all the memories. Oh and I tried to get into home ec with no success in the late sixties. I now realize I missed nothing that the Joy of Cooking could'nt teach me. Salut.

[Robert Waddell]

I had "industral arts" in 7th grade for part of a year (mid-70's). It consisted of WWing and ceramics. I liked the WWing. I made a gun rack as a first project out of white pine. The next Christmas I got a jig saw and a drill. The first and only power tools to ever grace our home. Up until then there was nothing to use but a hammer with a partically broken handle, a rusty ripping hand saw, a bow saw, and a dull 1 inch socket chisel without a handle. The only WWing my Dad ever did was a small pole barn. I got a laugh when I read Andy London's post about his Dad not being able to drive a nail. Mine could've if he had ever used new nails. Later in high school I took woodshop for one year, the only thing available. I learned the basics and enjoyed it. I feel sorry for our kids today. They don't have woodshop in any of our public schools around here. My brother is a general contractor now and after 22 years in a chemistry lab, I do WWing full time. If it wasn't for early exposure in school we might not have ever had a chance to pick up a tool. If it wasn't for the threat of insurance claims and law suits, I'd give kids a chance to learn in my shop. Too bad whinny people, goverment and lawyers have ruined everything.

[Curt Harms]

You Betcha!

... Later we learned how to titrate which was good as you cannot mix H2SO4, Nitric acid and Glyercin in a big cook pot!!!!!!!!



Whyever not:rolleyes: :D

[Bill Ryall]

Industrial arts in the 7th and 8th grades- wood, metal, ceramics, plastics and fiberglass. I was one of the geeks in academic programs, so from the same teacher, I took 2 years of electronics, and a year of drafting.

My dad taught French in the same small rural school. I still keep in touch through Dad with Mr. Roy. (It has been 20 years, and I still call him Mr. Roy) He retired a couple years ago.

I credit him with giving me my start in what has been a pretty successful career so far in telcom and woodworking.

Bill R, somewhere in Maine

[Wes Bischel]

sorry Wes, but I agree it is a good thing to allow both sexes to experience "the other side" although I can understand your utter boredom taking those "home-ec" classes.......now you know what girls for decades have had to endure!:p :p ;)

Don't get me wrong, I think it's good to know both disciplines as well. My son will know how to take care of himself when he flies the coup. My gripe was I had no exposure to woodworking or metalwork at home but did have responsibilities for cooking and cleaning. So if the purpose of the classes were to make a student "well rounded" (as they stated it would) then they failed. Like I said, bureaucracy - the individuals needs didn't matter, only their program. It wasn't until my mom married my stepdad that I got any exposure to woodworking.

I guess it's all a bit irrelevant considering how few shop classes are still in existence.:mad:

Wes

[Steve Ash]

Interesting reading.... I forgot to mention my expierience other than my high school shop teacher.

I had wood shop and metal shop in 8th grade and we were required to also take home ec. which was with the girls. (1972 ). We were required to learn to square a board using handtools (thanks for jogging that memory guys) and only allowed the basic tools that first year.

Then I took woodshop as a sophmore and a junior with Mr. Whitens. My dad taught 4-H woodworking so I grew up around this stuff all my life ...that is when I wasn't on a tractor farming 2,000 acres and 300 head of cattle.

[Randy Moore]

Woodworking class for one year. I made a cutting board and an end table. My Mom has 'em both

Background on me. My Dad owned a sheet metal shop in Kansas City Mo. I went down there on weekends and evenings to clean up scrap metal and such. After the first time on a saturday I went home and to bed. During the night I had a terrible nightmare about metal, I was buried in it. I think I was about 10 yo. I vowed that I didn't want ANYTHING to do with sheet metal.

I barely got out of HS, no shop classes. Home Ec. was not offered to the boys in late 1960's. I did take 3 years of drafting, Basic, Mechanical and Architectual. I wanted to be an architech-HA HA. I went to a Jr college for 3 days-that's right three days and dropped out. Went home and told my parents that I quit school,:o they got there money back. I hated school more than anything, now I wish I had paid attention. Gone to college and maybe made something of myself.

I needed a job and the only thing I knew was sheet metal and that was when I got into the construction industry-July of 1972. I have learned more on the job about WWing and, of course sheet metal than I did in school.

Randy

[dale rex]

I had woodshop in grades 10,11 and 12. Was only required for one year, but I passed up some other college prep classes to take woodshop in the 11th and 12th grades. I loved it! Teachers name was Mr. Gollatz. He used to make walnut grandfathers clocks in the school shop and sell them for extra cash...... LOL He did beautiful work I must say. I didnt touch another woodworking machine for 10 years. Now at age 46 I cant get enough of it! I still have the stereo cabinet that I made in 12th grade. Some of the tools there were enormous: 36"wide planer, 12" radial arm saw, 12" jointer. pedal operated mortising machines......all industrial machines. One of the things I remember was some of the other guys making wooden pot pipes really quickly when the teacher wasnt around for a few minutes:( .........that was back in 1976. Wow, starting to feel a little old now........:rolleyes:

[Jerry Olexa]

I took Shop in Jr High. We made mostly smaller projects: storage box, bookends,cutting board, bowls etc. Good experience. Safety was always stressed..

[David Klug]

Wow do you all bring back memories. I took wood shop in freshman and sophmore years. First project was to square a board with a not to sharp plane. Ever try that on end grain? Most of the tools were hand tools. We had a band saw, table saw, and 2 lathes and a forge. The instructors were rather mediocre in that they could have given us more guidance. Made a magazine rack that I still have.

I took volc ag for four yrs. We had a shop more dedicated to things on the farm. I'll never forget the first forge project that I had. It was a chisel and when I got done tempering it the teacher was going to check it out. He took the chisel with a pair of pliers grabbed a 3 lb forging hammer, placed it on the anvil laid into it. The point on it went flying off clear across the room. No it didn't pass muster, but the next time he did it, it made a nice indent in the anvil. The biggest thing that I made down there was a hayrack for hauling hay. I really enjoyed shop except I wish I would have taken wood shop in my junior and senior years when I would have been more mature.

DK

[Dale Thompson]

Steve,
I WOULD have taken a shop class but they weren't offered in the 4th grade when I was kicked out of school! :( A few years later, a Judge gave me the choice between the gas chamber at Alcatraz and an engineering degree? ;) :confused: Although I took the latter alternative, I can't help but think, as things turned out, that either choice would have been about a photo-finish in the final analysis. ;) :)

In one of their books, either Stott or Rowley (master turners) related the following story (more or less): "I was asked to give a turning exhibition at a nearby high school. Everything went fine during the demonstrations. However, after the students left, the instructor came up to me and thanked me profusely for my time and effort. His only question was; 'Why do you stand on the BACK side of the lathe?'" :confused: :confused: :( Enough said! :)

Dale T.

[Mitchell Scrivener]

I took Marine Technology in HS in Cocoa Beach, Florida 30+ years ago. We worked on outboard motors and worked with fiberglass making canoes, surfboards, and serving trays for Mom. Sprayed a lot of chop glass without a respirator, made plugs and moulds for the canoes and kayaks, and pushed all the woodworking tools into the corner. It isn't helping me much lately with my woodworking, and haven't needed to shape a blank for a surfboard lately. I did take a WW class at Kadena AB in the early 80's but got deployed and missed most of it.

[Rob Will]

I didn't......I ran with the chem, physics, trig crowd! I did take 3 drafting classes and basic electricity.

Same here but at the time I was not ready for it. All that had to wait a few years. In high school and against everyone's wishes I signed up for freshman woodshop class. The teacher was strict but he appreciated attention to detail.

One of my favorite stories is how we had to clean up the shop every day after class. There was a rotating wheel with each of our names assigned to a different area of the classroom to clean each and eyery day. Not long after the beginning of the school year, my turn came to straighten the "tool board". It had all the usual stuff, clamps, hand saws, rasps, chisels etc. I did my best and tried to organize the tools from smallest to largest and align all the tool handles neatly in a row.

We returned to our seats awaiting the bell to ring while the teacher took a look about the classroom. He called us to attention and loudly asked: "Alright....who cleaned up the tool board today???" Knowing that I must have done something wrong, I reluctantly raised my hand.

He had me stand up and he anounced to the class that from that day forward, EVERYONE would continue to rotate with the cleanup duties except me. It would be my permanent duty to oversee the tool board and supervise other students when they had tool board duty. I felt 10 feet tall.

This gave me encouragement in that class and school in general. It turned out that I got an "A" in shop and developed a friendship with the teacher that continues today. Looking back, if only we could have integrated the chem and physics into some apllied sciences class along with the shop class that all kids love.

Rob

[Dan Racette]

We had a state of the art facility with 4 industrial arts sections.

Woods, Metals, Engines, and graphic arts.

I learned very little in all of them and chose to take a 2nd graphic arts class, and lo and behold I now am a pre-press technician that retouches photos for a living.

Woods, metals, and engines were spent ducking for my life as the kids who "didn't want any college bound kids" in their "territory". They used to take acetylene torches to your butt while you operated the lathes (metals). For the hydraulics section, they used to score my groups hoses so they would burst, and in woods, they would put loose nails, or pound them in if they could when you put your wood through one side of the planer as you moved to the other side. It was ok'd by the teachers, because they were all coaches in sports and the people doing it were star atheletes. I was able to survive with only being hit in the back by someone's table saw kickback, a "face wash" with milling machine shavings, a smack with a 2" combo wrench in the shoulder, and many 3 or 4 woodchip "showers" from the dust collectors. it saddened me, because I knew all the equipment was top of the line.

Hence, I let very few people into my shop now.

[Doug Jones from Oregon]

Yes, I took shop class, wood and metal. Funny thing is, I did very poorly in wood shop....

Went to visit the teacher at his retirement occupation (an antique shop) a few years ago...we both got a good laugh out of the fact that I am now making my living working with wood!

Doug

[Dave Anderson NH]

I had metal shop in 7th grade and wood shop in 8th. Neither were memorable though they were enjoyable. We were limited in what we could do because of class size and the perceived immaturity of our age. Probably a good idea too. My all boys high school didn't offer anything but college prep and music and art as electives. No shop, so I was a jock for a few years.

I was fortunate to be able to get my woodworking fix at home. I had full acccess to my Dad's shop and could use any of the tools in it including the power ones. I was taught from an early age that all tools had to be cleaned, sharpened, and oiled before being put away. On the rare occasions that I violated the rules I was banned from the shop for 2 weeks as punishment. Between 10 years old and 17 when I went off to college, I was only banned 3 times. This was the same way my Grandfather taught my Dad and I think for someone who loves woodworking it's a sound policy. My son was taught the same way and my grandson is learning the same good habits.

[Tony Falotico]

It was ok'd by the teachers, because they were all coaches in sports and the people doing it were star atheletes. I was able to survive with only being hit in the back by someone's table saw kickback, a "face wash" with milling machine shavings, a smack with a 2" combo wrench in the shoulder, and many 3 or 4 woodchip "showers" from the dust collectors. it saddened me, because I knew all the equipment was top of the line.

Sounds like jail time is in order.........

BEGIN RANT It is a sad state of affairs when the teachers are no brighter or responsible than the kids.......... To think any educated adult would even consider allowing such behavior in a shop environment for any reason is just beyond comprehension to me.

I can go on for hours, but in the interest of your time, my sanity, and remaining within the SMC TOS ........ END RANT

Yes, you guessed it, kinda sore subject on this end !! :mad: :mad:

[Dan Racette]

Well, I definitely agree with you. three of four teachers that I worked with have been terminated, two for impregnating students, one for incompetance.

It was very very sad. Now I hear the facilities are "really needed" to teach some of these skills and they are not up to par, or most machinery was sold off. Sad missed opportunities.

I hope no one else had any similar experiences like mine.

[Chip Olson]

I took wood shop throughout jr. high and high school, and my summer camp in jr. high had a decent woodshop. Thinking back on it, I really didn't learn all that much, though that's likely as much my fault as my teachers'. Made a bowl that my parents still keep their keys in, an ugly clock, a couple of ugly lamps, and shaved the ends of my fingers down a bit on a disc sander.

[Ed Blough]

I took Shop in school and it taught me two things woodworking and discipline. Our shop teacher was strict and had his way of doing things. You never laid a plane down on the bench unless it was on it's side. If he caught you putting it down blade down you met his board of education. He even had his own way of sweeping. Later I had a summer job in a steel mill as a common laborer, because I knew how to sweep I immediately got promoted to electrical helper.

However I have a real concern. In this country we have less and less emphasis on the skills and the trades. Many high school shop programs are being shut down. This is happening during a time when more and more of our technology type jobs being shipped over seas. Now we have people that need skill trades workers and we have unemployed workers but instead of training for a trade all the training seems to be going to train people for jobs we are currently sending over seas.

I have a friend that had a wielding shop, he closed it when he couldn't get any skilled welders anymore. He would get a trainees and after 6 months they wanted to run the shop instead of learn how to weld. My neighbor is an upholestrer he simply can not find anyone that wants to do the work. In both cases these men were willing to pay for skill. I understand the same problem exists in nearly all the trades.

Another thing while we are talking about it. The way we pay is totally out of wack. We pay a CEO big money but refuse to pay a electical linesman that risks life and limb going out in the middle of a storm, climbing a high pole in lightning so we can have power to watch TV. We will pay a "webgraphic artist" big money to build a web site but refuse to pay a carpenter equal money to build us a house to live in for the next 30 years.
We will pay a consultant big money to tell us how to teach our kids but refuse to pay the teacher an equal salary for teaching our kids.
We will pay a football player millions to entertain us but refuse to pay our soldiers more than pitance to defend us. We pay pilots 10 times what we pay the mechcanic that fixes the autopilot the pilot uses 90 percent of the time.
Our soldiers should be the highest paid along with cops and firemen, then the trades, teachers, farmers and craftsmen then the desk jockeys.

That is the end of my rant.

[Chris Dodge]

I took a wood shop class in 7th or 8th grade. I made a lighthouse lamp on a lathe and cut out a fish on a jigsaw. That's all I remember making and haven't taken a class since (though I would love to some day).

I really started woodworking about 12 years ago after my wife and I bought a very interesting looking armoire/entertainment center and wanted some bookshelves to match it. They didn't make any so I convinced my wife that, with a tablesaw and router, I could make the bookshelves. I've been making furniture ever since.

[Andy Hoyt]

Hey Ed Blough - I like the way you rant. You nailed it. Thanks.

[tod evans]

Hey Ed Blough - I like the way you rant. You nailed it. Thanks.

me too! nice job ed.....02 tod

[Homer Faucett]

I didn't......I ran with the chem, physics, trig crowd! I did take 3 drafting classes and basic electricity.

Yup, that was me, too. However, we had mandatory shop classes during 7th and 8th grade: Drafting, woodshop, small engine repair, metalworking/introductory plastics. We used only hand tools--no power tools--in all classes.

Believe it or not, that was in the 1990's. I learned plenty in those classes, but I learned even more just by taking on some home improvement projects in college and after. The "recent" surge of home improvement shows (okay, I did watch Bob Villa way back when), the Internet, and my 1850's house that is constantly in need of repair/remodeling really got me into my current enjoyment of/need for woodworking.

I learned some decent basics in those rudimentary classes, but if I had depended on high school shop to spark my interest, I probably would never have picked up a tool again.

[Scott Coffelt]

I started in 7th grade and took it through out jr. and high school.

[Don Baer]

Unfortunatly the grade school and high school I went to didn't offer any shop classes. I did take one as a summer school class when I was in 6th or 7th grade. I also belonged to the boys club and they had a huge shop and some great instructors, they were woodworkers who donated their time to teach. That is something I'd like to do when I retire.

I also had a great teacher at home my Dad who did wood work right up until he passed away..

[Frank Pellow]

I took shop in grades 9, 10, and 11. Then, in grades 12 and 13 (until a couple of years ago, high schools in Ontario had had 5 year programs), I attended after school shop clubs.

The experience was great and I ended with very good groundings in woodworking, metal working (including forge work), drafting, electrical work, and plumbing.

[Eric Shields]

The ONLY teacher I can remember from my school days was Mr. Lowe, 7th grade wood shop. Had 2 weeks of drafting and the rest learning the tools and making projects. I will regretfully add that this was my only formal education in either disciplines. I had the opportunity to take both woodworking and mechanical drawing (drafting) in high school, but did not take the plunge. Looking back, knowing my passion for both, I wish I had. Though self taught in not a bad thing either. My mother still uses a leaning shelf (cedar) for her cookbooks, so I guess I learned something :)

[Frank Pellow]

... The teacher made you start by handsaw cutting three boards for a bench hook.
...

That was also my first project. And, I still have, and use, the bench hook. :)

[Frank Pellow]

If it wasn't for the threat of insurance claims and law suits, I'd give kids a chance to learn in my shop. Too bad whinny people, goverment and lawyers have ruined everything.
They only ruin thngs if you let them and I refuse to let them. My advise is to give them a chance to learn in spite of the whinny people, goverment and lawyers

[john mclane]

I had shop in the 7th grade (in the 1960s) and did not like it (I remember the teacher was the vice principal and always crabby). I hung around later with the biology and ecology groups. Neither of my 2 sons in the 90s had any kind of shop yet they had home economics in 7th or 8th grade. They really did away in the 70's and 80's with a lot of the more technical classes for many of the students. Too bad.

[Dale Thompson]

three of four teachers that I worked with have been terminated, two for impregnating students, one for incompetance.


Dan,
Sorry to hear about your experiences. GREAT teachers can never be conpensated adequately. :mad: Isn't is ironic that this minority is the LAST to scream about their salary and benefits? :confused:

By the way, we have a secluded area near Peshtigo where we "entertain" your sort of instructors and others of similar character. In that area is an old, OLD Oak tree that is locally referred to as the "spike" tree! :cool: WEELLL - that is not QUITE a true story but it should be because the area and the "spike" tree actually exist. :eek:

I took a woodshop class in the 7th Grade. I remember making an "Onion" cutting board for my mom. Unfortunately, I woodburned the word, "Unions" on the board. :o She still loved it! I also remember making a chamfered board and then tacking a sheet of thin copper to the board. We scribed a picture of a horse on the copper and then used a rounded punch to carefully tap all around the horse outline, starting from the outside edges of the copper. The air trapped under the copper made the horse stand out in a 3-D effect. :) It was REALLY neat! :) Come to think of it, I would like to try that again sometime. :D Fortunately, we didn't have to spell "Horse" on the picture or I would have had to make a "Cat"! ;) :D

Dale T.

[Randy Looney]

I took 2 years of Carpentry (Junior and Senior years) We completed one house my Junior year. We started and finished the Second house my Senior year.

[Michael Gabbay]

Oh the memories! :eek:

I took wood and metal shop in 8th grade. Metal shop was a blast. We made Ninja stars to throw, out of 20 guage sheet metal. This was back in the day that the Kung Fu and Ninja movies were getting popular (1974-75). They worked great until the principal outlawed them. Then there was welding. Alot of fun. We could weld the heck out of black iron. Come to think about it, its a wonder that the school did not burn down.

Now wood shop was a different story. We actually made things that were useful. I still have the first bowl that I turned. It makes a nice large fruit bowl. We also made chess boards, cutting boards and a small shelf.

With all my new skills, I later went on to be the set builder for all of the school plays in high school. We did the play Oklahoma and we build a 60% scale tree (wire framed and paper mache'd) along with the first floor front of the house. All celebrated by a few adult beverages in the lighting and sound booth. :D Matter of fact I think the empties might still be under the raised floor. It was tradition to leave the empties there.

Mike

[Jerry Ingraham]

I took woodshop as soon as it was available to me- in the eighth grade. It was in a 50 year old shop class and is indelibly marked in my memory. Our instructor was R.J. Trevithick and he was an excellent shop teacher. As long as I live, I don't think I'll ever forget his instruction as our first classes took place, in regard to sqaring a board "Face, edge, end-end, edge, face". We spent hours with Stanley jackplanes carving down pieces of pine until we had them completely squared up. The other memory is of his short, high-pitched whistle through his teeth, which meant that someone was doing something wrong! Everyone would freeze, look up and hope it wasn't them!

I took that class and made a bootjack (one of the two choices-bootjack or three board desk top book holder). Once accomplished, then you were able to move on to a more advanced project. Mine was a rifle/bow rack with ammo storage unit. This still hangs in the bedroom at my folks' home with Dad's guns and bows on it.

I took shop all four years in high school, even taking two classes back to back my senior year. R.J., was also the shop teacher at the high school (small town in Montana-1200 people) and had, over the years become comfortable enough with my skills, that he would put me in charge when he would leave the classroom to go to the "office" (or outside to have a smoke).

I am so grateful that I was introduced to this hobby and to R.J. as it is a skill which will be with me forever and the results will live on through generations of my family. The last I knew of him, R.J. was living in Alaska, so if any of our Alaskan brothers/sisters know of him, please give my regards.

Jerry

[Garry Smith]

Hey Steve,
I took shop class in 7th & 8th grades.
Had a good teacher and good experience.
1st project was a lamp that looked like an old time water pump with a bucket under the spout. Wood was walnut and all hand tools used except for maybe the round bucket was turned on the lathe, I can't really remember.
Othe project that I can remeber was a set of 4 salad bowls and a big serving bowl made from walnut. Shop teacher took them to the State show and they disapeared after the judging was done.

Garry

[Steve Ash]

Shop teacher took them to the State show and they disapeared after the judging was done.

Garry

That just ain't right, hopefully you inflicted some of that yooper justice on him....

[Dale Thompson]

they disapeared after the judging was done. Garry

Garry,
Since there are only three or four folks in Engadine and MOST of them are honest, I would suggest that you may look at a guy by the name of Dave Ladd. :( ;) :) Does the name ring a bell? :D :)

Dale T.

[George Sanders]

I took general shop class in 7th grade and didn't make anything outstanding. I really took an interest in my jr. year but the instructor wouldn't let me in the class since I wasn't in a shop class every year. I wish the old s.o.b. was alive now to see the furniture I have built.
The local high school sold off the metal and woodworking machinery three years ago. The local Junior College did the same thing. Everything is computers so that's about all they teach.
My sons have no interest in woodworking but my nephew does and I am happy to help him learn how to use my tools and machinery. I think this is the only way we will pass our skills on down to a younger generation.

[Garry Smith]

That just ain't right, hopefully you inflicted some of that yooper justice on him....

This happened in California. I lived there between the ages of 9-16.

[Garry Smith]

Garry,
Since there are only three or four folks in Engadine and MOST of them are honest, I would suggest that you may look at a guy by the name of Dave Ladd. :( ;) :) Does the name ring a bell? :D :)

Dale T.

I recognize the name Dale but I don't think I know who he is.
Garry

[Kyle Kraft]

I had a semester of wood shop in Junior High where we were restricted to "Neanderthol" hand tools. The room was filled with awesome machinery that only the teacher used. In high school we had another awesome wood shop but I went for the Machine Shop/Foundry and Auto shop and Drafting classes with the Machine Shop taking the top spot. I got good at woodworking by the "read and do" method, common sense, advice from like minded individuals and a generous, undeserved blessing of talent from the Lord.

[Dan Racette]

The big pesh! I used to go to a camp that had a site called "five pines". the sign said that those "five pines" were the only original old growth pines left after the great peshtigo fire. Several people linked hands to get around the trunks!! I think it took like 5 or 6 kids!

I also just found out that some of the teachers in Industrial Arts in my old school still have the same issues. (kids making bongs in metals class and calling it a "candleholder", not to mention smoking in the welding chambers because of the exhaust fans. sad sad).

D


Dan,
Sorry to hear about your experiences. GREAT teachers can never be conpensated adequately. :mad: Isn't is ironic that this minority is the LAST to scream about their salary and benefits? :confused:

By the way, we have a secluded area near Peshtigo where we "entertain" your sort of instructors and others of similar character. In that area is an old, OLD Oak tree that is locally referred to as the "spike" tree! :cool: WEELLL - that is not QUITE a true story but it should be because the area and the "spike" tree actually exist. :eek:

I took a woodshop class in the 7th Grade. I remember making an "Onion" cutting board for my mom. Unfortunately, I woodburned the word, "Unions" on the board. :o She still loved it! I also remember making a chamfered board and then tacking a sheet of thin copper to the board. We scribed a picture of a horse on the copper and then used a rounded punch to carefully tap all around the horse outline, starting from the outside edges of the copper. The air trapped under the copper made the horse stand out in a 3-D effect. :) It was REALLY neat! :) Come to think of it, I would like to try that again sometime. :D Fortunately, we didn't have to spell "Horse" on the picture or I would have had to make a "Cat"! ;) :D

Dale T.

[Jim Hager]

Sounds like jail time is in order.........

BEGIN RANT It is a sad state of affairs when the teachers are no brighter or responsible than the kids.......... To think any educated adult would even consider allowing such behavior in a shop environment for any reason is just beyond comprehension to me.

I can go on for hours, but in the interest of your time, my sanity, and remaining within the SMC TOS ........ END RANT

Yes, you guessed it, kinda sore subject on this end !! :mad: :mad:

Tony,

I have taught vo ag for the last 27 years and I know what you are talking about. My sore spot too. I see some shop programs that are totally out of control. At teachers meeting I hear some of them tell stories about their students doing some pretty rough stuff. Our kids here at my school respect the tools. Now we are not the most organized place on the planet but we still turn out some nice stuff and the students are learning. I wonder what will happen to our shop once I and the other guy I work with are gone from the school. I used to get to teach a woodworking class but I haven't done one in years. That is why I've taken to teaching adult woodworking classes in my own shop. I've got one starting in 2 weeks.

[Steve Clardy]

Took woodworking 9-10-11th grades.:)
Also metal work, welding, plastic work, drafting.
Still have my first woodworking project. A hand made box with lid.

I remember some of the guys had trouble sawing and planeing the top of the sides down to equal distance for the top to fit. Some of those boxes sure were short.:eek: About 2". They were to be 4" tall.
Also made a lot of gear shift knobs for my old 1957 chevy. That was fun. Had no way to put a metal insert in them to screw them on the floorshift. So about every week we were all turning new knobs on the lathe, cause we had speed shifted to much over the weekend and tore them off. What a hoot:D :D :D :D :D

[Brent Smith]

I took wood shop in HS. I was very lucky. The year before I started HS they built an annex, the basement of which was devoted solely to shops. We had complete shops for a number of trades. If I remember correctly, the second year we were given the oppurtunity to take 6 different courses during the year. After that we had to decide whether to follow an academic or trade program. I chose academic, but was allowed one course in the trades for the following years. I chose WWing. My teachers name was Mr. Wubbolts. This guy was a master, did amazing things with wood and knew how to explain and demonstrate so that understanding came easy. We had a FULLY equipped shop there. Machines and hand tools equally represented.

Unfortunately, sometime in the late seventies the school board, in it's wisdom, decided to close down all the shops and use the space for class rooms. I was lucky that their "experiment" encompassed all my years in High School.

Brent

[Dale Thompson]

Hi folks,
I would guess that the concerns expressed in this very interesting thread are going to get worse before they get better. :(

The "bottom line" problem is the "bottom line". Shop classes are VERY expensive to start and maintain. The price of a good CNC metal lathe alone could put a nice addition onto most schools. Then there is the expense of "maintaining" the machines, the tooling and cost of "stock".

Even "Vocational Schools" across the country are starting to disappear. They are changing their names to "Community Colleges" and focusing on less expensive and more popular programs. Even parents are part of the problem. Most parents who theoretically "care" about their kids (rightly or wrongly) will "push" them into the "professions" as opposed to the "trades". Therefore, there is little outcry when a school decides to eliminate a VERY expensive "trades" program and replace it with a far LESS costly program such as Computer Science or Engineering or whatever.

Unfortunately, our future artisans will be either self-taught, informally or formally "apprenticed" or look for "rare" private training in their chosen field.

For someone with "big bucks" to invest up-front, this may be a future opportunity for the right entrepreneurs!

Otherwise, I would suggest that the outlook is pretty bleak for public education in the "trades".

Dale T.

[Scott Hooker]

I took woodshop in 8th and 9th grade in Hickory, NC! Wow, what a great experience. We started doing drafting, then building a dovetailed jewelry box. Once that was completed, we could choose our large project.

To encourage students to get into the "trades", the local furniture factories provided free pine and poplar 4/4 lumber. We always had at least 1000 bf available to choose from! All was rough, so had to leard proper methods on jointer, planer and TS.

For mostly regional reasons, most of the students chose a gun cabinet, but I made a chopping block on wheels. The block is hard maple (I dulled the planer blades which had to be sent out to be sharpened), the knife rack is soft maple, and the legs are tupelo (I turned them after school and would come home covered in sawdust). It still sits in my kitchen to this day. I remember a display of at least 20 gun cabinets at the end of the school year in the gymnasium!

Our instructor, whose name escapes the old brain, had a blackbelt in some martial art. He was a very large man. He would pick up whatever handy piece of wood and slam it on a bench or the floor to get the attention of the offending student. If that didn't work to his satisfaction, that piece of wood would become a paddle on the offender's backside. (yes, this was allowed in North Carolina at the time) We never had a major accident in that class!

He trusted me to do cuts on the TS when he wasn't in the shop. Other students had to bring their boards to me for the cuts on the saws. One was setup for crosscuts, the other ripping. This was 1973-74 and we did use saw guards.

Here it is 2006 and I'm getting the bug to start up woodworking again. I'm very fortunate to have a commercial building for my bicycle shop with 4000 square feet of basement with 10 foot ceilings. Approximately 1800 sq ft is available for my workshop. I'll be cruising the posts for your advice on getting kickstarted.

Thanks for bringing back some fond memories, ya'll!

Scott Hooker

New Member

[Steve Clardy]

Welcome Scott!!!!!!

[Art Davis]

Unfortunately, when I took shop close to fifty years ago the shop teacher was the basketball coach and his teaching job was only an excuse for his employment as a coach. So it was a pain. I suffered through three years of mandatory shop and learned little. I really wish that I had had a good shop teacher!

[Frank Pellow]

Welcome to Saw Mill Creek Scott! I look forward to "helping" you to set up your massive shop.

[Donald Van Slambrook]

My parents were adamant about me taking college prep courses, so I didn't get to take shop. I did however, take drafting and the instructor was also the shop teacher, Mr Pat Heeny. Funny how I can still remember his name when sometimes I can't remember my own. He was very strict and taught some of those same principals like "do it right or don't do it at all" and he wouldn't hesitate to make an example of someone who had done something wrong...or right. I don't recall any of us who were made examples of having permanent psychological scarring though. :eek: I still have a stool I made in 4H woodworking from about that same time-frame (early 70s), so I did get some good education in shop safety and procedures.

[Scott Hooker]

I took wood shop in the 9th grade in Hickory, NC. Being in the "furniture capital of the world" was definitely a good thing. To encourage young people to get into the "trades", the local furniture factories donated yellow pine and poplar to the schools. We had on average 1000 bf of wood to choose from at all times. The lumber was rough sawn, so we had to learn proper methods of preparation of rough sawn lumber into furniture making. We learned the proper operation of the table saw, jointer, and planer in prepping our wood for projects.

Our shop teacher, whose name escapes my aging brain, was a large man who had a black belt in one of the martial arts. To keep his classes in line, he would simply grab the closest plank of lumber and slam it on the floor, a bench, or steel support beam to get the offending student's attention. If that didn't work, that piece of wood became a paddle on the student's backside. Corporal punishment was allowed at this time (1974) in North Carolina. I don't recall a single safety related accident or injury in wood shop, which had something to do with our strict shop teacher. Safety was stressed in everything we learned that year.

The first activity was basic drafting. We drew up plans for a hand-dovetailed jewelry box. From these plans, we made a small jewelry box joined with dovetails. We learned how to use the bandsaw, backsaws, chisels, knives and clamps in making these boxes.

Once the jewelry box was completed, we could choose our large project for the year. Due to the free lumber available, most of the projects chosen were gun cabinets. I chose a rolling chopping block for my project. The block was made with hard maple (I dulled the planer blades, causing the planer to be down for a week to sharpen blades), the legs were 4" x 4" tupelo turned on the lathe, and the knife storage above the block was made out of soft maple. I didn't have enough time during shop time, so I stayed after school many days turning those legs. I came home covered in shavings many times! I have this project in my kitchen to this day.

As I recall, there were approximately 20 gun cabinets on display in the school's gymnasium at the end of the school year. My chopping block and three or four other large projects were also on display.

Thanks for bringing back some fond memories!

Scott Hooker

New Member

[Dale Thompson]

Hi Donald and Scott,
Thank you both for your stories and please join us more often on THE CREEK! :)

I'm not one of them but there are a lot of really nice and talented folks on these forums. :cool: :D

Anyway, your stories brought back memories of my high school days in the late fifties. Corporal punishment was not only acceptable to the "System" but was expected by us if we went to school for other reasons than to LEARN. :eek:

I can only tremble at what would have happened if I had approached Mr. Molander, my advanced math teach, or Miss Greene, my senior English teacher, and explained to them that I deserved an "A" on a failed test because I had "tried hard". :eek: HA! I would have been deservedly launched from their third story classroom windows for two understandable reasons: I had been STUPID for not studying properly for the test and I was an IDIOT for lying to my teachers. Both of which would have been correct. ;)

Nowadays, EVERY answer is correct and the students DEMAND that they be respected and that their self-esteem be treated with the utmost of tenderness. :( What a joke! I'm glad to be old enough to know that I will not be flying in planes or crossing bridges designed by self-estem as opposed to basic engineering principles. :cool: :eek: That's MY rant for the day!! :) Anyway, you guys come back again - SOON!!

Dale T.

[tim rowledge]

For a UK perspective, I was starting secondary school in '71 and had a really pretty good woodworking class taught by a guy that lived just down the road from the family home and that ran a small custom furniture etc shop as well.
I moved to another school in 73 and had metal and wood facilities, taught by another couple of pretty decent folks. Despite being on what would be the 'academic track' in US schools I had no problem being allowed to do an O level in 'design and technology' (O levels were the 16 year old exams back then) and eventually went on to do a mech.eng degree.
After some run-ins with the sort of bureacrats that think that a university would run so much better without all those damn students cluttering up the place I got permission to use the college main workshop to build a motorcycle frame of my own design(http://www.rowledge.org/tim/bikes/Images/bikes/cher1.jpg) and even got credit for the stress analysis work!
After that a couple of years at the Royal College of Art meant being expected to use the workshops pretty much constantly for modelmaking.
So fortunately for me I didn't suffer any of the 'shop is for dummies' nor the 'tools are too dangerous' crap.

[Bart Leetch]

Yes I took wood shop the instructor was an accident looking for a place to happen. I don't remember his name. The kids thought it was a place to play & horse around. Thank goodness my Dad was a builder & cabinet maker so I could do my wood working at home.

Now my machine shop instructor was fantastic. He was a retired SP&S railway shop Foreman & had forgotten more than most shop instructors know & was still much sharper & more knowledgeable. I started in machine shop in my Junior year & spent most of every day my senior year in the machine shop. I made sure I had everything finished accept 2 required classes before the start of my senior year so I could be in the machine shop almost all day. To say I had a ball my senior year would be an understatement.