First day teaching High School Woodshop

[Mike Allen1010]

I’ve been retired from the corporate world for a few years, and recently started teaching woodshop at a local high school. It’s been a great experience. I thought I might share some of my observations and ask for some advice.

Some background: guy before had some physical issues, and seemed relatively checked out, and so the shop has been very poorly maintained/organized. we have incredible stationary power tool; three Sawstop 10 inch cabinet table saws, including sliding cross cut table that that’s never been installed,o(nly one of which that works) giant Powermatic 24 inch bandsaw (still on delivery palette), 18 inch thickness planer, two Powermatic joiners, 8 inches wide (only 1 is working), 2 CNC machines in crates (I have no idea how they work, and I confess and clearly intimidated by them.) and epic quantity of clamps and portable power tools, router/drills/sanders, etc.

The downside is handtools have been completely neglected; Benchtop and vices are in total disrepair – kids didn’t know what the dog holes were even for. No hand, saws, chisels, or planes. Most of the kids don’t know what an adjustable square is or how to read a ruler. My first rule is everybody needs a pencil.

Good news I brought some handtools from my home shop and the kids really love using the planes, saws and chisels – they immediately understand their advantages and are keen to learn how to use the most effectively.

I would appreciate suggestions for sharpening stones, that of course, do the job, but in this context need to be durable and not prone to gouging. So far I’ve been doing all the sharpening, but that’s not sustainable. If I have a chance to start a semester from the beginning, that will be a first place to start.

if you’re interestedw up happy to share some pictures and welcome any and all suggestions. Start of the advanced kids with a dovetail box – may be a little bit ambitious, but hey, if you never try, you’re never gonna learn – right?

Best, Mike.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

Very best wishes to you! My Shop Teachers remain admired friends. I look forward to the occasions when I run into them.

My first memories of learning to sharpen things is from the Boy Scouts rather than from my carpenter dad, carpenter grand dad, or shop class. The Norton Tradesman Stone was part of our Boy Scout kit. Carborundum, 180 on the coarse side 220 on the fine side, with a red wooden handle. Don't you dare drop it!
My big brother who was more of a car guy (but also a great a carpenter), showed me how to use wet or dry sandpaper on a piece of glass to sharpen a plane, chisel, or knife.

[Cameron Wood]

That's great.

I had shop classes in jr. high, high school, and jr. college, & still have a couple of things made including the obligatory footstool.

Maybe you can assign projects that will help to get the shop working. How's the wood supply?

[Aaron Rosenthal]

Mike,you sure have your work cut out for you! My late uncle was a shop teacher in L.A., and how I miss his advice!
If I were teaching my 15 year old foster son, I might start with explaining the anatomy of a plane and each size's use; how to use a hand plane, then a quick picture of a bevel and why it's important.
Then machine use and safety issues.
What an opportunity to grow young minds!

[Kevin Jenness]

What a great opportunity and challenge!

Are you free to develop a curriculum? Given your interest in hand tool work it would make sense to start the students off with those skills to give them an understanding of the basics and gradually introduce machine processes. Perhaps you can get some advice from teachers at programs like the North Bennett Street School in Boston. You will need to budget for the non-existent hand tools though.

Sounds like a considerable investment has been made in machinery that is not in service. Tuning up neglected equipment will take some effort. Getting up to speed on the cnc gear will demand a lot of your time.

On sharpening, you might consider a Tormek system. It is reliable, though a bit slow, and hard to damage tools with it. For stones I would suggest diamonds for initial sharpening and novaculite (Washita/Arkansas) stones or ceramic stones for polishing. Waterstones are great but it could be a challenge to keep them flat in a school scene.

[Stew Denton]

Mike,

One thought I had is that the kids need to see the value of sharpening, so I would have a dull plane and a really sharp plane, and let them try each. The importance of sharpening will become immediately apparent.

Stew

[Jim Koepke]

Sounds great, and of course many of us want to see pictures.

You might want to look into getting some shop safety videos. That is very important for youngsters to get a grounding in before they get set in their ways or the wrong ways.

Some of these kids might have their dad's or granddad's tools sitting at home. This may be a chance to get any who are interested in building their own tools to class. Do they have lockers where they can secure things?

Good luck with this exciting endeavor.

jtk

[Andrew Hughes]

At the elementary school my grandson went to the wood shop they teach pen turning. Despite having bandsaws jointer planer big lathe all covered with abandoned projects and odd shapes of donated woods. They only offer pen turning.
I’m rooting for you mike. Hollow grind the blades and chisels and go straight to the polishing stone.
Good Luck

[Lee Schierer]

I enjoyed several years of shop during my school days at several different schools. You first need to establish shop safety rules and cover them in the first class periods. Violations of safety rules should have consequences, such as not being able to use that tool for a period of time.

Here are a few:
- No loose sleeves near power tools.
- remove rings and watches.
- safety glasses at all times
- no cell phones
- no talking to people using power tools
- use guards, hold downs and guides provided on tools
- use push sticks and blocks on table saws and jointers.
- clean up your saw dust and shavings.
- lay hand planes on their sides when not in use.
- return hand tools to their proper storage location.
- everybody helps clean up.
- no touching of other student's projects or materials without permission.

Projects need to be approved and require at least a rudimentary plan and list of needed materials and finishes. Teach them how to use optimizer programs to reduce waste and grain matching for show surfaces.

[Reed Gray]

Only class I ever got straight A's in was PE. I never had a chance for shop classes, unfortunately. I would guess that if you are going to teach sharpening, then you need stones. I started a thread "diamond or water' stones for sharpening. In a class situation like you have, I would suggest the diamond stones, but you could introduce water stones as well for those that can pay attention long enough to learn them. The diamond lapping plates are almost indestructible. Grinders, slow speed, high speed, and extra slow speed/Tormek, can be brought into the discussion, and stropping as well.

robo hippy

[James Pallas]

Wow, quite an endeavor Mark. You did not say whether the school is academic or vocational. I would imagine that the curriculum for each would be very different. Broad based exposure for one. In depth hands on practical for the other. Teaching hand tool skills is good but not so good for someone that will be going into a power tool dominated world. I wish you great success either way.
Jim

[roger wiegand]

Wonderful!

I'd see if you can recruit a knowledgable volunteer to take on the CNC equipment. You'll have a fraction of kids who will jump on the design and programming side of that and be much more involved in your class for having access to it.

[Mike Brady]

That is a wonderful story and refreshing in a social climate that that has not been particularly supportive of teachers.

Until recently, I lived in suburban Chicago. Right after retiring some years ago, I approached the local middle school (junior high) to see if some volunteer help could be used in the shop class. My wife is a retired teacher from the same district, so I wasn't a stranger. The first couple of weeks in the shop class went well, and the students appreciated another person to lend a hand or offer suggestions. There was just the one formality: I would have to submit to a background check so that I could be credentialed to be on the school property during operating hours. That was fine with me and I certainly understood the need for that. Then they hit me with this zinger: Since there was no budget for this position (it's non-paid), I would have to personally cover all costs of a background check and other required screening. This totaled in the hundreds of dollars. I was dumfounded when told this and withdrew.

[Daniel Culotta]

Awesome Mike! I’m sure you’ll put together an amazing experience for those kiddos. For the machines, is there any way you might hire out (or have a competent volunteer) to get them all working and tuned in one go? I know paying someone to do that might be a stretch, but trying to get that many machines repaired and running by yourself between other tasks could take a very long time. Getting someone else to knock it put over a few days might be the most economical in the long run.

For sharpening, good options would be a Norton India combo (coarse/fine, no idea what the grits actually are), and then a high grit diamond or buffer wheel with polishing compound for the final step.

Best of luck!

[Mike Allen1010]

That's great.

I had shop classes in jr. high, high school, and jr. college, & still have a couple of things made including the obligatory footstool.

Maybe you can assign projects that will help to get the shop working. How's the wood supply?

I’m still figuring it out how to buy shop materials work, so far I’m $300 out of pocket for screws and paint to finish projects that were in progress when I dropped in. We have Connex container for lumber storage -boards randomly everyone! We just finished Adirondack chairs for the beginning students out of 1x12 inch pine and we have a ready supply, which is great because if I’m not watching kids average 50% waste!

On the plus side there seems to be an institutional interest in supporting vocational/technical education. That’s what funded all the expensive stationary power tools in our shop. I hope I’m able accessible resources to fund hand tools- I guess we’ll see…