New career, wood shop instructor

[DavidF]

It seems that I am becoming a wood shop instructor at the new "TechShop" in Durham:swoon: http://techshopdurham.com/

And would love your input on a possible set of classes/courses that I am thinking of putting together.

I had an idea to perhaps have various classes within an overall course. I was thinking along the lines of a course titled “ Woodworking – From Zero to Furniture” A practical guide to furniture making. Starting with the basics of sharpening culminating in a piece of furniture that can be used in the home.

To get individual, affordable classes that at least start at as little as 1 hr and affordable at $30 per hr, I am suggesting running the same class for 3 or 4 consecutive weeks, before going to the next level. This would give extra weeks for those that didn’t quite get it the first time, or for those without equipment at home to practice on or for those that want to come to a class and then practice on their own for a few weeks. So the course might look like this:

Weeks 1 – 3 One Hour class - Sharpening and tuning cutting tools, chisels, planes, scrapers etc
Weeks 4 – 6 Two hour class - Stock preparation, producing square edged, dimensioned stock from rough sawn lumber.
Weeks 7 – 9 Two hour class - Basic joinery that might be used on a piece of furniture – Mortise and tenon, half lap, finger joints etc.
Weeks 10 – 12 Two hour class - Designing a bathroom cabinet or small box.
Weeks 13 – 15 Four hour class or spread to 6 weeks of Two hour classes to give 12 hours on this stage - Employ the skills learned so far to build the piece.
Weeks 16 – 18 Two hour class - Methods of finishing – Hand applied finishes, oils, varnishes. Spray equipment and water based spraying.
Weeks 19 – 21 Four hour class – Finish the cabinet or box.

I could add other classes or pad these to make a 6 months course. Hopefully for 4 -6 people per class.

For each set of classes we might use hand and machine methods depending on what equipment is available. They are still putting together the equipment list so I am getting my needs in first!

• For sharpening we could have water and diamond stones for hand work and a “Worksharp” system for power sharpening, along with guides etc. The center could provide chisels and planes for both sharpening practice and for the following stock prep.
• For the stock prep we would have marking tools, the planes and chisels we just sharpened. For the machinery we would hopefully have an 8” jointer much more preferable than a 6”, a planer, say 13” portable and a table saw, I seem to remember they already have a "saw stop".
• For the joinery practice we could again use hand tools, but also a plunge router and bits.
• For the finishing we would need preferably an HVLP sprayer or a compressor and conversion gun.

I though I would pass the idea by you as I know we have a number of beginners that don't yet have the skills or tools at home to build their dream project and others that might just need to learn a different way of doing things.

Love to hear your comments. Let me know if I am wide of the mark for what you would like to see at the centre. I am happy to build a course around what you all would like to learn over a 6 month period. The classes are "drop in" with no commitment to every class or even the whole course.

So with that in mind - What would YOU like me to teach at the centre?

"Obviously" I'll be covering 3D cad as well at some stage - I can't do anything without it! The centre has just bough 5 seats of SolidWorks - Yippeee

 

[ScottM]

David, just a thought but week 1 should be devoted all or part to shop safety. I would suggest you demo each tool that they will be using and the proper safety measures on each. Explain the how they guards work, how to adjust a face mask and respirator. Also make sure they know where the phone and first aid kit is in case you are the one who got hurt.

 

[Gotcha6]

I'd echo Scott's ideas along with one about the Saw Stop. Be sure the entire class knows the blade stopping feature is NOT standard on other table saws and if they do trigger the stop, they'll pay for the module & blade. Also, be sure everyone is up on their insurance requirements for the class & has their own safety glasses. Make it a 'no glasses - no classes' course.
Good luck.

 

[RayH]

David,

It's great that you are doing this. It sounds like you really understand taking a student from ground zero upward. I wish you were doing this closer to Raleigh.

My only suggestion is to be sure you include the "why" with the "how." I believe that for the beginner this is very important, and often never discussed. So I have a circular, miter, hand, band, and table saw. I need to cut a board. Which one? And why?:icon_scra

Best of luck to you, and get some classes closer to me.:gar-La;

Ray

 

[DavidF]

David, just a thought but week 1 should be devoted all or part to shop safety. I would suggest you demo each tool that they will be using and the proper safety measures on each. Explain the how they guards work, how to adjust a face mask and respirator. Also make sure they know where the phone and first aid kit is in case you are the one who got hurt.

Tech shop are VERY hot on safety and everybody MUST go through an SBU (Safety and Basic Use course) before being allowed anywhere near a piece of equipment. That course has already been written and will be done by somebody else before they get near my class. Obviously I will reiterate that at the start of each session

 

[DavidF]

David,

It's great that you are doing this. It sounds like you really understand taking a student from ground zero upward. I wish you were doing this closer to Raleigh.

My only suggestion is to be sure you include the "why" with the "how." I believe that for the beginner this is very important, and often never discussed. So I have a circular, miter, hand, band, and table saw. I need to cut a board. Which one? And why?:icon_scra

Best of luck to you, and get some classes closer to me.:gar-La;

Ray

That's a very good point Ray and one that I too find very frustrating when I am taught by others. I will endeavour to explain the whys and wherefores of everything I tell others.

 

[Bas]

David, that's great! I think you have a good class laid out so far. I understand the need to keep thing affordable, but 21 weeks - that's almost half a year. You could lose people along the way due to lack of progress. Perhaps you could do the same class for two weeks, and have a "makeup" class as needed.

You may want to consider running simple secondary projects that give people something to complete. For example, it wouldn't take much time to make a simple 12x8 long grain cutting board. Material is minimal as well - some white oak and mineral oil. People enjoy taking things home, showing what they built. You could even do it entirely with hand tools, which would be great to teach and it wouldn't be as critical to get everything perfectly even and square.

Finally, and this is something _I_ would be interested in...machine setup. Checking to see if the fence is square to the jointer bed. Verifying the fence is parallel to the blade. Learn how versatile a combination square can be. You don't have to teach people how to actually do the setup, just make sure they learn they have to think about it when they get their own equipment.

 

[woodArtz]

No suggestions David, just a big ole congratulations!!! :icon_thum

 

[froglips]

Congrats! And good luck, this sounds like a really fun opportunity!

A few thoughts come to mind, some even related to this topic

First, my experience with many woodworking classes is a lack of repeatative, rote exercises.

They tend to go like this "here is an overview, let me show you one, go do it, I'll answer questions, everyone done, on to the next topic".

There are so many things to grasp and apply all at one time, I think some repeatative work is needed.

Sawing to a line. So many classes assume sawing to a line is already mastered. A whole class or year of ones life marking and sawing to a line is probably a good plan Simple case in point, is which side of the line do you saw on?

One topic I'd love to see more on, is assembly. Aka glue, nails, screws and clamps. I seem to spend lots of time recovering from mistakes in this stage. Everything goes "smoothly" until the hammer starts flying.

Also how to get gorilla glue out of your hair......

Good luck and keep us updated!

Jim

 

[DavidF]

David, that's great! I think you have a good class laid out so far. I understand the need to keep thing affordable, but 21 weeks - that's almost half a year. You could lose people along the way due to lack of progress. Perhaps you could do the same class for two weeks, and have a "makeup" class as needed.

You may want to consider running simple secondary projects that give people something to complete. For example, it wouldn't take much time to make a simple 12x8 long grain cutting board. Material is minimal as well - some white oak and mineral oil. People enjoy taking things home, showing what they built. You could even do it entirely with hand tools, which would be great to teach and it wouldn't be as critical to get everything perfectly even and square.

Finally, and this is something _I_ would be interested in...machine setup. Checking to see if the fence is square to the jointer bed. Verifying the fence is parallel to the blade. Learn how versatile a combination square can be. You don't have to teach people how to actually do the setup, just make sure they learn they have to think about it when they get their own equipment.

Some good ideas Bas, I know what you mean about taking stuff home after a class. Possibly on the stock prep session, something like a cutting board could be done from the newly prepped stock. Trying to keep the time under control is a big consideration as they have found that anything over 4 hours doesn't get attended. $120 is right on the edge for people to pay out for a half day. And unless you're DaveO it's difficult to build a project and learn new stuff correctly in that time. You always then have the conflict Froglips talks about. A quick rush through techniques so that a possibly not so good project comes out the end of the class. An experienced woodworker can obviously produce something worth having in a short time, but a new one has to master the skills first. Looks like we are looking at two different courses here? I hope there will be other instructors eventually, so that all these things can be covered. Having said that, if more advanced classes are the ones that get attended then that's the way I'll go???

 

[DavidF]

Any other comments, ideas before this thread drops back down in to the noise? I was sort of expecting there to be more ideas and needs put forward. Maybe there isn't a great market for this type of thing in Woodworking, The metal work side of things seems to be getting a lot more interest. Most of the NC woodworkers must be members of NCWW's so maybe that's all the help they need?

 

[JimmyC]

David,

Personally I think that $30/hr is fairly steep. Woodcraft and Klingspor run woodworking 101 type classes for alot less. As far as advanced classes go, Bill Anderson is about $10/hr and even Roy is only about $12/hr. So I think the price point is high. Even Lonnie Bird, who is a master in his own right, only charges about $13/hr for teaching about building fine furniture.

As far as the metal working classes go, you can find classes alot cheaper at county colleges, at least I can.

So to make a long story short, I don't believe that they will be getting lots of interest, especially in woodworking. Like you said, we tend to take care of each other here on the site so it's probably not a good place for input.

Good luck.

 

[CrealBilly]

Congrts David - no spinny classes ok? That machine is dangerous enough already

 

[DavidF]

David,

Personally I think that $30/hr is fairly steep. Woodcraft and Klingspor run woodworking 101 type classes for alot less. As far as advanced classes go, Bill Anderson is about $10/hr and even Roy is only about $12/hr. So I think the price point is high. Even Lonnie Bird, who is a master in his own right, only charges about $13/hr for teaching about building fine furniture.

As far as the metal working classes go, you can find classes alot cheaper at county colleges, at least I can.

So to make a long story short, I don't believe that they will be getting lots of interest, especially in woodworking. Like you said, we tend to take care of each other here on the site so it's probably not a good place for input.

Good luck.

That's great input Jimmy and I tend to agree that the $30 might be a bit steep unless the classes are highly specialized. I'll be passing this on to the TechShop founder and see what he says. They have an enormous up front investment in this place so I guess they need to get that back. Klingspor and Woodcraft etc already have the infrastructure available.

 

[JimmyC]

That's great input Jimmy and I tend to agree that the $30 might be a bit steep unless the classes are highly specialized. I'll be passing this on to the TechShop founder and see what he says. They have an enormous up front investment in this place so I guess they need to get that back. Klingspor and Woodcraft etc already have the infrastructure available.

I do agree with having to pay for the infrastructure, but you still have to sell the idea to the people. Are you going to give some sort of certificate with the finish or completion of a course ? Whether there is true value in a certificate or not is not the question, but some people just like to collect paper and titles. So making the class some kind of certification might help. $30 /hr might be an easier sell if it's connected with some sort of degree as opposed to being for continuous learning.

Just my thoughts.

 

[DavidF]

I don't believe that it is their intention for these to be graded courses, or at least not officially. I could of course give out certificates to those who may request them as part of a vocational training course. This idea started in CA so maybe these prices work over there and maybe need a regional adjustment!

Thanks for the input.

 

[tjgreen]

David,
This place sounds very cool, and has the added benefit of being right near my work. However, I tend to agree with Jimmy on the price, if the classes are in basic woodworking. $30/hr is steep if it's a class I can get somewhere else, and pretty much any "how do I" class falls into that category. Personally, I'd be much more interested in highly focused, specialized, content-rich classes - classes you could only take at Techshop, due to their huge # of tools and diverse instructor base. Classes I might take for $30/hr:

-Classes focused on specialized equipment at the Techshop (CNC machine for example, or the smithy) - $30 is expensive if I'm using a $500 table saw, but cheap if I get to use a $15000 CNC machine.

-Classes that mix disciplines - woodworking/metal/glass/plastic. But not just mix them, mix in cool, creative ways that most of us haven't thought of.

-Classes on toolmaking. Type of steel, where to get it, how to form it for various applications...again, expands the possibilities of what you can do, since you're no longer bound by the limitations of what you can buy from Rockler.

If it's not clear yet, I really like classes with a strong design element, that expand the possibilities for me - not so much "so that's how you do that" but "wow, I never thought of that". Like the creative welding class on the site - I've done a little welding, but never thought to enjoy it. That sounds like fun - I bet I could make my own lawn art, and that's definitely worth $30 .

 

[DavidF]

That's some interesting thoughts Tim, and I agree with them all. The problem I see with Woodwork is that apart from a few specific techniques, like veneering or inlay, the rest is fairly basic once you have mastered it. The tricky part is knowing what technique to use in a particular situation and that is where advice rather than a class comes in to play. The CAD side which I am also slated to teach at some time, maybe one such area. Possibly to take somebody with a idea and a sketch and walk them through producing a photo rendering of it. The only problem I see with that is that Solidworks is an expensive program, not one likely to be bought by the hobbiest after a course of instruction. So what we have here is a tremendous resource that we don't don't quite know how to use!!! Maybe woodwork is such a generic hobby that most are willing to be self taught or get the basics from a local retail outlet running a course. I guess the major benefit to a student at TechShop is that after or during the course of instruction, they have access 24/7 to the woodshop equipment. Which means they can build a project of their choosing in their own time as they master the skills. Is there a path here that one could offer people to come with an idea, get help with the design and creation of that idea on a weekly basis. Say 4 students, with 4 projects. They can get help during the class with their own problems and then use the TechShop equipment either with guidance during a class or on their own time, until the project is done? I remember in Wood shop in my final years at school that we chose a project to build and did just that, from design to finished project in one or two classes a week. Obviously as students we didn't have our own equipment at home, but the school provided the tools and a teacher. For the teacher it just means not having a pre-set schedule to teach, which for me at least would be even better! Is this the direction we need to go???? That way there is no reason not to combine various disciplines as the facilities and the teachers would be right next door to each other.

Great feedback, thanks. We shouldn't let this wonderful new resource go to waste.

 

[Gofor]

I remember one of my supervisors I worked for here back in the "70's. He was a good woodworker but had no shop, tools, or space for either. The local community college offered a "woodworking" night course. Whenever his wife wanted a piece of furniture, he would go to the store where she saw it, take measurements, then sign up for the class and build it. His cost was class + materials. He made some awesome furniture (Formal dining table, China hutch, full bedroom suite) just in the few years I was here. (He had the gall to have the furniture store appraise the china hutch for "insurance purposes" and they appraised it over $500 more than the one in their store that he copied). The "class" offered use of tools, and a "teacher" that could help students through any difficulties, as well as ensure safety, etc. Each student designed and built their own project. I think they also offered materials at a mark-up from the suppliers. They did not offer 24/7 shop access, but did allow students extra access during off-class hours during the day or non-class nights with the instructor's permission.

The first couple classes were shop safety, and certifying the students on the machines. After that, it was design and review, materials list, and on with the project. (I think he applied the finish at home).

Basically, it allowed everyone to make the projects within their capabilities and financial means. A "certificate of completion" was given to initial students, but they were allowed to repeat as often as class size would permit.

JMTCW

Go

 

[JimmyC]

We shouldn't let this wonderful new resource go to waste.

I definitely agree with this statement. But sadly, will probably not be able to take advantage of the school due to it's location being too far from me for anything other than an occasional single class.