Chiseling

"3 Bevel" Sharpening Job

I found a set of chisels in the Woodshop but they look like they were sharpened by throwing them at the grinder (the photo is the before image, just so you know). I got them looking pretty good and a kid wanted to use one the same afternoon. After explaining to him how to hold the piece in the vise and how to keep his hands out of the way, he came back about three minutes later looking for a band-aid. I know they're sharp enough to cut skin anyhow. This got me to thinking about who teaches sharpening skills anymore.

No school around here wants a kid carrying a knife to school. We're lucky to still have a traditional woodshop type course that uses edged tools but that may change next year with the new Career Pathways program. I remember being taught how to sharpen things in ag class when I was in school. Of course if no one is using edged tools, no reason to worry about anything being sharp. If you take classes now to teach Tech Ed, it's all different than it was back in my time. Now the focus is on Project Lead the Way and pre-engineering. The Purdue Engineering/Technology Education degree doesn't teach much in the way of skills, so an instructor will never have been taught how to do any sharpening or any real manual skills. It used to be that degree had you take a class in small engines, electricity, woods, drafting, etc. You weren't an expert in anything but you had a little knowledge in a lot of things. Plus the program appealed to people who had probably grown up around tools. Going back a couple of posts, it's no wonder your teenager can't use a hammer. I'm simply amazed every day at what these guys can't do - even more amazed that I was doing some of this stuff in 7th and 8th grade. It won't be long and all skills will have to be picked up from a Saturday morning workshop at the Home Depot or watching a You Tube video. Can't really blame the kids for all of it, though. Hard to learn things you've never been exposed to.

I did get a new catalog from Lindsay Publications and they list a book called Back to Shop Class Metal Working. I couldn't find it on the Lindsay site but the link will take you to it on Amazon (if you read this blog with any regularity, you definitely need a Lindsay catalog). Apparently someone has seen an opportunity to give people what they used to get in shop class.

All you grandpas and grandmas out there need to be teaching the young-uns some practical skills, because you're about their only hope. Every kid needs to know how to sharpen a pocket knife and with all the cooking shows on television, who's sharpening all the kitchen knives? My mom used to buy iron-on patches for the holes in the knees of my blue jeans but grandma did a real nice job of sewing a patch on. Mom said it was iron-on or do it yourself so I got grandma to show me how. Great resource that older generation.

So I'm going to try and teach some basic skills in the Woodshop and try to instill in them the pride of being a craftsman. Hopefully by the end of the year they'll all be able to cut to a line and know which saw should be used for what. Maybe they'll even be able to use fractions. I can only hope. It's going to be a challenge but so far it's looking doable. Just have to keep my fingers crossed.

Note: The link to the Purdue page has been changed. It will now take you to the plan of study for the Tech Ed degree - should make a little more sense now. Thanks Kevin for the correction.