Stool Samples

I graded the foot stools yesterday. I ended up with one real nice one and the remainder somewhere between OK and ass. Not all of the students made the stools, which in retrospect was probably a good thing. More trees would have given their lives in vain. One of the classes was substantially better than the other. It's always amazed me how a class can take on a personality. Sometimes that's real good, sometimes not. One of the guys told me his wasn't too bad for the first time he ever made anything. While that wasn't exactly true, it does say something about how they spend their free time. 

The project did accomplish my goals, however. Having never taught woodshop before, I didn't know what to expect from them. I thought the stools would be a fairly simple project for them but I underestimated their abilities and their enthusiasm. Several of them just didn't care about making them, a couple guys worked on other things because they were intimidated by the blueprint. That was fine by me, we're always working on a variety of projects and people are always coming in looking to get something done. It's good to have a couple of guys who can take those projects as they arrive. 

The stools offered the students the opportunity to use just about all the tools in the shop. They used the planer, jointer, table saw, miter saw, router, scroll saw, biscuit cutter, and drill press - plus they had to glue, clamp, and screw the things together. The project had the potential to turn out pretty nice. If I had one all put together before they started, that might have helped. I think several of the guys wish they would have put more effort into the project. They realized, also, it could have been pretty nice. All in all, a good learning experience for both them and me.

I'm going to get them started on lathe turning pretty soon. There's only four lathes in the shop, so I'll have to work out some type of schedule that can keep everyone busy and doesn't require too much supervision when I'm helping the guys on the lathe.

Not sure what I'm going to do this weekend. Looks like it's going to be a little more like winter again. I need to get busy on the boat again and I need to get the trolley beam and column painted. I could use about a four to six hour stint at the school without any students around to get those and other things taken care of. I think I'll just wait and see how the weather plays out and then see where I go from there.