Started a new bow class last nite through a local "maker space" business. The Shop has two large bays in an industrial park, one for woodworking and the other for metal working. My small membership dues gets me six hours of shop time per week. Well lit, lotsa worktop counter space and tables, plus all the table saws, band saws, drill presses, planers, and electric hand tools I would ever need.
We got just two students, but both are jumping on board HARD. The one guy works in a metal fabrication shop and the other is a materials engineer at the SD School of Mines and Technology. Since neither had done anything quite like this, I started with a very dull and dry lecture on some of the basics. Well, that used up a whole 10 minutes of the two hour class, even including drawing on the white board, handing around basic hand tools, showing them examples of bows. Good thing I had bowstaves ready because these guys wanted to make shavings! (Thanks Osage Outlaw...excellent staves!)
They had their hands full figuring out how to follow the grain to establish the center line of the bow, but when I checked their work it was apparent my lecture had paid off! They both nailed it first time out of the box! Then I had them laying out profiles and heading for the bandsaw.
Next week we'll have them cleaning up their edges of the profile and stalking up on floor tillering. Somewhere between now and then I will have to figure out how to post pics again since this whole Photobucket debacle screwed it up for all of us. Heck, you might even see those two guys pop on here, too, since I subtly mentioned it no more than two, three or nine times. Dang it feels good to be teaching again.
