WSC Designs

Community Watch: Build A Box!

Eight students, six boxes built and finished. It was a long day in the shop – nearly seven hours with only a few breaks for liquids. I can think of a number of great moments: the first box getting nailed together, the last coat of shellac being applied, the look of what-have-I-got-myself-into as the students tackled nearly 40 linear feet of hardwood for the first time. We captured the moment which stands out most for me in the picture below.

Take a good look at the boy in the white shirt. Take a good look at his smile. He didn’t get to build a box that day. He had to work and work hard keeping up with a manic teacher and seven students as a teaching assistant. He hustled and bustled and sweated through a long day in a shop he didn’t know, with people he didn’t know, with a project he helped design and make happen.

But here he is, seven hours later – still smiling.

I make a few right decisions. Bringing him along was the best one I made that day.

Enjoy a few more pictures. Build something in the shop today.

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If you want to build a box, I’ve posted my preliminary directions up here.

Make it safe, keep the rubberside down. And forgive someone today.

Community Watch: SIMPLE MACHINES

Some times, I can feel like I’m the only guy out there. Woodshop teachers are a pretty individual breed and we seem to be evolving or dying or drying out. Looking around the net, I’ve seen work like www.woodshopteachers.org, a “traditional”-minded site, and then I see Doug Stowe’s Wisdom of the Hands blog, a superb educationally-reform minded mediation on sawdust, beauty and the hands’ role in our mental development. I’ve taken another direction altogether.

I’m happy to point out today – I’m not the only guy on the block anymore. Up in Boston, an elementary school teacher’s started shakin’ and a makin’ and STEMin’. Mr. Nathan’s put together a heck of an semester – derby cars, Day of the Dead Masks with his social studies colleagues, catapults and automatons. Check out his work @ SIMPLE MACHINES.

Community Watch: It’s Build a Box Day!

Today at TX/RX Labs, I’ll be leading a class in building a few of these tea boxes. I’m sending a box to one random contestant on WoodshopCowboy Facebook page, just in time for Christmas.

Remember to like WoodshopCowboy on Facebook!

And remember:

Make it safe & keep the rubber side down this weekend.

This Week In the Classroom: Sketch Up Projects at the Middle School Level

In support of my Mathematics and Technology and Computer Applications: CAD courses, I’ve offered a number of Sketch Up projects for students to complete. In Mathematics and Technology, my students created eukaryotic animal cells while in Computer Applications the students created square, triangle and hexagon – based tessellations and designs. Two resources I used heavily in the design and implementation of these projects: Google Sketch Up 8 Hands – On: Student Coursework and the GeomeTrick series both by Bonnie Roskes of www.3dvinci.net.

Ms. Roskes projects have a real wow factor in the classroom. My students would shout my name to show off their work, get frustrated during transitions away from the computer and talk incessantly about how awesome the class is going during lunch.

You can see some results of modified projects below. She wrote her manuals in a clear, concise and picture-heavy style suitable for high-school and collegiate level work. My classes skew to the younger range, about fourth through seventh grade, of reading comprehension so I found them less useful as step-by-step guides. I mainly used them for my own growth as a CAD draftsman and a source of inspiration.

Enjoy the student’s work!

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Make it safe & keep the rubberside down this week. Eat some turkey.

This Week In the Shop: One Block Projects – Book Ends

A little while ago, I ran a book review on One Block of Wood. I recently made a pair of bookends using Ms. Tolstrup’s plans out of salvaged pine and live oak. Hope you enjoy the looksee. Read a good book this week. Especially books on pirates!

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Make it safe & keep the rubberside down.

This Week in the Classroom: Try Squares

My new “little” project obsession: try squares. These guys mark boards square. That’s it. All they do. The try, not tri, comes from the act of “trying” an angle to see if it’s square, not three, or tri.

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This slideshow punctuated by a few of my favorite song titles, puns and lyrics in no particular order.

These tools come together quite easily. First, I rip a 2×4 into 1/4″ or 3/8″ inch thick strips. Then I flatten one side of the strip using a hand plane. After checking each strip for flatness, I rip the piece again on my table saw, creating 1″ wide strips. A few flicks of the wrist (on the table saw or at the miter-box, depending on my location) and the pieces become square. Glue three strips together, leaving a space for the blade. Once the stock dries, I attach the blade using a thick, square speed square as my reference. Clamp that up for an hour and the tool only awaits embellishment.

I’ll be giving these away at TX/RX Labs at my woodworking class. Visit (class is FILLED!) on Dec. 1 and see if you can get one!

Make it safe & keep the rubberside down this weekend. Remember to like WoodshopCowboy on Facebook!

Teacher Tip: First Aid Kit & Safety Equipment

I live a blessed life. In the past eight quarters as a woodshop teacher (and going on one quarter as a chemistry/biology/mad science teacher) I have had four injury reports. Not the best record, but not the worst. During set-up this year, I ordered first aid kit for all the tool-heavy classrooms – gardening center, woodshop, chemistry/science lab & art class. I also re-fitted my own space (my shop first aid kit keeps becoming the house’s first aid kit) with some important new tools and the accompanying pieces of safety equipment.

So what safety equipment do I use?

Home Workshop:

Push Blocks
Push sticks
Feather Boards
First Aid Kit
Safety Glasses
Hearing Protection
Respirator

School Workshop:

Smocks
Safety Glasses
Work Gloves
Hearing Protection
First Aid Kit

Science Lab/Electronic Hackspace:

Goggles
Lab Gloves
Sharps/Glassware Garbage Can
First Aid Kit
Eye Wash

I’ve linked up to the more exotic workshop helpers. I figure the other items are self-explanatory. If I’m missing something, please comment and help me out!

Make it same & keep the rubberside down this week!

This Week in the Shop: Make Monopods

A quick and easy project to help you photograph or film outdoors. This won’t solve all your problems, nor is it any good as a walking stick…but your filming becomes steadier. Just another filming rig I’ve put together for my documentary class.

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First published in Make Magazine.

Make it (get it?) safe & keep the rubberside down.

Come Build the Simple Tea Box @ TX/RX Labs Dec. 1st

The good folks at TX/RX Labs invited me back for another weekend of teaching woodworking. This year, I’ve asked to build some Christmas gifts. We are building the Simple Tea Box – and I’m sending one to the winner of my “First to 30” likes raffle on WoodshopCowboy’s Facebook Page.

So like WoodshopCowboy on Facebook, sign up of for a class at TX/RX Labs…

…and make it safe & keep the rubberside down.

This Week in The Shop: Arts & Crafts Inspired Picture Frames

Here’s some pictures of completed Arts & Crafts type frames I’ve put together over the last few weeks – along with some older frames still in use. The wife’s given me a commission to cover our living room wall. Got a bit more wall to cover, but I feel like I’m getting the style down.

Bridle joints on every corner. Every frame is oak, whether white, red or salvaged. My finishes are all over the place – Danish oil, polyurethane, spar urethane, polycrylic. I’m not really worried about matching. I’ve brush, sprayed and rubbed. Just experiments in style.

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Make it safe and keep the rubberside down this weekend.