Sun, Feb 20, 2005, 9:36am (Owen=A0Lawrence) claims:
snip We had "Industrial Arts" from grade 7 to 9, age 12 to 14. snip

We had SHOP, period. None of this pansy "industrial arts" stuff.
Tood shop from grade 4, it was mandatory, up thru grade 12, stopped bing
mandatory at grade 9, I believe. Shop covered everything, woodworking,
metal working, welding, automotive, all the fun things.

I still have a welded magazine rack, from maybe grade 11-12. And,
a solid cherry bookcase, designed, and made by me in grade 10, I believe
it was.

Started out in grade 4 with a wall hanging plant holder. Neat
lille thing made of wood to hang on the wall, and the "pot" it self, was
made from a motor oil can, cut, and soldered. Pretty basic then,
apparently pretty advanced now. All hand tools until grade 10, as I
recall. Ah yes, we also had the use of a forge, from about grade 7 or
8. Made a cold chisel with that, should still have that too, it was/is
as good, or better, than any you can buy.

I remember sanding the tip of a finger or two off, in about grade 8
or 9. "Everyone", including my parents, put it down to carelessness on
my part. Which it was. Lesson learned? Don't do that again, and I
haven't. The shop teacher also demonstrated kickback on the table saw,
when I was in grade 9 (that's we moved into the new school, and had a
saw available). He said, don't do that, and stand out of the way, just
in case. I listened, and no kickback, and stand out of the way, just in
case. Then he proceeded to turn us loose, and went in his office, and
smoked his pipe. We survived nicely.

Back then it was considered that if you did something stupid, it
was your own fault if you got hurt, especially if you had already been
told not to do it. Nowadays, it seems to be the norm to put the blame
on someone else for your own stupidity, regardless of how many times
you've been told not to do it.




JOAT
Intellectual brilliance is no guarantee against being dead wrong.
- David Fasold