I recently completed some bookshelves for our local public library. Its a
small community an the library gets by on one paid employee and a bevy of
volunteers. My next door neighbor is a retired physician and he sits on the
board for the library (he also takes their trash to the dump on Saturdays).
I worked out a deal by which he would give to me the bulk of his red oak
stash (about 700 bf of 4/4), felled by him, but has gone largely untouched
for the past 17 years. I would build the shelves and keep the remainder for
whatever. The oak is of so-so quality; there are plenty of knots, but hey,
it's free wood.
http://www.cefls.org/Trailblazerspring2008.pdf (see page 3.)
Allison, the librarian, is organizing a series of presentations by local
persons on various topics relating broadening ones interests (hobbies of you
will). She has asked me to give a 1/2 hour presentation to a group of 8 to
12-year-olds on woodworking as a hobby. Show, touch and tell examples are
required.
I'm *not* going to give a "how-to" presentation. I don't think its practical
for that location, time frame and audience.
What I think I will do is talk about various types (specialties) of
woodworkers what they do and some of the tools that they use. With a
tangent into local wood species, this will give me an opportunity to
display:
- various wood samples,
- partially and fully turned bowls
- boxes and totes
- some handmade tooling ( mallets, etc)
- A few manufactured hand tools such planes spokeshaves and scrapers
I think that this will give lots of opportunity fore the audience to safely
handle, while being fairly simple to transport.
I'm looking for a list of "woodworker specialties" to reference in my
presentation. here's what I thought of so far:
Framer
Finish carpenter
Cabinetmaker
Turner
Cooper
Luthier
Carver
What else should I add to the list?
Also, any suggestions what I might include in the presentation would be
welcomed.
Thanks,
Steve
** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **
On Jul 3, 7:57 am, "StephenM" <[email protected]> wrote:
> I recently completed some bookshelves for our local public library. Its a
> small community an the library gets by on one paid employee and a bevy of
> volunteers. My next door neighbor is a retired physician and he sits on the
> board for the library (he also takes their trash to the dump on Saturdays).
>
> I worked out a deal by which he would give to me the bulk of his red oak
> stash (about 700 bf of 4/4), felled by him, but has gone largely untouched
> for the past 17 years. I would build the shelves and keep the remainder for
> whatever. The oak is of so-so quality; there are plenty of knots, but hey,
> it's free wood.
>
> http://www.cefls.org/Trailblazerspring2008.pdf (see page 3.)
>
> Allison, the librarian, is organizing a series of presentations by local
> persons on various topics relating broadening ones interests (hobbies of you
> will). She has asked me to give a 1/2 hour presentation to a group of 8 to
> 12-year-olds on woodworking as a hobby. Show, touch and tell examples are
> required.
>
> I'm *not* going to give a "how-to" presentation. I don't think its practical
> for that location, time frame and audience.
>
> What I think I will do is talk about various types (specialties) of
> woodworkers what they do and some of the tools that they use. With a
> tangent into local wood species, this will give me an opportunity to
> display:
> - various wood samples,
> - partially and fully turned bowls
> - boxes and totes
> - some handmade tooling ( mallets, etc)
> - A few manufactured hand tools such planes spokeshaves and scrapers
>
> I think that this will give lots of opportunity fore the audience to safely
> handle, while being fairly simple to transport.
>
> I'm looking for a list of "woodworker specialties" to reference in my
> presentation. here's what I thought of so far:
>
> Framer
> Finish carpenter
> Cabinetmaker
> Turner
> Cooper
> Luthier
> Carver
>
> What else should I add to the list?
>
> Also, any suggestions what I might include in the presentation would be
> welcomed.
Good job on the bookshelves, Steve. Nice thing to do.
I think tying woodworking into the fabric of history would sell pretty
well to a bunch of goobers. Anything to capture the imagination.
Trades like bodgers would be interesting. They'd frequently be set up
in the woods to cut saplings and turn them to size by the hundreds on
pole lathes for chair making and such.
From Wikipedia:
"The term "bodger" stems from pole lathe turners who used to make the
chair legs and spindles. A bodger would typically purchase all the
trees on a plot of land, set up camp on the plot, and then fell the
trees and turn the wood. The spindles and legs that were produced were
sold in bulk, for pence per dozen. The bodger's job was considered
unfinished because he only made component parts. The term now
describes a person who leaves a job unfinished, or does it badly."
Maybe you should leave out that last sentence!
Here's a list of colonial trades that has some interesting and funny
ones:
http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~sam/occupation.html
If your library doesn't have Eric Sloane's book, Sketches of America
Past, it should: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Eric-Sloanes-Sketches-of-America-Past/Eric-Sloane/e/9780883940655
Lots of excellent sketches about colonial tools and items.
R
While it's not common now. you could list "Shipwright"
Also not so common would be Bowyer and Fletcher both in archery
On Thu, 3 Jul 2008 07:57:50 -0400, "StephenM"
<[email protected]> wrote:
>
>Framer
>Finish carpenter
>Cabinetmaker
>Turner
>Cooper
>Luthier
>Carver
>
>What else should I add to the list?
>
"StephenM" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> Framer
> Finish carpenter
> Cabinetmaker
> Turner
> Cooper
> Luthier
> Carver
> Also, any suggestions what I might include in the presentation would be
> welcomed.
Honestly, I'd touch briefly on the topics you've mentioned and then head
straight into images of really unique woodworking projects. Things like
cars, motorbikes or anything else that is a one of a kind and made totally
out of wood. 8-12 year olds are going to want something that is really
interesting and likely wouldn't be much interested in a lecture. Wow them
with things made out of wood that one would never think of. Perhaps it will
inspire the emergence of the next Stickley or even a Norm. That's the way
I'd go, but that's just me.
http://www.woodworkersauction.com/amazprojferrari.htm
I would think (reminding myself of my 8yr old nephew and his buddies -
some a little older) that you need to remember the attention span of
your audience.
Delving into the nuances, history and minutiae or woodworking wouldn't
keep their attention for more than a few minutes.
Probably just about anything would be fine as long as it was well
presented in a lively manner. Especially if you have visual aids. If
you try to give a comprehensive overview of woodworking and its
applications, you will lose them fast.
Robert
Nice job on the bookshelves, they look like they must weigh a ton! Very
Nice.
"StephenM" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>I recently completed some bookshelves for our local public library. Its a
>small community an the library gets by on one paid employee and a bevy of
>volunteers. My next door neighbor is a retired physician and he sits on
>the board for the library (he also takes their trash to the dump on
>Saturdays).
>
> I worked out a deal by which he would give to me the bulk of his red oak
> stash (about 700 bf of 4/4), felled by him, but has gone largely untouched
> for the past 17 years. I would build the shelves and keep the remainder
> for whatever. The oak is of so-so quality; there are plenty of knots, but
> hey, it's free wood.
>
> http://www.cefls.org/Trailblazerspring2008.pdf (see page 3.)
>
> Allison, the librarian, is organizing a series of presentations by local
> persons on various topics relating broadening ones interests (hobbies of
> you will). She has asked me to give a 1/2 hour presentation to a group of
> 8 to 12-year-olds on woodworking as a hobby. Show, touch and tell
> examples are required.
>
> I'm *not* going to give a "how-to" presentation. I don't think its
> practical for that location, time frame and audience.
>
> What I think I will do is talk about various types (specialties) of
> woodworkers what they do and some of the tools that they use. With a
> tangent into local wood species, this will give me an opportunity to
> display:
> - various wood samples,
> - partially and fully turned bowls
> - boxes and totes
> - some handmade tooling ( mallets, etc)
> - A few manufactured hand tools such planes spokeshaves and scrapers
>
> I think that this will give lots of opportunity fore the audience to
> safely handle, while being fairly simple to transport.
>
> I'm looking for a list of "woodworker specialties" to reference in my
> presentation. here's what I thought of so far:
>
> Framer
> Finish carpenter
> Cabinetmaker
> Turner
> Cooper
> Luthier
> Carver
>
> What else should I add to the list?
>
> Also, any suggestions what I might include in the presentation would be
> welcomed.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Steve
>
>
>
>
> ** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **
It would take some effort but if you could put together a video to
show in the background or before/after the presentation then you could
compress a lot of intriguing clips. As a whitewater kayaker, we have
what's called "paddle porn". Those are videos of really cool shorts -
people dropping off of waterfalls, doing flips, cartwheels, etc.
Woodworking isn't quite that exciting but showing some machining,
assembly and on the job (construction) shots could bring some long
lasting images to the presentation. If you can't get a video
together, I'd also suggest having lots of still photos available so
the kids can visualize and put the jobs into reference.
It might help to consider including a short discussion of small projects
that kids their age might want to do that they might not think of as
woodworking but actually are the seeds of the beginnings of a woodworker,
such as, making a scooter out of wood using old skate wheels, or making a go
cart using baby coach type wheels. Others in the rec may have even more
creative ideas on this subject.
Lot's of luck,
Philly
"StephenM" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>I recently completed some bookshelves for our local public library. Its a
>small community an the library gets by on one paid employee and a bevy of
>volunteers. My next door neighbor is a retired physician and he sits on
>the board for the library (he also takes their trash to the dump on
>Saturdays).
>
> I worked out a deal by which he would give to me the bulk of his red oak
> stash (about 700 bf of 4/4), felled by him, but has gone largely untouched
> for the past 17 years. I would build the shelves and keep the remainder
> for whatever. The oak is of so-so quality; there are plenty of knots, but
> hey, it's free wood.
>
> http://www.cefls.org/Trailblazerspring2008.pdf (see page 3.)
>
> Allison, the librarian, is organizing a series of presentations by local
> persons on various topics relating broadening ones interests (hobbies of
> you will). She has asked me to give a 1/2 hour presentation to a group of
> 8 to 12-year-olds on woodworking as a hobby. Show, touch and tell
> examples are required.
>
> I'm *not* going to give a "how-to" presentation. I don't think its
> practical for that location, time frame and audience.
>
> What I think I will do is talk about various types (specialties) of
> woodworkers what they do and some of the tools that they use. With a
> tangent into local wood species, this will give me an opportunity to
> display:
> - various wood samples,
> - partially and fully turned bowls
> - boxes and totes
> - some handmade tooling ( mallets, etc)
> - A few manufactured hand tools such planes spokeshaves and scrapers
>
> I think that this will give lots of opportunity fore the audience to
> safely handle, while being fairly simple to transport.
>
> I'm looking for a list of "woodworker specialties" to reference in my
> presentation. here's what I thought of so far:
>
> Framer
> Finish carpenter
> Cabinetmaker
> Turner
> Cooper
> Luthier
> Carver
>
> What else should I add to the list?
>
> Also, any suggestions what I might include in the presentation would be
> welcomed.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Steve
>
>
>
>
> ** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **
Thanks all for the suggestions and the guidance.
I'm going to keep it low tech (no powerpoint) but heavy on the heavy on the
project items that can be passed around and touched.
I'll make sure that I include a couple novice items so that it stays
attainable.
I'll hand out a few turned tops... kids love a freeebee.
Thanks,
Steve
<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:3473548b-0751-4397-8e24-6c7323921143@z66g2000hsc.googlegroups.com...
>I would think (reminding myself of my 8yr old nephew and his buddies -
> some a little older) that you need to remember the attention span of
> your audience.
>
> Delving into the nuances, history and minutiae or woodworking wouldn't
> keep their attention for more than a few minutes.
>
> Probably just about anything would be fine as long as it was well
> presented in a lively manner. Especially if you have visual aids. If
> you try to give a comprehensive overview of woodworking and its
> applications, you will lose them fast.
>
> Robert
>
** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **
"StephenM" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> <snip>
> I'm looking for a list of "woodworker specialties" to reference in my
> presentation. here's what I thought of so far:
>
> Framer
> Finish carpenter
> Cabinetmaker
> Turner
> Cooper
> Luthier
> Carver
> What else should I add to the list? Also, any suggestions what I might
> include in the presentation would be welcomed. Thanks,
> Steve
-------------------------------
Just brainstorming now...
Depending on how you define woodworking--you might look at a more
encompassing/expanded definition, which could include sawyers, loggers,
foresters, firewood processors, pallet manufacturers, etc. Just to show
that there is a wide range to the occupations involved in working with wood.
I "ooh and ahh" over many of the pictures of projects contributed to FWW
magazine. You might be able to use some of them. I think I would clip a
few pictures from a recent Walmart ad too, for the sake of comparison! I
think it would be really interesting to see if the children could tell the
difference, or if they cared. Mabye "caring about quality" is an "adult
thing"--I'm not sure. I think you are planting seeds...enjoy!
Bill
On Thu, 03 Jul 2008 07:57:50 -0400, StephenM wrote:
> I'm looking for a list of "woodworker specialties" to reference in my
> presentation. here's what I thought of so far:
>
> Framer
> Finish carpenter
> Cabinetmaker
> Turner
> Cooper
> Luthier
> Carver
>
> What else should I add to the list?
You might want to add some examples of marquetry and intarsia. I think
that would intrigue a lot of the kids. Even some woodburning might not be
amiss.
We get lots of customers in the local Woodcraft who do bows, walking
sticks, pool cues, and gunstocks. And a very large number who do pen
turning.