[TheForge] Newby knifemaker

Thu Aug 14 14:22:05 2003

Good show Kevin:

In addition to his safety glasses have him get ear plugs. Getting him into
the habit of taking reasonable precautions now is so much easier than later
and it will serve him well all his life.

Sounds like he's about "average" for a first timer. I demo the leaf hook
with full explanations of each step, in detail in about 12 to 15 minutes
depending on the questions. Then the student usually spends 2 - 4 hours
making one.

Teenagers especially seem to have trouble remembering to watch the fire;
short attention spans no doubt. My solution is to let them burn the work, it
only takes a couple times with lots of effort invested to get the idea. I
don't do this right off of course, I wait till they have heard and
(forgotten about) my admonishments through a couple projects. After losing a
couple hours worth of effort their listeners seem to turn up a notch. <grin>

Yes indeed, teaching someone else is a wonderful way to improve your own
skills, I learn as much teaching as they do.

Enjoy the experience.

Frosty
------------------------
If it ain't forged
it ain't real.
Wrought iron is.
The FrostWorks

Meadow Lakes, AK.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Kevin donahoe" <[email protected]>
To: "theforge" <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, August 13, 2003 10:22 PM
Subject: [TheForge] Newby knifemaker

>
> Paul (13years old) was dropped off yesterday afternoon by his mom at the
> appointed time, even brought his own safety glasses, and after I fashioned
a
> sweat band, was able to keep them on :)  Made him do some old fart warmups
> with a 3 lb hammer, curls and tricep extensions, pointing out that it will
> matter more in 30 years.
>
> Somehow I thought I could demo a technique and let him go at it a bit, but
> he pretty much took steady direction.  Even after burning up a piece in
the
> coal, I had to tell him when to check the iron every heat.  Drawing a
point
> was the first challenge, just made sure to let him know that when he
missed
> and hit the anvil to not let the hammer smack him in the face.  He
promised
> to practice hammer control on a 2x4 at home.  We ended up making a letter
> opener out of 1/2" square in about 3 hours.  Had to make him drink water
> regularly, as he got to feeling a bit nauseous.  What a challenge to
explain
> things that have become reflex over time... make brain hurt!  He was
> thrilled with the results (it ended up being 75% his effort, 25% mine),
and
> I stamped his name and date in the blade.
>
> He went home with my QuadState flyer, and his dad intrigued at the
prospect.
> At least I didn't scare him off :)
>
> Kevin Donahoe
> Flying Pig Forge
> Morrow, OH
> [email protected]
>
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