People tell me that the reason we don't seem to be growing railway modellers is that kids don't learn woodwork or metalwork at school any more.
I did a term of woodwork and here is the result. A car shaped lump of pine. The wheels go round, sort of, the red line was obviously masked but I didn't bother to do this when painting the wheels, or taking them out for that matter.
It's quite a pleasing object so I can't throw this away, but can anyone explain just how my abilities as a model maker stem entirely from making it? Or could it be that a lack of practical skills taught at school isn't the only reason da kidz don't make toy trainz any more?
3 comments:
In that brief term you would have experienced drilling holes square to a surface,clearance fits, interference fits,drilling the hole centrally in the wheel( use of the drill chuck in the tailstock of a lathe)? marking out, sawing square and at the slope, planing square and at the slope, surface finish , masking and applying some type of surface protection.Not bad for a piece of material that must probably cost the tax payer less than that was spent on a packet of crisps at break time. Bring back Woodwork teachers.. any fule kno that.
There's a lot of discussion about this on woodworking forums as well. The general consensus is that woodwork is generally so badly taught in schools that it's better if we don't bother.
I suppose there is an argument that you can teach people that they can be creative despite not being musical, but a normal school is the last place to try that sort of thing.
Dermot - You overestimate things. I will have cut the block on a bandsaw, drilled a couple of holes in this, and the dowel wheels then threaded more dowel through for the axles. I don't think our school had a wood lathe! No planing or surface finish other than sandpaper.
I expect we raced them down something but can't remember.
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