The Apprentice's Toolbox

Jim Logajan wrote:
" wrote:
...
How about you?

First project in my high school shop class was a metal dustpan.
Never looked for any deep meaning in the instructor's choice. ;-)

It was probably a subtle hint. I'm willing to bet you had at least
one fellow student who would be using his a lot.

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired

I'm sorry for your loss; my dad passed away unexpectedly a couple years
ago.

All I can say, inadequate as it is, would be that whatever he taught you
will always be with you. The pain will ease over time, while the good
parts of the past will not.


In article ,
"Morgans" wrote:

On Apr 11, 7:55 am, "RST Engineering" wrote:
You sell too cheap, Bob. I've already made the arrangements that mine
will
be buried (or incinerated) along with me.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------

I even wrote up an Instructor's Manual with a whole buncha photos
showing which parts of the box could be used to introduce hand-
squeezers, joggling, use of the brake, use of the lathe (for the
handles) and so forth. Zero interest.

All the guys I grew up with -- mostly pushing up daisys now -- always
gave kids rides and taught them useful stuff. Nowadays it seems
everyone is too busy charging a dollar for a dimes-worth of
information to care about what happens when those sources of free,
PRACTICAL information are no longer available to the nation's young.

Yep, most people have no idea how important it is to some of us to learn how
to make things, to learn what we did not know yesterday. To me, it is one
of the most important things in life.

March 20, a few weeks ago, I lost my mentor. My Dad. My friend. I am what
I am today, because of him.

His dad was a machinist, mostly self educated. My dad was the first of his
family to go to college and got an engineering degree, but his dad passed
many of his hands on skills along to him. My dad passed the skills along to
me.

From the time I was old enough to walk, when my dad was in the garage
working on something, I was at his side. I held lights, fetched tools,
cleaned parts, or whatever was needed. Dad always told people that half the
time, he would have to get me out of between his eyes and the work, so he
could continue working. I wanted to learn everything, and see everything,
and dad took the time to show me and teach me. For this, I am eternally
grateful.

I'm also doing my part, and have passed what I could along to my son.
Someday, he will have his great grandpa's tool box, and all of the other
goodies that dad and I have accumulated, too. I hope he passes them along,
and that they mean as much to him, as they have meant to me.

The other day, I needed to tap a hole, and went into grandpa's tool box (a
huge home-made rolling wooden tool box, drawers and all, that he pulled
around the factory to do his work. What a work of art that toolbox is. I
was looking for a tap handle. I found one. It was home made, and had my
grandpa's name stamped on it with a center punch, and the date he made it.
1911. It is now one of my most cherished possessions.

Losing my Dad was one of the toughest things I have ever gone through. His
absence leaves a big hole in my life. It is a little easier, remembering
all we did together, and knowing all I learned from him. I miss him, but am
grateful for the impact he had on my life.

R.I.P., Jack Morgan.

Thanks for listening to my ramblings. It felt good to tell everyone about
him.

On Apr 11, 5:46 pm, "flash" wrote:

Bob, if you think nothing is impossible, (as I read somewhere on the
internet last week), please try SLAMMING A REVOLVING DOOR !

I can't tell you the number of times I've slammed a revolving door.

On my hand.
On my foot.
Etc.

I lost my dad 5 years ago. The last thing I told him was my wife was
pregnant.

I thought I was lying. I was wrong.

Well. Time to break out Field of Dreams again.

"Dan" wrote

Agreed, and it's a shame many schools don't have shop class, that
parents don't have some practical skills to pass on etc.

Strangley, that fits with my story. I went to college and got a music
education degree. After three years, I quit and started doing home repair
and remodeling, full time. Where did I learn to do that? You guessed it;
mostly from dad, and then the rest was self taught. Then, I worked up to
having my own contracting company building houses. When the economy went
tits up about 15 years ago, I took a job teaching shop, but specifically
home construction. All still traces back to dad.

It's all "get a higher education" and "go to college."

All kids will not go to college. Shame, but some people can't understand
that.

Having said that, I do know people who are dangerous with anything more
complicated than a screw driver. Let them keep plumbers, electricians, tow
drivers etc employed.

Yep. Keep those kids that did not go to college employed!
--
Jim in NC

"Steve Hix" wrote

I'm sorry for your loss; my dad passed away unexpectedly a couple years
ago.

All I can say, inadequate as it is, would be that whatever he taught you
will always be with you. The pain will ease over time, while the good
parts of the past will not.

Thanks all, for your kind words.

The pain has indeed started to pass, and the good times are remembered, and
feel better to remember.
--
Jim in NC

Morgans wrote:
"Dan" wrote

Agreed, and it's a shame many schools don't have shop class, that
parents don't have some practical skills to pass on etc.

Strangley, that fits with my story. I went to college and got a music
education degree. After three years, I quit and started doing home repair
and remodeling, full time. Where did I learn to do that? You guessed it;
mostly from dad, and then the rest was self taught. Then, I worked up to
having my own contracting company building houses. When the economy went
tits up about 15 years ago, I took a job teaching shop, but specifically
home construction. All still traces back to dad.

It's all "get a higher education" and "go to college."

All kids will not go to college. Shame, but some people can't understand
that.

Having said that, I do know people who are dangerous with anything more
complicated than a screw driver. Let them keep plumbers, electricians, tow
drivers etc employed.

Yep. Keep those kids that did not go to college employed!

Lot to be said for trade schools. Pity is there don't seem to be many
at the high school level. Those who went to those seemed to have an
innate ability before attending and just needed topping off before
heading out into the real world.

Back in the 1980s the local votech here used to offer what they
called a "powder puff" automotive class to teach women basic care and
feeding of their cars. They had to rapidly change the name when they
realized a lot of men were taking it.

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired

My most sincere condolences.

I was slightly over 40 when my dad died, and this is somethng that we all go
through. Time helps, but not completely. That's probably a good thing
becasue not caring would be far worse.

Peter

Usually the first step in easing the greef is to get in out in the
open. Thanks for sharing your story.
Unfortunately my relationship with my dad was not quite that good.
John


On Sat, 12 Apr 2008 02:26:39 -0400, Morgans wrote:


"Steve Hix" wrote

I'm sorry for your loss; my dad passed away unexpectedly a couple years
ago.

All I can say, inadequate as it is, would be that whatever he taught you
will always be with you. The pain will ease over time, while the good
parts of the past will not.

Thanks all, for your kind words.

The pain has indeed started to pass, and the good times are remembered, and
feel better to remember.

On Apr 11, 9:24 am, " wrote:
I even wrote up an Instructor's Manual with a whole buncha photos
showing which parts of the box could be used to introduce hand-
squeezers, joggling, use of the brake, use of the lathe (for the
handles) and so forth. Zero interest.

When in Africa a few months ago I bought a copy of Mechanix
Illustrated, with content being somewhat different from that here in
North America, yet it addressed familiar problems. An article in that
magazine lamented the loss of handyman skills among the last couple of
generations, pointing out that kids have been getting electronic games
and other such mindless toys instead of the real-but-small tools like
I was given as a kid. So now there are guys who can't change a light
bulb, much less change the oil in the car or fix a leaking faucet. A
current bestselling book in South Africa is "The Dangerous Book For
Boys" that shows how to build such stuff as a slingshot, or how to set
up a tent and start a campfire. Men are buying that book. It's a sign,
an encouraging sign, that males feel the lack of manual skills, even
if they've never done them, and want to know how. The author of the
article pointed out that an old, no-longer-published magazine for boys
used to have projects and plans in every issue, up to and including
building a small, gasoline-powered car. For boys, this was, not men
with money. How things change.
I've had aircraft projects and restored an old truck and built
several boats. Seems normal to me, but so many fellows say they wish
they do do it, too. The nice tools in their workshops, tools they
don't know how to use, prove that the wish is really there.
So now it's understandable that how-to magazines don't buy
detailed project-building articles. People won't buy the magazine to
build anything, because they don't have the skills to even start
anything. Shoot, even the current kitplane is not much more than a
bolt-together affair.

Dan

On Apr 13, 9:08 pm, "dublin_o" wrote:
I am going to gather up the tools and the list and show my grandson how to
build the box, my grandfather did this for me and I still have the box, but
now it has misc parts in it for my router.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Good for you!

As a project, it's pretty easy. The secret is that you only have to
lay-out three rows of holes. Once drilled, the three parts are then
used as drill-guides for all of the other holes except for the
handles, hinges & fittings. Once the builder understands the
principle, the work goes very quickly.

The foundation for the tray may be self-bent using a table edge,
clamps and a rubber mallet but the tray is usually used as a means of
introducing the student to the brake. If you use T-zero stock the
partitions you can fudge the bends a bit, eliminating the need for
high precision.