Sam Falzone Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 Picked up a load of free steel from a colleague of mine. Don't know exactly what type of steel it is - it's from an old school shop so it's likely mild steel, but the corners look like some of it may be cold-rolled. It's all kinds of sizes from 1/8" square to big chunks of billets (as you can see in the photos). The worse part is the stuff I had to leave behind. There were 10' lengths of 4"x1", 2"x 1", 3" and 4" round ... stuff that I couldn't even lift and my back and my van couldn't take anymore. Still a really nice haul for free steel. Sam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CurlyGeorge Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 Nice haul, Sam. That ought to keep ya busy for awhile. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bentiron1946 Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 Oh, man! That's to bad you had to leave that three inch round and four inch square behind. It's times like that when you could use two more men and a small boy to tote it away, that a one ton truck That big stock would have been the start of a good air hammer or even a knife anvil. :rolleyes: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gearhartironwerks Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 Picked up a load of free steel from a colleague of mine. Don't know exactly what type of steel it is - it's from an old school shop so it's likely mild steel, but the corners look like some of it may be cold-rolled. It's all kinds of sizes from 1/8" square to big chunks of billets (as you can see in the photos). The worse part is the stuff I had to leave behind. There were 10' lengths of 4"x1", 2"x 1", 3" and 4" round ... stuff that I couldn't even lift and my back and my van couldn't take anymore. Still a really nice haul for free steel. Sam "Old school shop"...What's going on with this country? I've seen at least 3 local high schools close and sell all their equipment at auction prices to supposedly put in restaurant/cooking programs etc. What a crock of XXXX I live in a summer tourist oriented economy. There are so many kids who are not interested in cooking/washing dishes for a minimum wage and there is no place for them to turn. The community college can supply only so much support as there is no longer industry here. So what's the choice for a kid who isn't going to leave...falling timber or fishing? Our local community college should have a top notch hydraulics/pneumatics program to fulfill a lot of the community needs, as well as recruit out of state students. My guess...it'll be a cold day in he.. before that happens. Hey, let's keep the tourists happy with clam chowder...at $7.75/hr for the workers who have no place to go. Sorry for the rant. It just breaks my heart. Whenever I'm asked, I give demos to kids. Hopefully they'll remember that working with their hands can be a good/fun thing. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcus Hopfinger Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 Hopefully they were just clearing out some "clutter" and not closing the program down. In the late 1990s I was a shop teacher in a small town and taught drafting, woodworking and welding. When I decided to move on they decided to not replace me, the shop teacher, since they were part of a consortium of school districts that shared mobile vocational classrooms that went from school to school each semester teaching cooking, ag, small engine repair....there was one metal working unit as well. They figured this was enough although a student would only get one chance to take a specific subject once during their high school years....if it didn't work into your schedule that year you were out of luck. What did they do with my shop? They decided to make it into the art classroom. :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kunkle Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 I am so tired of seeing schools close the shop classes. I graduated in 1994, I had one marking period of wood shop and no metal shop experience. We had a nice shop at school but no teachers. I have tried to teach myself metal working, welding, and recently started black smithing. I just don't understand, we ship off the majority of the manufacturing jobs, then when we do have some jobs open there is a limited pool of people to fill the jobs. The community college I attend is trying to close its machinist training program due to lack of interest, but the nursing program has a waiting list. If we want to turn this country around we need to bring industry home, make reliable cheap products, and export more then we import. We need to add value to raw materials. I watched my neighbor throw out a lawn mower and 5 bicycles becasue he had no clue how to true a wheel on a bicycle and replace a pull cord on the mower. This is sad, he is only 5 years younger than me and did not understand righty tighty and lefty loosey. He had never picked up a wrench, no idea about allen vs torx vs torx plus or sae vs metric threading. I dont know what point I am trying to make here, but things need to change. If the schools aren't going to broaden the childrens horizons, than as a community of tinkerers and thinkers we need to step up and educate the public. Any ideas? Thanks for watching me rant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spears Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 This subject will probably explode into a political discussion bigger than the revolution I wish would happen. I can't imagine anyone on this forum liking the facts, reasons, or people responsible for shipping our jobs to other countries. However, at this time our country is rapidly going down the toilet, one CAN ask the question "why educate someone in metal shop if there aren't any metal shops to get a job at"? Better yet, "why pay thousands of dollars getting a college education when you can't go out and get a better paying job with it"? Or even get a job at all for that matter. I loved this world a whole lot more when it was all about industrial capitalism. The good thing is, after I had taught shop for three years, I threw in enough extra math and science so many of my students are now employed in other industries that still exist. I didn't cancel or cut down my program, THEY did! Good luck with all you do with your free metal. And if anyone rants, I completely excuse and forgive you. Spears. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bentiron1946 Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 When I was in high school all boys had to have General Shop and all girls had to have Home Economics to graduate. The reason was to at least have a familiarity with a hammer and a spatula. Now neither is required, everybody is supposed to go to college and do what? I tried to teach my sons the rudiments of tool use but the crap they were getting at school gave them the attitude of "hire someone" to do everything that needed a simple fix, not fix it for themselves. There are young couples at church that are in financial trouble from buying a house and then not know how to fix it when it breaks. It has been the older members that have gone out and taught them how to change a washer, replace an outlet, rehang a door, simple things that they have been paying a lot of money to have someone else do. It is hard to believe that a person can have a degree from college, I have one, and not know how to turn a screw driver or swing a hammer but I had shop plus a life time of using my head and tools. It was expected of me to not sit my on rear end and let someone else take care of it, even if for a fee, a man was take care of his own. There are jobs out here for persons who know how to use tools but neither of my sons have been conditioned to that frame of mind. No matter how a parent tries to imprint the importance of work a teacher who stands up there all day and tells a teen that his parents are wrong and that working with your mind is more important has much more impact for some reason. The school district I'mdenigratess working with ones hands and only upholds those who have college educations. There was an article in one of the news magazines that the average age of amachinistt in the USA is 52 and telling about the shortage of younger workers that had the desire or the math skills to go into the field. I had two years of drafting and one of machine shop in high school, all without additional fee. Twenty years after graduation there was no longer drafting nor machine shop classed in my high school, you to go to a private "college" and pay a very high fee to get nothing more than high school drafting. If you wanted to become a machinist you had to get hired on as anapprenticee. Some unions had classes for plumber,electricianss, carpenters, those kinds of trades but a lot of those things were taught in high school. We had auto shop and if you were good there were advanced classes you could take, now that is only offered in a "college", out here for around $50K, same for motorcycles and boats. In the seventies and early eighties some of the junior colleges had industrial arts programs but not so much anymore, it is up to the powerful commercial "college" lobby to get these thing cut from thecurriculumm I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Falzone Posted June 30, 2011 Author Share Posted June 30, 2011 "Old school shop"...What's going on with this country? I've seen at least 3 local high schools close and sell all their equipment at auction prices to supposedly put in restaurant/cooking programs etc. What a crock of XXXX I live in a summer tourist oriented economy. There are so many kids who are not interested in cooking/washing dishes for a minimum wage and there is no place for them to turn. The community college can supply only so much support as there is no longer industry here. So what's the choice for a kid who isn't going to leave...falling timber or fishing? Our local community college should have a top notch hydraulics/pneumatics program to fulfill a lot of the community needs, as well as recruit out of state students. My guess...it'll be a cold day in he.. before that happens. Hey, let's keep the tourists happy with clam chowder...at $7.75/hr for the workers who have no place to go. Sorry for the rant. It just breaks my heart. Whenever I'm asked, I give demos to kids. Hopefully they'll remember that working with their hands can be a good/fun thing. John Well I hope this makes you feel a bit better John ... This shop wasn't shutting down. Actually the machine shop was being re-opened after more than 4 years. The teacher was just getting rid of some steel that was scrap and or he couldn't use. He even shared with me a bit of his saved stock (around 10 - 10' lengths). So it's not all bad news. Sam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pault17 Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 Only a few years back, I was taking a "stick 101" welding class in the eveningsat the local community college, and found out that they had closed the machine shop to make room for a new cosmetology course. way sad state of affairs. I managed to picks up a bund of mill and bastard files, along with a bench of Hex stock in various sizes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcus Hopfinger Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 This shop wasn't shutting down. Actually the machine shop was being re-opened after more than 4 years. The teacher was just getting rid of some steel that was scrap and or he couldn't use. He even shared with me a bit of his saved stock (around 10 - 10' lengths). That is good to hear. With the discussion of vocational classes being cut it reminded me of a webcomic I saw linked in the forums here about a year ago however after spending about an hour searching for it I was unable to find the post. If anyone else remembers that and can find the post please post a link to the old forum posting. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bentiron1946 Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 "cosmetology course"!?........Just what the USA needs, more cosmetologists! Ain't the women pretty enough already or is this for us menfolk? Well I'm happy to hear that they are re-opening one machine shop class. Where I go for the iron pour they shut down the "nail technology" course, yeah, that was a course on how to make your finger and toe nails pretty but here again they just couldn't compete with the Asians, most all of the shops are owned my Asian immigrants, they work harder, longer hours for less pay than their native born counter parts. Don't feel bad the next generation from their family won't feel the urge to work as hard though, they'll be just like my kids, looking for all the entitlements they can get, after all it's the new American way. :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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