Building Harry Bryan's Dory Skiff Daisy

[Steve Branam]

I normally hang out on the Neanderthal Haven forum, but thought you folks here might enjoy reading about the project at my daughter's high school, where they worked on building Harry Bryan's dory skiff Daisy this past week. They didn't complete it, but made good progress, and it was a great learning opportunity.

http://www.closegrain.com/2011/06/ia...iff-daisy.html

[Chris Damm]

Nice project. I only wished more schools would offer things like this.

[Jim Creech]

+1 on the schools. Do schools even have shop classes anymore?

[Steve Branam]

Do schools even have shop classes anymore?

Some do, but it's definitely declining. I'm teaching an intro hand tool night class at a nearby high school built just a couple years ago. They have no industrial arts facilities at all, so I teach it in the art room. Arthur, one of the other parents who helped, used to teach cabinetmaking at one of the reqional vo-tech schools. He quit when they dropped the program; the only woodworking-related skill they teach now is framing.

I actually think hand tools are great for high school if you can convince the kids they don't need MORE POWER! Engage them with good tools and give them some basic skills, and they do respond. They're old enough to appreciate what the tools can do and physically capable of handling them. Maybe not huge numbers of kids, but enough to justify a modest hand tool shop, that costs a lot less than a power shop and has much less risk of serious accidents.

[John Powers]

I'm sure THe kids appreciate your efforts but they can never appreciate what it took for you to let them use that Veretas block plane. Surely they were working on grass or a rubber floor?

[Steve Branam]

Well, that's true, until they own their own fine tools, they'll never understand, which is the way it is with everything. They were working on asphalt, so if someone had dropped it, it could have been damaged. The teacher did remind them several times to set tools down low on the frame, not on top of the boat where they would get knocked off, and to be careful not to drop them. Beyond that, you just have to trust!