Have I thought this through?
Added 2018-06-06 10:27:37 +0000 UTCSo, I've been thinking about teaching woodworking classes for a long time. I like building stuff, but it's a hard way to make a living. It seems like the steady income in this game comes from information and content (thus, I have a YouTube channel, Instagram, Patreon, etc). But in-person classes seem like another good way to share what I know, have some social-interaction, and make a little more money.
I've got a friend who owns a company that teaches woodworking to kids, and he wants to expand into adult education. Perfect. I'll teach a class in spoon-carving. I told him to go ahead and get me on the schedule for the 30th...of THIS month.
Now, I'm just realizing what an undertaking this is. I expect 5 students (I hope) and they all need tools. Each of them needs:
-A gouge
-A bevel-edge chisel
-A scraper (or two)
-A spoke-shave
-A saw
-Some sand-paper
It's a small list, but multiplied over 5 students, it's a lot of tools. I spent a fair amount of time this week prepping all the big gouges I own. I rarely use this tool, so most of them were just sitting in a drawer and needed to be cleaned, ground, honed, and two of them needed new handles.
They look good and they're sharp, but now I need to go through the same thing for all the rest of the tools.
The scrapers are easy; I just cut them out of old saw-blades. And I already have 5 good spoke-shaves because I love spoke-shaves and if someone is selling one for less than $5, I just buy it.
I do need to get the chisels straightened out. I have a bunch, but I really don't want inexperienced people pounding away on my daily tools. So I pulled out my old mason jar full of socket chisels. I buy these things for a buck, because people don't even know what they are. I rooted around and found 5 good ones, but they ALL need handles. Sigh.
And even when the tools are done, I still need spoon patterns, pencils, a tighter lesson plan, the list goes on.
The class is in three weeks and I don't know if anyone's even signed up. Like I said, I might not have thought this through.
Hope everyone is having a good week!
