Fandom High School

Shop Class; Tuesday, Fourth Period [04/23].

2024-04-23T11:29:11Z

Posted by: special_rabbit

Amaya was....distracted today, having spent most of her morning struggling with far too many things. For one thing, she had to get things ready to head back to Daventry, but all the while, she was also getting some really good ideas that she wanted to start in on, but had to remind herself that it would have to wait until she got to the Daventry shop and set up there, and then she'd have fifteen hundred gold coins that gave her the freedom to work on whatever the flip she wanted! And all the while, contending with the urge to actually make something now instead of later, there was the issue of telling Irene about her leaving for a bit right after all that talk about how that's what people do, they leave, there's no getting around it.

Was a part of her honestly just considering going and not even saying anything? Yes. Absolutely. Without a doubt. But another part of her knew that she couldn't do that. Not to Irene. Not now. Maybe not ever.

But on the other hand...

So, yeah, Amaya was feeling really glad this was the last class of the semester so she didn't have to focus too much on trying to actually teach anything, and she really hoped everyone's final projects would prove to be a good distraction from all the things distracting her.

"So!" she said, nodding, and giving her fist a little punch into her palm as usual. "We've reached our last class, and that means it's time to show me what you've worked on for your final projects in creating a Rube Goldberg-esque devise: something that employs a good deal of mechanics both complicated and simple in an overly elaborate way to perform a relatively simple task. I'm really excited to see what everyone's got, so let's just get right into it. Any volunteers to go first?"

comments

Shop Class; Tuesday, Fourth Period [04/16].

2024-04-16T09:10:56Z

Posted by: special_rabbit

Hooo boy, was Amaya sure glad that the penultimate lesson in her shop class was almost always one that required a lot of set-up before hand! Not that she needed anything to keep her busy and occupied and not thinking about things like the sleeping bags in her living room or intricate armor pieces in her shop or glitter-covered magnifying glasses, of course. She just liked having a project and getting right to it and set it up as a means to an end, nothing to see here.

Well, actually, no, by the time class got started, there was a lot to see there, as Amaya had taken the time to put together several familiar contraptions all about the shop room, and pretty thrilled to get right into it.

"Now," she said, "we're almost done with the semester, and those of you who have taken this class before, and maybe even a few of my other ones, know what's coming up next: it's time to talk about your final projects for next week, and that means we're talking about Rube Goldberg machines.

"In a nutshell, a Rube Goldberg machine is a contraption designed to be overly complicated, using a variety of different simple machines and other devices, to do a simple task. They're named after a cartoonist who featured a lot of these in his work, and I've got a few of those recreated today, as well as some other ones, to help give you ideas on what you might like to create as your own Rube Goldberg machine.

"Today, then," she said, "is mostly brainstorming, getting some ideas, bouncing them off each other, and sort of fiddling around with this and that and seeing what might come out of it. You'll have free reign of the shop to start putting your projects together throughout the week, and the rest of today, but first, let me show you a few examples."

comments

Shop Class; Tuesday, Fourth Period [04/09].

2024-04-09T10:15:50Z

Posted by: special_rabbit

"Last week," said Amaya at the start of class, with her usual nod to the students and a pound of her fist into her palm to show that she was ready to get to business, "we worked with simple machines. This week, we're working with much, much more complicated ones. And a whole lot bigger, too!"

Which would explain why they were in the Danger Shop instead of the usual shop classroom, just to make better use of the space that mostly consisted of a wide, open field overlooking an ocean on one side and a very tall stone wall on the other. Around them was mostly a collection of lumber and tools and other various bits and pieces that easily held the suggestion that they were going to be constructing quite the machine indeed. And if you know Amaya only a little, and considered that there were things like heavy rocks and pumpkins also scattered around, you could probably guess where this was going.

And if you didn't? Well, she was going to take care of that in the next breath.

"Trebuchets!" she said brightly. "Putting some of those simple machines into good use in a big way. Now, usually, I teach this class in the fall, which makes this particular lesson perfect for flinging pumpkins around Halloween time, but there's no reason flinging pumpkins with a large siege weapon can't be an all-year-round sort of thing. So, today, we're going to learn how to make a trebuchet and then enjoy how to use a trebuchet for the rest of class. Sounds pretty good, right? So let's get right into it!"

comments

Shop Class; Tuesday, Fourth Period [04/02].

2024-04-02T10:11:55Z

Posted by: special_rabbit

"As with a lot of these lessons," Amaya said, as she greeted the class with her customary nod, "they're all going to build..." Belatedly, she snorted, not realizing the inherent pun there before it just tumbled out of her, "into something else. More specifically, today's lesson should help lead you into your final project. It's a little bit of beginning-of-the-semester-stuff that we don't always get to because it's so easy to get distracted by other projects, so some of it might be treading familiar territory, but it's important to know the basics that build up the more complicated stuff.

"We've been working our way through several different machines and tools that we'll be using throughout the semester, and we've even made some of our own, and today's going to continue on with that. There's just something real satisfying about getting an idea about something, figuring out how it works, then putting it all together and making it do something. But before you can really do that, you've got to really understand machines on a simple, fundamental level, though the six kinds of simple machines that'll help make more complex ones along the line.

"Now, a machine is basically just a mechanical structure that uses power to apply forces and control movement to perform an intended action, and a simple machine is what you use to change or direct that force and movement, a.k.a. all the little moving parts that make up the big moving machine."

And here, Amaya lifted up the examples of each simple machine that she had on the worktable in front of her as she went through them. "You've got your levers, wheel and axle, pulley, inclined plane, wedge, and screw. Basic stuff you see every day, but the key to making machines is understanding how to do them right and understanding how to put them all together effectively.

"Which is pretty much what we'll be working on today. You've got full run of the whole shop and the materials available to you to try things and experiment and really get to understand these simple machines and how they work...especially together. If you have questions, of course, I'm here, but I really want you all to just try thing out and really use the class period to get a little creative with these basic elements. See how they work together in combination; find out what works and what doesn't. Try to see if you can put together a way to make all the elements work together in one machine by the end of class. Find out if some materials work better than others. Find out what the limits for pressure and force might be for this machine or that one. And keep all these things in mind for throughout the semester, because it may one day come in handy.

"Sound good? Good! Remember: safety equipment when needed, don't hesitate to ask questions if you got 'em, and let's get to work!"

comments

Shop Class; Tuesday, Fourth Period [03/26].

2024-03-26T10:25:05Z

Posted by: special_rabbit

Amaya had definitely been on this island long enough (too long, maybe, even) to finally figure out what was going on this week by the time she'd smashed her thumb for the third time yesterday, and she'd gotten to a point where she had a handy solution that she found herself pursuing with eagerness rather than reluctance. So there was definitely a part of her brain floating around the idea of just making it a free period this week.

However, she did also remember those times when solutions were a bit less pleasant and/or few and far between, so, out of sympathy for those like herself who preferred distraction above all else in those cases, she was definitely holding class.

It was going to be incredibly simple, though, but hopefully a good way to work out some of that pent-up frustration without too many injuries as a result.

"Well, guys," she stated, with a nod, "this week, we're just going to practice an important skill for any shop class to learn, and that's....construction. Kind of. Listen, we've got hammers," she held up the one in her hand, "we got nails," she held up the fan of nails in her other hand, "we got boards," a gesture toward the lumber waiting beside her. "Let's just have at it. Bonus points if you actually managed to build yourself something here today, but there's no expectation of that, because there are two different variations of the concept of nailing something, and if you can't do the one, might as well do the other."

And, quite frankly, Amaya planned on getting around to both. She always was a fan of multitasking.

comments

Shop Class; Tuesday, Fourth Period [03/12].

2024-03-12T10:23:51Z

Posted by: special_rabbit

"Now, last week," said Amaya, grinning faintly as she got started with the lesson for the week, "we worked with our little mini-forges to melt down some metal and fill previously made molds to make little metal biscuits, right? But those molds had to come from somewhere, which means that there's someone who made those, too! Now, of course, these days, in this world, you've got a lot of big factories pumping out a ton of these things, but, where I'm from, there was someone making these things by scratch and by hand, and there's a variety of different methods, but, today, we're going to learn how to do a method called sand casting so that you can know how to make your own mold of pretty much near anything you'd like!

"So take a moment," she said, "to go through some of the miscellaneous items we've got on hand here in the shop until you find something you'd like to make a mold out of, and then we'll all go through the process together and see what we come up with! Me? I've got this here wooden shamrock, because, well, that's a holiday coming up here soon so why not? But you can make a mold about almost anything, though simpler shapes will always be better than something with too much detail. Anyway, enough about that, find something you'd like to make a mold out of and then we'll get started."

comments

Shop Class; Tuesday, Fourth Period [03/05].

2024-03-05T10:53:52Z

Posted by: special_rabbit

"Hey, everyone!" Amaya announced at the start of class before hefting up one of the makeshift mini-forges from....several weeks (actually, a month) ago onto one of the worktables. "Remember these?"

It had been a while, it was totally fair if you didn't.

"Well," she continued, "today, we're finally getting into learning how to use them! Specifically, for their most basic function, which is going to be melting down metal to pour into casings or molds to form into different shapes as they cool. In other words, we'll be making metal biscuits, which I don't recommend actually eating, unless hard aluminum is something that's already a part of your normal diet. You can see we've got ourselves a few buckets of old and empty aluminum soda cans here," she gave one such bucket a little kick to make the contents rattle slightly, "which we'll be melting down into our metal. So not only is it pretty neat, but it's also a good way to recycle. Just remember, safety first, so please make sure you've got some heat resistant gloves while you're working and some goggles wouldn't be a bad idea, either.

( Mini Metal Muffins! )

"We've got a little more time, so feel free to melt down some more cans and use a variety of the pans to try something else or try melting down what you've made this first time around and do a second pour with a purer metal. Don't forget to save a little time at the end to empty out the ashes in your forge before you leave as well, and let me know if there's any questions, of course."

comments

Shop Class; Tuesday, Fourth Period [02/20].

2024-02-20T10:50:02Z

Posted by: special_rabbit

The internet was truly an amazing thing, and Amaya tended to use it to find interesting new ideas to try in her shop...and, well, her shop class. So when a bit of random scrolling and reading lead her all the way over to an article about ancient Greek alarm clocks, she immediately knew she had to do something with that.

Or, well, maybe make her class do something with it!

"Today," she said, "I've decided we're going to dive into a little project focused around a clepsydra, or water clock. Well, technically, it translates into 'water thief, but these devices were basically a way to have an alarm clock when you didn't have actual mechanical time pieces or phones you could conveniently set to a specific time. With these devises, time is measured by the flow of water from one vessel to the next, much like sand in an hourglass, but an alarm version of a clepsydra would involve some other mechanical element that will create a signal when the water reaches a certain point.

"I'll go over some examples and break down various aspects of how they work, and then the challenge is for you to try and recreate a current model or experiment with your own form and structure. But the key elements need to be present: it needs to use the passing of water to create a way of marking the passage of time, and there must be some sort of alert or alarm system to inform people of when that time reaches a certain point. Do we have any questions right out the gate?"

comments

Shop Class; Tuesday, Fourth Period [02/13].

2024-02-13T11:12:56Z

Posted by: special_rabbit

Amaya stood at the front of the classroom, not with her usual excitement for a project as she usually was, but, instead, with a deep sigh and a shake of her head.

"Apropos of absolutely nothing," she insisted as a way to get things started, "we're doing a project today that's going to utilize a lot of the tools and skills we've learned up to this point and learn how to make metal roses."

It was such a shame, really, that such a cool project was always tied in with such a terrible holiday, but....it was a cool project, and the students did seem to like it, and it was always a bit some good advertising for one of the more profitable items at the shop, especially this time of year.

"Now," she said, smoothing into that whole advertising part for a moment, "these are similar to the ones I actually make every year in my shop, but those are created and hammered out in the forge. These skip some of those steps and will utilize other tools, like metal saws, drills, and welding torches, to created an equally stunning result. Metal has a reputation for being tough, strong, and durable, but hopefully, this lesson shows you that, if you only know how, you can bend it to do some pretty impressive stuff fairly easily!"

There was a slight pause, the sort of pause of a woman who wished she could just go back to being oblivious to the metaphor inherent in her work.

"Anyway," she said, shaking her head, "I'll walk you through the process, let me know if you've got questions, and then it's time to gear up and get started on your own!"

comments

Shop Class; Tuesday, Fourth Period [02/06].

2024-02-06T11:14:54Z

Posted by: special_rabbit

Amaya was actually looking forward to coming into class today, not only because they would be working on one of her favorite projects this week, but it also meant getting to take a break from mushy holiday orders and that was very welcome right now. If it weren't for that siren call of the shiny gold coin that she loved so much, she'd probably try to find ways to stick around well after class, too.

Or find some other excuse not to return to the shop, anyway. A-hem.

But for now! Class! And an exciting one at that, because....

"It's mini-foundry day, everyone!" she announced when everyone had gathered around. "One of my staple lessons for every shop class, mini-foundry day is the day we move from talking about the equipment we use in this class to actually making some equipment that we'll use in this class! This is a handy little project to build something that'll help us melt metal for other projects, which is always a good time when we get there. Now, the project itself is pretty involved, though, so let's just get right into it.

( Look, making it to February for my first copypasta class is pretty good, okay?! )

"And that's pretty much it! Good work today! If you'd like, I've got some metal spray paint in a few different colors if you want to give your buckets a little personal touch before you leave; we can leave them to dry so they're good and ready the next time we get the chance to use them. Any questions before we go?"

comments

Shop Class; Tuesday, Fourth Period [01/30].

2024-01-30T12:02:12Z

Posted by: special_rabbit

Amaya was definitely a morning person who might have actually preferred her classes being a bit earlier in the day, but she was feeling very grateful for the fourth period time slot today! But she was also pretty excited about the lesson today, too, so she was going to eagerly get right to it.

"Now I know last week's class wasn't the most...productive," she said, "and I know I didn't go into depth with a lot of the tools like I would usually like to under....less difficult circumstances, but a lot of them are pretty simple, and I hope you got the general gist of everything regardless. If you have any further questions, you know I'll be happy to go over them, and we've got one more big tool class today before we start getting into individual projects proper, but trust me, this is a good one. Because today, we're going to be talking about welding!

"For those of you unfamiliar, welding is, essentially, when you take heat and fire to fuse pieces of metal together! It's a pretty simple concept, really, where the heat melts the metal, and, when it cools, they form together. There are a few different ways to go about welding, but one of the most popular and easiest....and what we'll likely use most in this class...is the welding torch and there's a few different variations of those, as well, and we'll go over some of them and how to use them, and then we'll....well, get to use them!

"But," here she grinned a little, looking over the class to see if anyone knew where she was already going with this...a pointed look at Beaker ~~assuming he was there omg~~ when she passed over him might help if you weren't actually sure, "...before we get into any of that, we, of course, have to talk about safety! Welding can be a lot of fun, but it can also be pretty dangerous if you're not careful, with risks not only from the fire and the hot metal, but for your eyes, as well, and even your lungs, as the chemical processes can release harmful gases and vapors into the air. Metal work is pretty serious business, so you've always got to be careful if you want to keep doing it in any capacity!

"And once we're done with all that, you'll have the rest of class to work on your welding. We've got a lot of scrap metal here, and so see what you can weld together to make something interesting! I'll show you how to make a scrap metal dragonfly as an example or jumping off point, but the only limit is your own imagination!

"Well," Amaya amended, a beat later, "and I guess what we actually have for scrap metal, but you get the idea. Right, then." She nodded, pounded her fist into her palm. "Let's get to it."

comments

Shop Class; Tuesday, Fourth Period [01/23].

2024-01-23T11:00:21Z

Posted by: special_rabbit

The morning had actually been fairly quiet for Amaya; sure, sure, when she was working at the forge earlier, she did find herself singing a bit more than normal, but that wasn't that uncommon for a blacksmith to have a ditty or two to belt out while they worked; the hammering of steel on an anvil required a certain rhythm that just lent itself well to musicality. But they were all old pirate songs that she knew from childhood; she didn't think anything of it, so she was not expecting what was about to happen as she got into the shop classroom and set things up for the lesson.

She nodded, as usual, standing behind a table laden with all sorts of tools for the workshop that she planned to go over, as a review of all of them and how to use them, but, when she picked up a hammer to get things started, what came out of her mouth was not exactly what she'd planned for it to be, past the first line....

( First things first.... )

And, finally, the music faded and Amaya breathed out a sigh of relief and shook her head.

"Well," she finally said, not sang, "sorry about that. I was going to go over some of the other tools we'll be using in this class this semester, but I'm really concerned about what songs might be out there about drill-bits and Phillips-head screwdrivers, so, erm...Well, let's just start with what you might like to know more about and hold our breaths and hope for the best, I guess..."

comments

Shop Class; Tuesday, Fourth Period [01/16].

2024-01-16T13:08:55Z

Posted by: special_rabbit

"Afternoon, everyone," Amaya greeted cheerfully from the front of the class again that week, "and I hope you're ready to get right back into it, because we're going to be learning some pretty important stuff that'll become useful all throughout the class these next few lessons, so pay attention and be attentive, because we're working with real equipment that can cause some real trouble, and I've said it before and I'll say it again, but I've yet to send someone to the clinic, and I don't want that to start now."

Yes, those numbers were a bit padded by the fact that most of the injuries sustained in class had been done so by a Muppet, but she had Graham in her class before, too, so she felt that sort of balanced it out somehow.

"That said, today's going to be all about wood! Now, wood is not my preferred medium; it's with metal that I really shine, but I've been doing this long enough and wood is a common enough element in my bread and butter that I can still share a thing or two about it! So, what we'll do today is go over different types of wood you might work with and what kind of projects they're best suited for, as well as some common techniques and tips in wood working. Once we've got that out of the way, it's on to talking about the variety of different saws available in the shop and how to use them, although we will be focused on particular with a hand saw, the jigsaw, and the circular table saw. Which is a lot, but it's important, and important thing to remember when it comes to building anything is that a solid foundation is the way to go, and you'll never regret taking the time to really work out the finer details before really getting into the fun stuff.

"So, now, to begin with our materials...."

comments

Shop Class; Tuesday, Fourth Period [01/09].

2024-01-09T10:50:00Z

Posted by: special_rabbit

"Hello, everyone," said Amaya, at the front of the shop classroom with a grin, clearly eager to get back to work in what was, outside of the weapons class training field in the danger shop, clearly her best teaching element, "and welcome to Shop Class! Now, I know most of you are already familiar with both me as a teacher and this class in general, but for those of you who don't, my name is Amaya Blackstone, and I'm the blacksmith here in this town. If you ever need any metal work done, be it weapons, cutlery, decor for your home or decor for you head, hair, body and face, then I'm your gal! But we're not here to talk about blacksmithing in this class! Not yet, anyway, we may eventually get around to it, but we'll be talking about building and making stuff and exploring how things work in a much broader scope here. And it's the first week, so we're going to keep it pretty simple today, before we start really digging into some of the more dedicated stuff, but that doesn't mean we don't have a lot of ground to cover!

"Today," she continued, "I'd like to hit three main points: introductions, so we all know who we'll be working with; safety rules and procedures, because safety first, especially since we're not working in the danger shop ~~and only two of you were Muppets~~; and, finally, our first foray into getting our hands dirty, which will be a simple project that involves putting together not a birdhouse like one might expect, but rather, because this is Fandom, a squirrel house. The main difference is that there's a special little water bottle attachment you put in on the side where you can pour your rum, so when you really need to privacy, you can guarantee it with the squirrel going inside to drink it!"

With that, she clapped her hands together, and looked over the class. "Alright, then! Lots to cover, so let's get started with those introductions. Let's make it short and snappy so we have plenty of time to work, so let's hear your name, experience with building things or shop classes in general, and what you're looking forward to getting out of this class. Let's start with you."

comments

Shop Class; Wednesday, Third Period [12/14].

2022-12-14T10:20:24Z

Posted by: special_rabbit

"Well," said Amaya, with a nod and a certain sense of freeing relief that came with finally being past the dreaded mistletoe day...until next year, or unless the island decided to be a real creep about it and hit them with a double shot of it this year, but Amaya did know where all the mechanical what-fors and whatevers underneath the island were located, she'd been there, she would go down and fuck that shit up with a wrench in a hammer if it so much as tried...

....no, she probably wouldn't, but she liked to think that she would.

Anyway! Class!

"You made it to the end of the semester," she continued, "almost, anyway. We still have one more project, and that's for the two of you to put together your own version of a Rube Goldberg machine like we went over last week in class, with at least five different elements to it. You have the first part of class to work on and build your machines, and then, at the very end, you'll present them and show them off. Pretty simple, right? Any questions before we begin?"

comments

Shop Class; Wednesday, Third Period [12/07].

2022-12-07T13:08:18Z

Posted by: special_rabbit

The shop classroom was cluttered that day with all sorts of very involved and complicated contraptions, which Amaya had definitely spent far too much time putting together before class, but that left her in an exceptionally good mood, especially since this was one of her favorite topics to cover.

"It's hard to believe it it," she started, "but we're coming up on the end of the semester here pretty soon. Sort of snuck up on me this year, if I'm honest, but all that means is that today's going to be used to prep you for our final class next week, and subsequently, your final projects. So we'll not be working with our hands today, so much as with our heads. We'll be really exploring the concept of simple machines like those we covered earlier in the semester. I'm looking to have the two of you put together a contraption of simple machines. The rules are pretty simple: I want you to take some time and think about a simple task. Could be switching on a light. Tying your boots. Toasting your bread. Something really mundane and basic...and then I want you to try to think up a machine with at least five moving parts to perform that task.

"There's actually a term for this sort of thing on this world," which still amused Amaya to absolutely no end. "They call it a Rube Goldberg machine, a device intentionally designed to perform a simple task in an overly complicated and complex manner. Named after a cartoonist who was known to feature these kinds of machines in his work.

"Now, I've gone ahead and tried to recreate some such devices for examples, figuring they might inspire you guys. Take some time to look them over, see what they do, and maybe bounce some ideas around for simple tasks that could use a complex solution. It's mostly brainstorming today, maybe get a little work in if you have an idea and want to see how it works. You'll have the class period today and the start of class next week to work on your machines, or, if you need a little extra time, just let me know and we can have you come in extra if you need. So! With that said, let's have a look at what these here machines can do to start getting the machines inside your skulls," she tapped a finger against the side of her head, "working! Then you've got full run of the shop once you feel you're ready to get cranking them out.

"Any questions before we begin? If not, let's dive into the examples, shall we?"

comments

Shop Class; Wednesday, Third Period [11/30].

2022-11-30T11:11:40Z

Posted by: special_rabbit

"Well, kids," said Amaya, greeting the class with her usual nod before launching into the lesson for that day, "we're coming up on December, the last month of the year, the end of the semester, and the approaching of colder weather, and, since sometimes things can get a little haywire around here during that time, this next project is something that started out as an inspiration one year from one of the school trips and has turned out to be something that could be useful.

"Now," she continued, "I'm not from somewhere with electricity," a nod, again, to the person in the room who was incidentally exactly where she was from, and therefor, same, "but it's something I've gotten pretty used to having on hand. Sometimes, though, something happens where even the electricity around here is a no-go. Most places around here have got a back-up generator or two to keep things going along smoothly, but there are also ways to make your own generators, as well, and that's what we'll be learning today. Specifically, a thermoelectric generators. Because all you really need for one of those is just a few parts, a tub of water, and some candles.

"What we're essentially doing, then," Amaya continued with her explanation, because science!, "is creating energy based on the temperature difference between the heat from candle flame and the cool water in the small tubs we'll be using. This should be powerful enough to charge a phone or perhaps a few other small but useful devices in an emergency. And I'm sure some of you could easily modify this to create more power to help energize something with a bit more oomph, too."

So the students would find a handout of instructions on their workstations as well as the materials they needed, as Amaya led them through the steps: starting with a handful of thermoelectric plates, which would generate electricity as it heated up one side while cooling down the other, and sticking them to the bottom of a container for the cold water. They'd be using bread tins, because they really did work pretty well, using thermoconductive glue and then saudering the black and red wires that stick out from the plates together, closing the circuit, and protecting the wires from creating a short circuit against the metal pan with some electrical tape. Then on to hooking up a voltage regulator to stabilize the energy passing through the plates, which would also serve as the plug-in point for their devices. They'd be mounting it over the tin with a strip of aluminum to keep it out of the water. Place the strip, hook up the wires to the regulator, another bit of aluminum over the plates, and onto the stand! With more aluminum!

And now to test it out! Line up the candles underneath, pour some cold water into the tin, let the thing get juiced up, and give it a try!

"Now, as the water warms up, it'll need to be refreshed, because the difference in temperature is key to what creates the power," Amaya offered as she finished up the demonstration. "Using snow or ice is actually more effective because of this...so next blizzard that sweeps in and knocks out the power, you should be all set! And if you make a big enough one, I'll bet you could even make it snowman proof!"

Because, yes, that could be important!

"So, let me know if there's any questions, and, if not, let's get to work!"

comments

Shop Class; Wednesday, Third Period [11/23].

2022-11-23T10:52:19Z

Posted by: special_rabbit

"Well," said Amaya, giving the students a nod as they gathered in the workshop and got ready for class to begin, "tomorrow's the big food holiday with all the turkey, so I figured it was a good time to brush back up on those welding skills we learned earlier in the semester to tackle something a little....thematic."

She gestured toward the moddable wheelbarrows of scrap metal that she'd brought in, as well as a few prime examples of what their goal for the day was.

"That's right," she said. "We're welding turkeys, and, unlike the ones people will be having tomorrow, I don't recommend you eat these ones. But it'll be a good way to stretch the imagination and see how to put various disparate objects together to form a cohesive new thing, as well as an excuse to break out the welding torches, which is rarely a bad time. Let me know if you have any questions, otherwise, I'll just let you boys get to it."

comments

Shop Class; Wednesday, Third Period [11/16].

2022-11-16T15:18:49Z

Posted by: special_rabbit

Hopefully, the boys would remember to bring back in what they'd made during last week's whittling class for this week, but, hey, if not (did they forget? Lose it? It disappeared yesterday under mysterious circumstances? It didn't survive either of them being even smaller children over the weekend?), well, there was plenty of material to whip something else up, so long as it was quick, because there was plenty to do that day.

"Welcome back," Amaya greeted them with her usual nod. "We're going to be digging our mini-foundries back out again today, and there's a lot to do with this week's project, so we're going to get right to it. Now I asked you to bring back in whatever it was you whittled last week, because today, we're putting them to good use through a process called sand casting. That's when you make a mold out of tightly packed, slightly damp sand for founding whatever little pieces you'd like with the pattern you've made. Not necessarily the best way to cast an item, but definitely an effective, quick, and fairly cheap way to do it, and hopefully a little bit of fun, too.

( Sand Casting! )

"Let me know if you have any questions, I'll be checking in on you as you work, and let's just get to it!"

comments

Shop Class; Wednesday, Third Period [11/09].

2022-11-09T10:40:56Z

Posted by: special_rabbit

"Well," said Amaya, giving Graham and Guillermo a discerning look at the start of class with an approving nod, "good to see you're both currently person-shaped again, with hands and opposable thumbs, so we can get back on tract with our next set of projects.

"This one's going to start a little simple," she said. "And while he nice thing about a shop class in this day and age is that you do have an awful lot of mighty machines that can do a lot of the big work for you. They're fun and impressive, sure, but sometimes, it's just nice to get back to the basics, and really know how to do something with nothing but your own two hands and a fine knife. Which is why today, we're focusing on wood carving. Whittling to be precise! Which just means it's carving done specifically by hand. And now that the two of you have proper hands for whittling again, let's get right to it.

"Sure, taking a knife to a piece of wood might not necessarily seem as exciting as metal working or using a jigsaw, but you'll find it's a bit more involved than it might at first seem. And the knives we'll be using are sharp, so make sure you've got some safety gloves on and that you're minding all the basics, the most important of which is to not rush and to pay attention! I've got a good track record of no one losing any fingers in my classes, and I'd rather like to keep it that way.

"Come in a little closer so that I can show you some of the basic whittling cuts that should make it easier for you to carve out something that hopefully resembles what you're going for." And she did just that, going over the different approaches in detail, talking about wood grain and everything in there, too, and then showing the students how to employ those methods to do what you want it to, with the example of carving out a quick owl.

"Most importantly," she added, once she really felt she'd covered most of the basics, "we're not just whittling something out for the heck of it; what you work on today is actually going to be used next week, so to make things easier for you in the future, I recommend you don't try to whittle out something too complex. Keep it simple, but interesting, and not too many fine details, since those won't do you much good coming up.

"I've got a few project guides if you'd like a little inspiration, but definitely feel free to get creative as well and try something on your own. I want this to be something you like, maybe something a little reflective of who you are or your personality, something like that, that you wouldn't mind working with again, because you will be working with this again. If you can't quite get it right, we'll see what needs doing to get it there. We've got plenty of time and plenty of wood, too, so don't hesitate to give a few things a try. Any questions before we begin, then?"

comments

Shop Class; Wednesday, Third Period [11/02].

2022-11-02T08:52:42Z

Posted by: special_rabbit

So the thing about having a very small class was that it was kind of noticeable when one of the students wasn't there. Because one of the students was literally half the class.

"But he is here!" Graham cheerfully informed her, lifting up his arm to prove it. "He's just a bat!"

The bat on his arm who was allegedly Guillermo let out a few sleepy squeaks, because he was already starting to feel much more nocturnal.

"He just said hello," Graham translated, helpfully. "This has been really helpful for me brushing up on my bat language!"

And Amaya was just going to take a moment to massage her forehead and try to reroute her plan for the class, because she was about to send them into another multi-class unit, but, somehow, she didn't think teaching a bat how to whittle would be very effective, but that whittling lead into some other things, so she took a moment to consider what they haven't really worked on that wouldn't leave Guillermo in the lurch for the next few classes.

She dropped her hand and considered Graham for a moment. "You wanna learn how to do pottery?" she offered.

"Boy, do I!"

Would he have said that to practically anything Amaya proposed? Probably. But he also followed it up with, "Will Guillermo be able to do pottery, too?"

And Amaya sighed, because she knew this meant she'd be spending the first part of class trying to put together a bat-sized pottery wheel, but you know what? Maybe the squirrels could also get some good use out of it. "We'll see what we can do," she said. "Innovation is the name of the game, right? Let's make some pots."

comments

Shop Class; Wednesday, Third Period [10/26].

2022-10-26T09:07:27Z

Posted by: special_rabbit

"Usually," said Amaya, once the class had collected their concrete pumpkins from last week and headed on over to the Danger Shop this week, "for this class, I like to keep things real and not lean too heavily on something like the danger shop, but, over the years, I've realized that, for this lesson, it really is best. In the past, we've had to work with flinging things toward the Preserve or the ocean, but that doesn't quite have the same...impact as if we had a nice big open field for it. And an island like this, that sort of thing is in short supply. So we'll just make ourselves a big open field."

And there was no lack of open space around them right now! And not only where there there in a big, long open field that seemed to stretch for quite a bit, they were also surrounded by a collection of supplies, weights, the usual tools, and a whole lot of pumpkins. So many pumpkins. She seemed to have absolutely no problem obtaining a ridiculous amount of pumpkins. Where there was a will, there was a way, and the real curious part now would just be how she'd managed to get them all into the danger shop.

Because all the supplies and pumpkins, including some concrete ones from last class, were real; the only thing that wasn't was the space.

"It's Halloween here next week," she continued, absentmindedly brushing at a spot on her skirt that may have been blood, may have been an oil stain, may have been ketchup, it was really hard to tell and she apparently didn't care too much about it, either, "and it's traditional now for Shop Class to take all these pumpkins, building a trebuchet, and seeing just how far we can get those pumpkins flying! That's right! It's time for," her fist pounded into her palm, "pumpkin' chuckin'!"

Look, it involved trebuchets and projectiles, what more did you want?

"So I've got some instructions here on how to build the trebuchet, which we all know is the superior siege weapon, as well as all the materials and tools you'll need. Since there's just the two of you and it's a bigger project, I'd like you to work together. That'll make the job a lot quicker, which will give you more time to test it out, vary the weights, and see just how far we can chuck these pumpkins, and get to see how well they smash....especially those concrete ones we made last week! I'm here, of course, should you have any questions, but I think I'll just let you all get to work. Those pumpkins aren't going to chuck themselves."

Well, they might, because Fandom. But at the current moment, it looked like it was entirely up to the students.

comments

Shop Class; Wednesday, Third Period [10/19].

2022-10-19T09:04:18Z

Posted by: special_rabbit

"Well," Amaya greeted the class with a grin and a pump of her fist to rally them into shop=-class-mode, "welcome back! Hope you all had a good time on the trip, but now, it's time to get back to business, back to the workshop, and into making some stuff! Usually, I like to do a project a little inspired by what we may have seen while abroad, and I've definitely got something for you guys there, but it's also October, and there's two particular projects I like to do this time of year. Today's ight not seem like much, we're we're not handling any heavy equipment today, but what we're working on will be heavy, and it'll really pay off next week. Hope you haven't been skipping your arm days, because today, we're working with pumpkins. But not just any regular old pumpkins...."

( Concrete Pumpkins! )

But that was all she was going to say about that.

"Might be a bit overkill, too," she added, with a faint grin, "but this could also be a good chance to get in some practice with those handheld jigsaws, right? Let's get to work!"

comments

Shop Class; Wednesday, Third Period [10/05].

2022-10-05T08:50:55Z

Posted by: special_rabbit

"Now, as I'm sure the two of you already know," said Amaya, once it was time to get class going, "next week is your school trip, and I've been looking into it a little bit, and one of the places we'll be stopping is Paris, which is home to something called the Eiffel Tower, a massive structure developed by engineer Gustave Eiffel for a World's Fair in 1889 made of what's called puddle iron, which is an iron refined to remove to carbon, constructed in an impressively short amount of time, so, naturally, it's relevant to our interests."

Well, it was relative to hers, anyway.

And, with that, Amaya rolled out a chalkboard so she could start detailing for the students exactly what made the construction of this landmark so interesting, impressive, and, most of all, relevant to their interests, as well, at least in the context of this class.

"So," she said, as she reached the conclusion of the lesson, "today, you're going to recreate your own. I have instructions on how to make a smaller version of an Eiffel tower individually for you to practice and understand the construction, and then I'd like the two of you to try and create a larger version--not 300 meters large, of course--together. I've got a variety of different materials for you to work with, too, so it's up to you to decide how and what and we'll go from there.

"Any questions before we begin?"

comments

Shop Class; Wednesday, Third Period [09/28].

2022-09-28T08:38:06Z

Posted by: special_rabbit

Ohhh, boy, was Amaya feeling glad that they'd moved her class to a late period this semester! That meant she had at least a little more time to sleep last night's whiskey and counteract it with plenty of coffee before she headed in and was half-tempted to do the whole movie day thing. After all, she'd had whole classes about using movies for inspiration before; she could legitimately have it lead up to a project! But she also had genuine lesson plans for this class, and it made sense to shift over a slightly less demanding on to earlier in the semester, anyway.

"Morning, boys," she greeted the class with a...very small nod. "We've been working our way through several different machines that we'll be using throughout the semester, and we've even made some of our own, and today's going to continue on with that. There's just something real satisfying about getting an idea about something, figuring out how it works, then putting it all together and making it do something. But before you can really do that, you've got to really understand machines on a simple, fundamental level, though the six kinds of simple machines that'll help make more complex ones along the line.

"Now, a machine is basically just a mechanical structure that uses power to apply forces and control movement to perform an intended action, and a simple machine is what you use to change or direct that force and movement, a.k.a. all the little moving parts that make up the big moving machine."

And here, Amaya lifted up the examples of each simple machine that she had on the worktable in front of her as she went through them. "You've got your levers, wheel and axle, pulley, inclined plane, wedge, and screw. Basic stuff you see every day, but the key to making machines is understanding how to do them right and understanding how to put them all together effectively.

"Which is pretty much what we'll be working on today. You've got full run of the whole shop and the materials available to you to try things and experiment and really get to understand these simple machines and how they work...especially together. If you have questions, of course, I'm here, but I really want you all to just try thing out and really use the class period to get a little creative with these basic elements. See how they work together in combination; find out what works and what doesn't. Try to see if you can put together a way to make all the elements work together in one machine by the end of class. Find out if some materials work better than others. Find out what the limits for pressure and force might be for this machine or that one. And keep all these things in mind for throughout the semester, because it may one day come in handy.

"Sound good? Good! Remember: safety equipment when needed, don't hesitate to ask questions if you got 'em, and let's get to work!"

comments