Blast From The Past

[RickT]

In 1974, I took a machining class in high school. Here's two of the items I made - A machinists hammer and a parallel clamp.

[KustomsbyKent]

We had a similar welding shop class back in the mid 90's that also had us do a similar project. We made just the hammer though. It involved casting the head with a sandcast mold, and turning the handle on the lathe. I still have my hammer too.
In addition, we did all the weld beads for gas welding, brazing, stick welding with 6011, 6013, & 7018, and wire feed MIG and flux w/ gas.
Sadly, they've eliminated this class from the curriculum, so kids now are getting any of this hands on type of learning.
This class gave me a base for being a better Mechanical engineer, and appreciating the work & skill that goes into this field. One of the most useful High School classes I ever took and still useful today.
Thanks for sharing,
Kent

[Frank S]

I totally agree Kent. I was a student instructor at my high school under the coach who was supposed to be the shop teacher however he was about as hands on when it came to teaching shop as a politician would be at manual labor If it wasn't a foot ball he didn't know squat about it. I had been working in a blacksmith shop since I was 11 and owned my own lathe so I got drafted to be the go to guy in the school shop as the coach was hardly ever there.

[DIYer]

Thanks RickT! We've added your Machinist's Hammer to our Hammers category,
as well as to your builder page: RickT's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

Machinist's Hammer by RickT

tags: hammer

[meaded]

In 1974, I took a machining class in high school. Here's two of the items I made - A machinists hammer and a parallel clamp.

I taught High School Machine Shop for a good part of my 32 yr career. I saw literally hundreds of those hammers made, many young men surprised themselves with their abilities. We used South Bend lathes that were as reliable as the sun rising in the morning, They were not babied.