Background Reading

Preparing for this month of metalworking required some specific reading. Showing up without rudimentary knowledge would be a waste of everyone's time, so what to read? The knifemaker suggested Wayne Goddard's $50 Knife Shop, which served as a terrific basic body of information. The terms and fundamental definitions included facts that would seem unnecessary at first glance, but makes the difference when moving from knowing to understanding. The Backyard Blacksmith by Lorelei Sims re-enforced Goddard's wisdom, but with her won spin on the blacksmith possibilities that exist for the metalworking enthusiast.


The background really paid off the first day. One of the pieces of knowledge that may seem silly, but actually came in handy when casually talking with the knifemaker, was the parts of an anvil. As he spoke, using terms that would previously have inspired an auntie's glazed look, the words initiated better questions. There was a common jargon being used which made the conversation move past the deer-in-the-headlights look toward more effective communication. When the knifemaker talked about his new Peter Wright anvil and how it came with a box of hardies, the knifemaker's aunt could join in with the glory of the story instead of ...

Image from Marian's Hunting Stories blog.

Teachers as Life-Long Learners

Some people say teachers have it easy because they get the summers off. Don't you believe that! Teachers use the summers to enhance their skill set so they bring new ideas and information to their students when the fall arrives. The knifemaker's aunt teaches middle school gifted thinkers, several quite gifted. Every semester as they work on a research project [read that to mean research, not retrieval], the knifemaker's aunt works on one too as a model. The students' topics are all individual, unique, and in many cases present compelling data to back up their conclusions.

Each summer, the knifemaker's aunt explores a new learning experience that adds to the conversation when everyone convenes again in the fall. This year, metalworking will be the example at the beginning of the fall semester until the students choose their own topics for their projects.

Welcome!

Welcome to this month of learning, living, and loving the metalworking life! As a gifted resource teacher, this knifemaker's aunt likes to pursue new skills. A quote by Charles Kettering explains it best: "There is a great difference between knowing and understanding; you can know a lot about something and not really understand it."  That is the point of this month -- not just knowing, but understanding what it is to be a metalworking/knifemaker as a day-to-day activity. It is quite advantageous to have a knifemaker in the family, and one who is willing to allow a little craziness in the shop!

Let the learning begin!