Shop, Tuesday, period 3
The danger shop was set to an outdoor setting today, one that greatly resembled certain parts of the preserve (there was even an alot of leaves hanging out in the distance). The students walked in on a clearing, lined on one side with woods and the other with a shallow rock quarry. It was peaceful and warm, the artificial sun shining, a faint whiff of wood smoke and falling leaves on the air.
The fact that there were the usual metal work tables arranged in the clearing only sort of ruined the whole effect.
"Welcome back," Eliot greeted. "Hope you all had a good break. I thought it might be nice to get out of the workshop for a class session. Enjoy some fresh air, even if it is simulated." The actual preserve didn't have safeties that promised to keep the students from slicing their own fingers off, after all. "Today we're going to try out some smaller scale, detail oriented work, namely carving. You can try out some wood," he nodded to the trees, "or take a shot at something that takes a little more grit and give stone a shot."
He'd tried out several ways of phrasing that in planning today's class. He'd eventually given up on trying to find a way to say it that wasn't somehow a pun.
"Either way you go, you're gonna want to plan ahead on this one. The great Renaissance sculptors may have claimed to just see the shape inside the marble that wanted to come out, but I guarantee you they drew that crap out on paper and made a couple mock-ups first." No, seriously, he'd been involved in a rather impressive heist involving one of Michaelangelo's mock-ups. Twice even. "So take some time and get an idea of what sort of thing you want to try making before you start looking around for your materials. If you're stumped for ideas, I've got a list of simple suggestions, mostly for wood, but some of which could sure as hell be used on rock, too.
"Once you've worked out what you want to make, go hunt up a nice looking branch or stone to work with. This bein' a programmed environment, everything in here is soft enough that ya ain't gonna give yourself blisters tryin' to chip away at it as a beginner, so don't worry about accidentally gettin' yourself a piece of granite or ironwood or something. That doesn't mean I wanna see anyone getting to work out here without the proper safety equipment, though. Goggles and gloves on everyone, and those of ya working with stone are gonna be wanting a face mask while you're at it.
"Basic tools are about the same for each, though stone takes more force than wood does. Key thing to remember is to take off small pieces at a time. You can always take off more if you need to, but it's a pain in the ass tryin' to glue anything back on if you mess it up. Carving and whittling takes patience. If you end up runnin' out of time, but still wantin' to finish your project even after class is up, let me know, and I'll make sure we find you time to get back in and keep at it. So no rushing, get me?"
He spent several more minutes going into greater detail about chisel and knife technique, including a number of more safety recommendations, before letting the students get started. "One last thing," he said. "I know plenty of y'all have your own knives and blades you like to use for whatever purposes at home. I'm tellin' you now: a pocket, kitchen, or combat knife is not a good idea for a carving knife. All you're gonna do is dull out your tool and probably cut yourself to ribbons in the process. You wanna whittle on your own time, get yourself a proper wood carving knife. They ain't expensive, and you'll save your other blades for what they're actually meant for. Now: get to work."
The fact that there were the usual metal work tables arranged in the clearing only sort of ruined the whole effect.
"Welcome back," Eliot greeted. "Hope you all had a good break. I thought it might be nice to get out of the workshop for a class session. Enjoy some fresh air, even if it is simulated." The actual preserve didn't have safeties that promised to keep the students from slicing their own fingers off, after all. "Today we're going to try out some smaller scale, detail oriented work, namely carving. You can try out some wood," he nodded to the trees, "or take a shot at something that takes a little more grit and give stone a shot."
He'd tried out several ways of phrasing that in planning today's class. He'd eventually given up on trying to find a way to say it that wasn't somehow a pun.
"Either way you go, you're gonna want to plan ahead on this one. The great Renaissance sculptors may have claimed to just see the shape inside the marble that wanted to come out, but I guarantee you they drew that crap out on paper and made a couple mock-ups first." No, seriously, he'd been involved in a rather impressive heist involving one of Michaelangelo's mock-ups. Twice even. "So take some time and get an idea of what sort of thing you want to try making before you start looking around for your materials. If you're stumped for ideas, I've got a list of simple suggestions, mostly for wood, but some of which could sure as hell be used on rock, too.
"Once you've worked out what you want to make, go hunt up a nice looking branch or stone to work with. This bein' a programmed environment, everything in here is soft enough that ya ain't gonna give yourself blisters tryin' to chip away at it as a beginner, so don't worry about accidentally gettin' yourself a piece of granite or ironwood or something. That doesn't mean I wanna see anyone getting to work out here without the proper safety equipment, though. Goggles and gloves on everyone, and those of ya working with stone are gonna be wanting a face mask while you're at it.
"Basic tools are about the same for each, though stone takes more force than wood does. Key thing to remember is to take off small pieces at a time. You can always take off more if you need to, but it's a pain in the ass tryin' to glue anything back on if you mess it up. Carving and whittling takes patience. If you end up runnin' out of time, but still wantin' to finish your project even after class is up, let me know, and I'll make sure we find you time to get back in and keep at it. So no rushing, get me?"
He spent several more minutes going into greater detail about chisel and knife technique, including a number of more safety recommendations, before letting the students get started. "One last thing," he said. "I know plenty of y'all have your own knives and blades you like to use for whatever purposes at home. I'm tellin' you now: a pocket, kitchen, or combat knife is not a good idea for a carving knife. All you're gonna do is dull out your tool and probably cut yourself to ribbons in the process. You wanna whittle on your own time, get yourself a proper wood carving knife. They ain't expensive, and you'll save your other blades for what they're actually meant for. Now: get to work."