Shopsmith Forums

Tonight the Wounded Warrior Project and Manufacturing Industry Learning Labs National Training Center held an event for the veterans. There was a tour of their multi-million dollar facility. Amazing.

Red Rocks Community College(Denver) has an AAS program for woodworking and they are teaming up with MiLL to teach classes.

MiLL is teaming up with the school districts for high school students to attend and receive certification in different aspects of woodworking.

You can use your GI Bill! They want Veterans as students and volunteers or employees. I signed up to volunteer. Hopefully I'll hear back soon. The whole experience was super exciting.

https://themillco.org is their website.

Just a few pictures I took. They have a construction side, manufacturing side(was in awe of the DC), turning room, hand tools, finishing room. Lean manufacturing

Looks like a worthwhile project. I also like the brand name on the table saws. Good choice!! I am of the opinion that people should be trained in the proper use of machinery that has the potential to take their fingers off. The woodworking club that I belong to bought a Sawstop after a member lost a finger to our original saw. Shop classes should be brought back to the schools if only to teach safe operation of power tools.
Bill V

wa2crk wrote:Looks like a worthwhile project. I also like the brand name on the table saws. Good choice!! I am of the opinion that people should be trained in the proper use of machinery that has the potential to take their fingers off. The woodworking club that I belong to bought a Sawstop after a member lost a finger to our original saw. Shop classes should be brought back to the schools if only to teach safe operation of power tools.
Bill V

For some reason though on the construction side they had Triton jobsite saws. I asked a teacher about not having a SawStop or Bosch there and he said "they were donated." Lots of big name sponsors. The founder, Dean Mattson said long gone are the days of the shop teacher with nubs.

One miter saw station had a computer attached to a fence stop. You could type in any fraction, 54-78/79" and the fence stop would move to position and be accurate within .003 that was cool.

The first day of volunteering was awesome. The kids are great and want to be there. What a breath of fresh air.

The whole place has a family atmosphere.

Of course I've jumped into the middle of a school year so I have catching up to do but shouldn't be too hard. The kids are making little cabinets with a drawer and door and tapered legs. Lots of little fine wood working details in it.

I can't wait 'til tomorrow.

wa2crk wrote:Looks like a worthwhile project. I also like the brand name on the table saws. Good choice!! I am of the opinion that people should be trained in the proper use of machinery that has the potential to take their fingers off. The woodworking club that I belong to bought a Sawstop after a member lost a finger to our original saw. Shop classes should be brought back to the schools if only to teach safe operation of power tools.
Bill V

There is another reason, watch This Old House they are doing a push to get kids into the trades. They say there is nearly a 6 million person shortage in the skills. This is serious issue in this nation, we keep pushing kids into college while the trades that have equal or higher pay go wanting.
This Old House took on apprentices for this lastest series of programs. The had interns in carpentry, in electrical, in HVAC, And in the landscaping.
Each program they talked about how the skill trades were a smart move for young people.
One young man said while his friends were in college he was earning ( New England wages) $45,000 and in the four years he had moved to lead, while his friends all had huge college loan bills and were looking for a jobs.
I know three business owners right now that would give their back teeth for people in the skilled trades.

Removed by author side tracking thread.

The next part of that HVAC legacy is watching some one else replace the old stuff you installed 25-30 years ago and knowing it lasted longer then the stuff they sell now, imagine being a retired automobile employee and seeing how long the cars lasted back when,,, compared to the throw away stuff they build now..

I hate to correct you BUT the cars from the 50's 60's and 70's were junk. you almost never heard of an engine going over 100,000 miles or a transmission either. the older stuff was oil leaking dirty polluting high maintenance junk compared to a modern car. i remember seeing the GM TH200 trans needing rebuilt before 30,000 miles and tune ups were a regular event if you was lucky at 12,000 miles, now we run them over 100,000 with no more than oil changes and 200,000 is common on the new stuff. i also remember the dark streak in the center of the lane from the open crankcase breathers. boy are you looking through rose colored glasses.

PS i have been in the auto repair from 1971 so have seen a lot of this

Hobbyman2 wrote: imagine being a retired automobile employee and seeing how long the cars lasted back when,,, compared to the throw away stuff they build now..