With most of the high schools in the US having shut down their shop programs, there is growing interest in the younger generation for skills in the metal forming and fabricating hobbies. I am a member of the Guild of Metalsmiths in Minnesota, and we have over 300 members. Our group consists of all types of metal forming, from blacksmithing, to jewelry making, to fabricating, and welding. We have some members who are true craftsmen in their specific trade, and many members who are wanting to learn specific skills from the most experienced. Some of our members have great historical interests and some others are certified welders for the airlines and aerospace manufacturing companies. I am learning skills from some true experts.
As to the teaching license "requirement" some have talked about, that is not needed (43 years ago I earned a life license for teaching in the State of Minnesota). But no one has ever asked about the license, and probably no one even cares. As a group we provide specialty classes which almost always fill up and usually have demand for more. I have taught some of the basic welding classes to 6 students at a time. But I really enjoy teaching welding to one or 2 students at a time. As part of our group, I do not charge for my time, but give my "expertise" to others as I have received the expertise from others of the group at no cost. What this boils down to is my observation that there is a market for teaching these skills. Some of the students have great artistic abilities and want to learn to weld as a way to express their art. But most have an interest in repair, and fabricating functional items. I currently have 2 students, a guy in his mid 20's who is currently enrolled in Med school, but has a family farm history, and his wife, a very creative gal who has high level artistic talents. They are fun people to work with, but due to med school costs, they have very little $$. He loves the welding as a way to get away from the intense book learning his med school courses require. She sees it as a new medium for artistic expression.
Could I make some kind of living from this kind of teaching?? I've thought about it, but I'd hate to be tied to having to do it multiple times every day. For right now, I am having fun with it and that is all I care about for now. But I do see a trend for a marketable skill building business.
As to the nay-sayers who have responded to your question in an ugly manner, I had a sign above my desk in the prep area of my physics lab which read: "Ne Illigitum Carborundum", Latin roughly translated into "Don't let the ba$tards grind you down"
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Today's Featured Article - What Oil Should I Use? - by Francis Robinson. I keep seein this question pop up over and over again in discussion groups all over the web. As with many things there are often several right answers and a few wrong ones. Some purist I'm sure will disagree to no end with what I will tell you but most of us out here in the real world don't really care do we ? Some of them only bring their noses down out of the air long enough to look down them anyway. If you are like me you are only doing this old tractor stuff because you enjoy it. You
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