A good but tiring day.

So I started today with a class of Grade 8 in the workshop. Its a shame that we are basically playing at the moment because the kids enthusiasm for doing something they have never done is infectious and also dangerous as they dont think to far ahead and safety is an issue I have constantly in my mind.
As soon as they were done I had a list of things I wanted to try to do, the first was to repair some cricket bat sized paddles (made from Pine) by our keen technician Nelson for the English Department to let the kids play Cricket on Culture day !!! He had prepared 4 bats and the kids in the week and a half of having them had managed to break 3 of them (Well Pine isnt that great an idea for Cricket paddles (We couldnt really call them bats) So with 2 days to go we needed to repair or remake - my morning was one of remanufacture and repair (With a label on the Cricket Bats - thats says Scottish Cricket Bat Repairs 07/08 )Even I feel they are closer to bats now - I'm good honest.. even though my Colleague and one of the best craftsmen I have worked with Kent Alston will probably be laughing his socks off at the thought of my CRAFT skills manufacturing Cricket bats from the Heath Robinson book of wood work ! I seriously doubt there are any other Cricket bats like them anywhere in the world if I get the chance I'll try to take a picture for the records tomorrow. No sooner had I finished manufacturing Cricket Bats than Diana asked me if I could cut some pewter. She intends to do some casting using a mould made from MDF. So we decided to test it to day with some new ladles, and some moulds. What I hadn't really considered was that to get enough Pewter off the 6 inch square INGOT we have takes some serious hack sawing I can honestly say I was knackered after cutting two small cubes approx a 1/2 inch square. We both then made a mould using 5mm MDF and the Dremmel Multitool carving bit. before sandwiching the mould with another piece of MDF and then heating the pewter and pouring into the moulds. Both casts tourned out really well. It was quick and simple a lot safer than the Aluminium casting I had seen done in St Andrews and although not quite as realistic to the real world would provide a good introduction to casting. This is a project I intend to use where ever I end up as its quick its good fun and the kids would get something nice to take away.
Diana made a very pretty letter D and I made a... well ok you can guess from the picture below - careful of the optical illusion the one on the right is carved out the one on the left is the pewter casting or isi it the other way round hmmmm... answers to what it is on a postcard to Tech Teach, Colombia... PS its not a bit of psycho broccoli on a chickens foot (That was Diana's Guess).

Strange how one day can feel disheartening and the next produce some really enjoyable but tiring tasks. (PS its still raining)