Hello from Mid Wales...

[wrigglefingers]

Hello folks, thank you for accepting me...

I’m Wriggly, I learnt to bash metal when I was at college in Bath training to be teacher. For some reason, our tutors decided that we needed to learn to silversmith because it would be easy and affordable to teach middle-school children how to make cabochon set rings and elegant brooches. Nope, me neither, but twenty years later and having left teaching as the reality is now 1 hour a week and a budget of zero pounds, I’ve started smithing again. I’ve got lots of questions, because some things have moved on considerably but I’ll try to put them in the right areas....

[Dennis]

Hello W from Mid Wales and welcome to the forum. Ask or comment, we thrive on that. Dennis.

[wrigglefingers]

Thanks Dennis. I’m off to Cooksons on Friday... going to be expensive!

[CJ57]

Hi Wriggly
I suppose back then silver was quite cheap but it still doesn't seem credible. At least you've still got the bug but you will end up broke:)

[TDA20]

Welcome Wriggly :)

[wrigglefingers]

Hi Wriggly
I suppose back then silver was quite cheap but it still doesn't seem credible. At least you've still got the bug but you will end up broke:)

It was strange, even then. I went for my first teaching practice in the less glamorous end of Bristol, and the head of department thought it hilarious. I ended up teaching Food Technology to students with only spoons for tools because school had decided they couldn’t be trusted with anything else more dangerous. As it was, the police were called to deal with a student who’d set light to another’s hair by holding it in a gas flame on a cooker. I think that, as unlikely as it was, I benefited from having a lecturer who, at the end of his career and who was utterly untouchable as he held tenure, decided to teach us something that made him very happy; me too, if truth be told.

[CJ57]

It was strange, even then. I went for my first teaching practice in the less glamorous end of Bristol, and the head of department thought it hilarious. I ended up teaching Food Technology to students with only spoons for tools because school had decided they couldn’t be trusted with anything else more dangerous. As it was, the police were called to deal with a student who’d set light to another’s hair by holding it in a gas flame on a cooker. I think that, as unlikely as it was, I benefited from having a lecturer who, at the end of his career and who was utterly untouchable as he held tenure, decided to teach us something that made him very happy; me too, if truth be told.

That sounds an interesting start to your teaching career, that's a bit of an understatement! At least you are left with a grounding that has left an impression. Basic techniques haven't reall moved on, it's really useful to be able to use a saw and perform simple tasks before you move on to something more difficult.