The Self-Education Revolution is Underway!!

Self-education, it is one of the most important tools independent minded people have at their disposal. As conventional American education methods and outcomes continue to be revealed as ineffective and/or too expensive for today's students the great news is that resources for self-education are becoming more and more available every day. The internet and other modern tools of communication and publication are making it easier than ever to find learning resources, including texts, curriculum and human assistance to study almost anything.

In an earlier ShopKulture post, A Great Online Math & Science Resource, we were very excited to have discovered the Khan Academy, an online resource that uses youtube video to make more than 1000 video lectures and presentations available to help people learn math and science. Well it looks like we weren't the only people who noticed that good things were going on over at the Khan website. Now a program, undertaken by the internet giant, Google, to fund "inspiring organizations working on solutions to ... global challenges" has generated a grant of two million dollars ($2M) to help foster the Khan project!

When you consider this great news along with the fact that institutions like MIT and the University of California at Berkeley are putting more and more of their lectures and course materials online, you start to think that we are moving into an era where powerful learning resources are with in reach of almost everyone.

At ShopKulture we are excited about these trends. We believe that it's a great fit with our main idea which is to unleash thousands of home shop inventors and self-trained engineers to tackle the world's problems with human scale solutions and to build resilient economies and vibrant communities of free people.

Teach Yourself Machining: Video Courses

 

Machining parts out of raw metal to make, modify and repair useful machines is fast becoming our passion. Now We've never been much for attending classes or going to school, so we're working to teach ourselves to operate tools like lathes, milling machines, drill presses and surface grinders, etc. Self-teaching is our favorite method of learning and that's why We're excited about the instructional videos that SmartFlix has in their rental library. They have a fairly thorough machine shop course by the American Gunsmithing Institute and various offerings by master machinist Rudy Kouhoupt and others. The American Gunsmithing series consists of about 14 DVDs and costs about $1300 to purchase outright. However, thanks to SmartFlix you can rent the whole series for about $200!!



But wait a minute, how about some free videos to get started. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has a free video series on the basics of machine shop tools and practices. Every semester MIT has a new crop of engineering students who need to learn machining in a hurry. They need to be able to work in the university's well equipped student machine shop where they will make the parts for projects in robotics. Most 17 year olds are a bit short of machining experience so the school has put together a series of ten videos to help jumpstart the student's practical abilities. We watched the first four of the videos. They covered layout, drill press operations, belt sanding & grinding, and vertical milling, We found them well made, interesting and informative (to my novice perspective anyway). So get busy my fellow ShopKulturians and WrenchTech(nicians). Go forth and learn. Next time we'll talk about how to build you own multi-purpose machine tool from scrap metal and automotive parts.

ShopKulture and the Future of the Garage Based Shop

We've seen the future and it looks like making stuff is coming back in a big way. This message is not lost on us. The luxury of playing around with sports cars, motorcycles and 4x4's is great fun, but it is a luxury after all. The serious economic times we are in require serious thoughts and actions. So we've been thinking about tools and equipment for productive work lately. What about building a tractor, a shop heater, a bandsaw lumber mill? And what if you could build this stuff from junk cars, appliances and scrap steel? Count us in!

A movement with the tentative name Open Source Ecology is doing just that. They are putting their money and effort where it counts right now. The stuff they are building is cool and functional. We're so excited we've got to get on this bandwagon!  

 Don't let the name fool you either. These are not a bunch of idle dreamers, these guy and gals are mad fabricating geniuses. They are building great stuff from scrap and low cost parts; lumber mills, tractors, shop heaters, farming implements, construction equipment, well drilling, and most importantly machine tools to aid in their low cost manufacturing approach.


Think what you could do with a computer numerical control (CNC) torch table that let you rapidly cut metal with computer accuracy. Or a CNC router table that could cut precision parts from wood or plastic while you did other things. A serious person could start making some real money and an independent lifestyle that didn't depend so much on the ups and downs of the overall economy.  

Now think about the fact that plans for building metal working lathes, milling equipment, heating systems and CNC tools are now circulating freely on the internet. And not just plans, support groups, blogs and discussion forums as well.  These are great times to be a Maker, a ShopKulture person, a Wrenchtech type.


Keep watching this blog as we focus like a laser beam on these new trends and work to pull together all the information and resources we can find to promote this thing that we love; MAKING COOL USEFUL STUFF ON THE CHEAP!

Don't forget to check out  The Open Source Ecology website. and maybe become a supporter of theirs at $10/mo. I have and I do.