As much as I loved Ms. Nelms, I wish I'd taken machine shop

I was recently reading an article in MAKE magazine about an Industrial Arts school in California, called The Crucible. It's basically a place where people that have no reason to weld, machine, or just generally make stuff, go to learn how just for the pleasure of it. There's actually several schools like this across the country, which fascinates me. I remember in High School, there was a stigma associated with vocational tech classes. Of course teenagers are fickle, and think they have things figured out, and there's firmly established guidelines about what's "cool". I wish I'd taken some welding classes instead of the AP classes I took and didn't get much out of. Sure, being a little more prepared for college is great, but I've had many more opportunities to learn chemistry, math, and english than I have had to fire up a MIG welder. Besides, you can get science out of a book, MAKING stuff requires hands on experience.

The other thing that occurred to me is that what was once considered blue collar labor has been transformed into a hobby. I'm sure for some it's always been a hobby, but there seems to be a surge of interest in the art of making things with your hands. I know a lot of schools have cut their vo-tech curriculum, and from what I've read there's less demand for those type jobs due to cheap overseas manufacturing. The demand for this specialized knowledge has started to shift from being a necessity, to a passion. This is the point where a craft becomes an art, and that's pretty amazing to see.

The cool thing about this happening now is the internet. Anybody can become a teacher or student, and learn the basics, or just see enough to gain an interest. Arguably this surge is because of the internet. People have never before in history had so much access to information, and large numbers of people are actually using it, not just passively viewing it like they would television. People also have an unprecedented ability to share their passions. Now instead of one widget maker alone with his art, he has a web page, a forum, a community. If you need proof, go check out possibly my favorite site on the entire inter-web.

Instructables

This site is basically an instruction book for things you can't normally find instructions for. Need to build a desk out of things around the house? Make a huge batch of pesto? Build a (non-lethal) gun out of a ball point pen? Do you know how to do something that people might find interesting? Post it, it's open to everyone. And if you need help the users are generally very knowledgeable, with more than a few PhD's (if you value such things) floating around in the forums, and some even smarter people too. Not every project will interest you, some are dangerous, questionably valuable, or just plain boring to most, but if you spend more than a few minutes, I'm sure you'll find something you're interested in, or find that you're interested in something you didn't realize.