METAL TECH I STUDNETS AT WORK
by Larry Dumler
The smell of BBQ grills coming to life is just about to happen in Metal Tech I class. Each student is required to design and build his own portable BBQ grill. After going through units of arc welding, oxy/act welding and MIG welding, students have the skills to develop the grill. There are square ones and ones shaped like triangles. When all students have finished their grill, the class fires them up for an hour of grill hot dogs for lunch. The class finds out which design best does its’ job. This works out very well, because the class meets 5th hour which is lunch time. Students furnish buns, chips and condiments, and the instructor furnishes the hot dogs. 
Metal
Other units the students do are lathe work, hand forging unit, and we try to get in a casting unit as well.
Working on the lathe, the students learn to use precision measurement instruments. These include micrometers and vernier calipers. Micrometers and vernier calipers measure to a minimum of 1/1000 of an inch. In comparison, a human hair is about 3/1000 of an inch in diameter. On the lathe, the students turn a bushing driver and a small ball peen hammer. They learn to do free hand radius, turning with a 3 jaw chuck and turning between centers. Other processes they learn to do are polishing with 3 different emery cloths and oil, filing, knurling and the different aspects of hand machine operations.
The hand forging unit the students make a screw driver from 1% carbon drill rod. They heat and using a ball peen hammer, they hand forge the screwdriver bit into shape. They then grind it to fit #10 machine screw. After polishing it, they heat treat it to with stand twisting off the #10 screw.
The casting unit is a fun unit in that the students melt aluminum in a small foundry and pour the 1230 degree aluminum into a sand casting mold they make themselves. The mold the students make consists of a two part flask, and oil mix sand. The students use the same basic tools a full sized foundry would use, with the exception they are on a much smaller scale. They select a pattern they want to cast, ram the mold up, and then melt the aluminum and pour it into the mold. If all goes well, they have a casting of what they selected, if not, they have to redo the entire process.
From time to time during the school year, the students have some small welding or other small project they need to “fix” from home. They are welcome to bring in these items and they try to fix what is broken. These range anywhere from go cart frames to stove bases to metal chairs.
