How does one get the training to use the tools in wood shop if all classes are full.
I was looking at that also… I’ve been trying for four months. Lol…
Check the calendar once a day, (not just for that DAY the WHOLE calendar) every day. CTRL+F is your friend. Also, 1 or 2 walk-ups may be accepted depending on the instructor.
Stay tuned on Talk. Keep looking to see if someone says they have scheduled classes. The not-so-secret timeline is 72 hours … the class will be available for sign-up 72 hours after the person schedules it. So pay attention to what time the person posted that they have scheduled the class, be camped on the calendar ~72 hours later and you should be able to sign up.
There is no guarantee because they might not have scheduled it right before they posted, but it’s a starting point.
Obviously there is a lot of demand and few volunteers to teach. If you’re willing to step up and teach (and make an irrevocable promise in blood and so on), you might be able to get in earlier.
EDIT: Addition: Occasionally someone has to cancel their participation. So start checking the calendar a couple days before the (full) class, and also check on Talk. Many times people who cancel their participation will announce that on Talk.
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Here’s something that might help you and make it easier.
When an instructor submits a class, it must be at least 10 days in advance (240 hrs to be more precise). It goes into a review audit queue for 72 hours (48 if no honorarium), if there are no objections by the auditors, it is automatically released and placed on the calendar. This is part of the current queue, as of (9:52PM
So you really need to be looking at 7-21 days out is when most new classes are released on the calendar since most instructors submit 10-14 days in advance since many don’t know their schedule much further out and don’t want to schedule and have to cancel.
To help make your search faster, Click on the Green Tab “By Category”. This will show you all the classes that are on the calendar for that category. Below is the drop down showing Woodshop, below that is what comes up when it is selected.
Your search can be done in less than 30 seconds and you’ll be able to see if what classes are there. Hope this helps understanding how the system workss and gives a bit of insight as to when classes are held and when they typically appear on the calendar.
Note: You may want to also check the classes you’ve previous checked and were full before to see if you’re lucky enough that there was cancellation so you can grab it.
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I think the 10 day rule should be reconsidered for required classes. Maybe even temporary removal for times when new members well exceed current availability. Woodshop Basics is a long class and the teachers want the honorarium to count. If the board allowed intermittent reprieve of the 10 day rule we could add hock classes within 5 days and fill them. I’m not suggesting all the time but some areas have overwhelming interest by new members to get started and wood shop is at the top of the list
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Well said!
This is exacerbated by the fact that new members who join to use the woodshop believe they already know how to use the tools, so they are particularly frustrated with lack of access.
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First, I was not complaining. Just commenting.
I do look at the calendar daily, when I am in town. My schedule is such that I cannot join a class further out than a couple of weeks.
I agree!.. But new shop, new rules…
In the case of Woodshop Basics, if you wait until that time window, you won’t get in. Reserve yourself a class as soon as it posts, then if you can’t make it cancel it a few days in advance.
I believe a shorter time frame won’t produce more classes, the number of willing instructors is the limiting factor. E.g., 5 days with automatic approval and posting is unlikely to have instructors increase their time commitment to teach additional classes. The average Wood Sop instructor teaches fairly often now.
It may help sporadically and even small improvements would help, but I would not expect Instructors to increase the number of classes they do. If they do I would expect burn-out to hit faster so there might even be a net loss of classes.
Considering how many members want Wood Shop basics, and many claim to have lots of experience and don’t need it, why is there such a low number volunteering to teach? How do we improve that? Six more volunteers teaching just once every six weeks would be one additional class per week or ~250 more students a year.
Curious what people think is the reason given such high usage rates in this area that more don’t teach even occasionally?
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And post on Talk that there is an opening so someone else waiting can register for it.
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I check daily, but nothing so far. My husband, who is a member, knows about the wood shop machines, and works on automation equipment at work. He goes to safety classes on a regular basis at work and gets certified on various equipment. Is it possible for him to go ahead and use things? Like a router if possible?
In general, the floor-standing power tools require training (scroll saw is the only one that doesn’t). In general, the hand tools - including the powered hand tools - do not require training. Festool (brand) tools are the only ones that do require training. So, if he wants to use the handheld router - he can do that. If he wants to use the Incra Router table, he has to be trained for that.
Woodshop training requirements are documented on the Tools overview page of the wiki, in the Woodshop section.
Thank you so much for answering so quickly. We will look at all of this info and go from there.
The other thing is to show up for a class and see if an opening show ups,
I’ll call our attention to this initiative by Brian Davis as a possible, partial solution to what I perceive to be “the problem”. I think, if someone were able to, and wanted to solve the problems with classes, they would put them on the schedule regularly, and fill them with a round-robin of instructors, as they are available. Every Wednesday, 7-9PM is woodshop basics. Count on it. Sign up for it. Who’s teaching? Doesn’t matter; it’s the same curriculum. The hard part would be the honorarium for the teacher thing, but surely we can find a way around that.
As Tapper outlines in his plan (linked above) allowing the committee to submit “up to x-many basics classes” as “pre-approved” could avoid the entire x-day waiting period. I’d like to see that revisited, as it seems like a fine idea, in addition to the suggested above of having regularly scheduled classes for these basics courses.
Back to the question quoted, I think THIS would help attract more instructors. “Hey Alice!? Can I pencil you in to teach Woodshop basics in 2 weeks on Wednesday night? Yes? Great! Thank you!” “Hey Bob!? Can I pencil you in to teach woodshop basics in 3 weeks on Wednesday night? Yes? Great! Thank you!”. Point being, I think sometimes people work better with fewer choices. Like 3 year olds. “Jr. Do you want Peanut Butter or Ham and Cheese?”. NEVER, EVER, ask a 3 year old “what do you want for lunch, sweetie?” The choices are overwhelming. I think this may be part of why folks who express interest in teaching don’t. It’s just too much work to overcome the wide-open array of choices of when, where, etc. And you don’t want to inadvertently step on any existing instructors’ toes. And you’re not sure if the room is available… It’s just too much for some folks, and I think they WOULD respond positively to a specific request. If someone were willing to coordinate that…
(Woodshop was just an example. This SHOULD be similar for roughly EVERY “required” and/or “basics” class, in my opinion).
I’m sure this is long and rambling, but maybe managed to convey my opinion.
TL:DNR: regularly scheduled basics classes that you can count on, instructors TBD; express lane scheduling as outlined in Tapper’s suggestion; coordinator needed.
“Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black.” – Henry Ford
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I would never throw a stone at someone for rambling or verbosity … I would expect boulders of flaming brimstone to come back.
I support however a committee wants to do it or at least try it they should and be able to. Proposed solutions need to come out the committee and the instructors because the actual teaching of the classes is by them. This clearly WOULD NOT be available for all classes - just the ones severely impacted which are primarily focused on Wood Shop Basics: they are a victim of their success.
Listing a as TBD for the instructor and would require manual intervention to hand process the entry into the system so the person that taught it so the honorarium gets paid (TBD being the default and paid to the committee). If this helps solve a pressing problem, then so be it if that’s what it takes to support the effort. On the next iteration of changes to the calendar, if the field can be modified so it is easy the name put in, it could be processed as if it were there from the beginning.
A feature that would be nice to have but not critical, if a class has limited spaces and they are all taken, the Class Title states FULL. If someone cancels, that it reverts back and people know it is open. But it would make it so people can quickly look.
Thanks for the input, the solution or at least solution is out there. We just need to find one we can make work.
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I wrote code for this and it’s merged into the Calendar core, we need to deploy the new software though. It’s in @denzuko’s ballfield
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