*Prerequisites are required to take this class. Please see below.
In the first session of this two-session class, you’ll learn the essentials of BARN’s CNC Lathe, and the operating concepts to safely operate it. We’ll cover CNC lathe basics beginning with the details of the machine, understand lathe motion on the Z & X axes, selecting and establishing part-zeros, various cutting tools in the tool library, and diameter & Z-offsets. We’ll also touch on different ways to generate g-code (the language that instructs the CNC machine what to do and where to do it).
In the second session, we’ll load a model created by one of the students into Fusion 360, examine and prove the CAM setup and g-code, cut some air, and then cut some metal.
Prerequisites - The prerequisites provide an important foundation for learning how to use the CNC Lathe and use of it during open studio:
Please login to your BARN account and click on "My event registrations" to ensure you have completed the required prerequisites before you register for this class.
Details:
Instructor Bio: As a young man, David Hays worked as a machinist while gaining his engineering degrees and went on in his later years to create his own hobby machine shop that included a DIY CNC mill.
Contact: David Hays at [email protected]
Make a set of three custom darts that will give you bragging rights in your family room or local sports bar.
In this two-session class, while making your own sporting darts, you can advance your machining skills as you craft three custom, phosphorous bronze dart barrels (bodies), and finish with commercial points, shafts and flights. You’ll drill and tap the barrels for the points and shafts with a 2BA British tap, learn to cut the proper tapers on the bodies, and execute the style of knurling and grooving you decide to machine into your dart barrels. See an example is in the hallway between the Welding and Jewelry studio doors.
Eli Backer with Andy assisting.
Machining operations covered in the class include basic metal turning, external thread cutting, knurling, chamfering, cutting off, milling a flat on a round work piece, drilling, and tapping threads.
The hammer - yours to keep - has a brass head and is useful as a "positioning" hammer. If you want a hammer head other than brass that's 1¼ inches in diameter, bring the material to the class.
Before the class, students should view the following four YouTube videos by "That Lazy Machinist" on how to make this type of hammer:
Part 1Part 2Part 3Part 4
Please click here for BARN's current COVID-19 health & safety protocols.
BARN is committed to accessibility. Tuition Assistance is available - click here to fill out the simple application before registering for a class. For those who might need physical assistance, please learn about BARN's Companion Program here.
Bob Mathisrud - Bob’s long work history of facilities operations has provided him with a wide range of experience in the skilled trades. He helps at BARN in many ways, including by volunteering as a safety monitor in several studios.
This is for those who have completed BARN’s Metal Casting in the Foundry class and would like time in the foundry with a skilled monitor team to guide and lend support.
Guided foundry time is for skill development and practice; it is not a formal class. It’s a great opportunity to improve your skills, share ideas, and pour molten metal. There’s much to learn in making a mold from single- or multi-part patterns - where to place gates and vents, or how big to make the risers to have sufficient metal to remain molten and fill voids as the cast metal cools. The best way to learn all this is through hands-on practice, and these guided open studios are where you can do that.
The last half hour will be for properly cleaning the spaces and reorganization.
This is limited to four participants. Spectators are welcome with all safety requirements observed.
Location: This is an off-site open studio. 9392 Wardwell Ave. NEBainbridge Island
Jeff Oens - A widely renowned sculptor with bronze artwork exhibited in prominent art collections and public displays across the United States and Canada, Jeff is best known for his outstanding wildlife sculptures. But his portfolio also includes human figures, mythical creatures, and other diverse subjects, ranging in size from miniature to monumental. Many of Jeff’s sculptures can be seen around the industrial park on Three Tree Lane.
Frank Wurden - While getting his BS Electrical Engineering degree at the University of Washington, Frank also obtained a BFA degree with emphasis in life drawing, sculpting and foundry art working with green sand, CO2 sand casting, investment casting, and ceramic shell casting. Sculpture materials were clay, foam, wood, or wax for the patterns, and casting in aluminum, bronze and stainless steel. Frank says it’s been many years since he's actually done casting, so it’s great fun to get back into it! “I totally enjoy the entire process and look forward to helping other people do the same.”
Mario Oblak - Mario honed his passion for casting metal with BFA (University of Washington) and MFA (Rhode Island School of Design) degrees in sculpture. Creating, designing, and building in different materials and mediums is a joy, but working in liquid metal is “it” for him. Mario feels “casting is a magical process that requires patience, skill, labor, and teamwork, with the results both satisfying and permanent.” By sharing his knowledge and experience, Mario wants to help others explore, learn, and develop skills so they can see their ideas come to life.
Feel the power of cutting steel and turn an idea into hard reality as you cut shapes out of flat sheet metal.
Participants will use a handheld plasma cutter to create a design in a two-foot square sheet of 16-gauge steel (roughly 3/32nds). Bring a design to work with with enough detail that you can draw it with a sharpie or soapstone and trace with a somewhat awkward implement while wearing gloves.
Plasma cutting uses a highly focused electric arc and compressed air creating an electrical channel of super-heated, electrically ionized gas (i.e. plasma) to cut through the work piece. The electrical arc ionizes some of the gas, thereby creating an electrically conductive channel of plasma and closing an electrical circuit. Electricity from the cutter torch travels down this plasma with highly focused and sufficient heat to melt through the work piece. The compressed gas blows the molten metal away, thereby cutting through the work piece.
None
View BARN’s current COVID-19 health and safety protocols.
BARN is committed to accessibility. Tuition assistance is available. Fill out the application before registering.
Henry Sharpe is an amateur welder and active in BARN’s Metal and Woodworking Studios. ([email protected])
Learn the basics of MIG (Metal Inert Gas) welding, which is the easiest welding to learn and has broad applications.
In this 2.5-hour, hands-on introduction, you will learn how to weld metal together with both a tack weld and a bead, creating different types of joints. The class will give you the ability to identify and remedy any problems with the bead. The class begins with a safety briefing, and includes instruction on the use of a handheld grinder.
By the end of the class, you will have the opportunity to weld a simple, open-top metal box.
The class is limited to three participants to ensure one-on-one learning and direct mentoring. Each participant will have the use of a fully equipped Miller 215 welder and welding station.
Ages 14 and up are welcome.
For those who might need physical assistance, learn more about our Companion Program.
Henry Sharpe is an amateur welder and is active in BARN’s Metal and Woodworking Studios. ([email protected]).
This hands-on class allows you to learn basic blacksmithing techniques such as drawing, bending, and twisting and then advance to splitting, scrolling, and punching. And you get to take home your projects!
Blacksmithing is heating pieces of wrought iron or steel until the metal becomes soft enough for shaping with hand tools, such as a hammer, anvil, and chisel. Heating generally takes place in a forge fueled by propane, natural gas, coal, charcoal, or oil. In this class, you design, complete and take home simple projects such as bracelets, triangles, hooks, spoons, tools, and more. The class includes an introduction to heat treating, if appropriate for the projects undertaken.
Location: This is an off-site class. 9392 Wardwell Ave. NEBainbridge Island
Jeremy Loerch - Jeremy is a successful small-business owner of Monkey Wrench Fabrication, a studio focused on original pieces made from all types of metal. Expertise includes teaching and curriculum development for youth, as well as adult programming. Contact: [email protected] or (206) 992-8509.
David Hays, Metal Fab Studio, [email protected]
* This class has a prerequisite. See below.
This is the class you want to take for your first time at a metal-cutting lathe, or if you just want additional experience.
Gain experience making a bolt on our Hardinge lathe, beginning with a hexagonal aluminum rod. Learn the basic functions of the lathe, including facing, turning, threading, parting, and chamfering.
You not only get a chance to gain confidence using our shop tools, but make a lovely bolt that spins freely into the nut you’ll create in our Make Your Own Nut (Intro to the Mill) class.
Students must wear closed-toe shoes, tie back long hair, avoid loose-fitting clothing and jewelry, and roll up sleeves. Wear hearing protection when warranted and safety glasses (bring your own or use BARN's).
TBD
Contact: David Hays [email protected]
You will receive basic instruction on how to tack-weld with our Miller MIG 215 welders. This is a hands-on class designed to build the skills needed to safely participate in welding open studio events. Note that classes or equivalent experience in MIG - metal inert gas - or TIG - tungsten inert gas, is required to weld during open studio).
You’ll be outfitted with all the safety gear needed to safely operate the tools used. This is your gateway to welding and is highly recommended prior to any welding or plasma cutter classes. Above all, this is truly a FUN class full of great learning experiences.
Bob Mathisrud’s long work history of facilities operations has provided him wide ranging experiences in the skilled trades. He helps at BARN in many ways, including by volunteering as a safety monitor in several studios.
This orientation, required for anyone new, offers an overview of the shop capabilities, hazards, and safety protocols.
Major tools will be identified, and their use discussed along with their related hazards. You’ll learn the various welding and plasma cutting capabilities the studio has to offer, and the proper use of grinders, cutters, and saws. You’ll also be introduced to the myriad sheet metal working tools available, both hand-held and larger shears, roll, brakes, and spot welder.
This “observe and learn,” no-cost class offers only the basic but required understanding of what’s possible in our Welding & Sheet Metal Studio. Hands-on experience with these tools is gained by taking classes.
This class is free but please register as the class is limited to four people for safety and so the instructor can focus on the presentation and help students.
(Our Welding & Sheet Metal Studio is fondly referred to as the Jack Archer Workshop, or "JAWS," in honor of our beloved BARN instructor, Jack Archer.)
Bob Mathisrud has a long work history of facilities operations, which has provided him with a wide range of experience in the skilled trades. He helps at BARN in many ways, including volunteering as a safety monitor in several studios.
Teens (7th-12th grade), come on down to BARN for a free evening of art, friends, music, and creativity! You're not going to want to miss it. We'll have pizza and snacks and you'll get to choose from activities like cooking, woodworking, sewing, jewelry making, metal working, and more - every month is a different lineup. Come with a friend or come on your own and meet new friends!
Teen Night is so popular that we're now requiring registration to ensure that there's enough food and activities for everyone!
We're grateful to the City of Bainbridge Island for their financial support so we can offer this event for teens in our community!
Fix-It Saturday takes advantage of the equipment and skills of the Metal Fabrication group at BARN to meet the challenge of repairing items brought in. Requested repairs should be focused on metal or related electrical projects. Your hands on participation in the "fix-it" process is encouraged.
See what we can do, what suggestions we can make, or what other avenues you might pursue if a fix is not at hand.
(No wheeled vehicles, please).
Registration is suggested. Fix-It Saturday is free and open to members and non-members.
Please Note: Fix-It Saturday runs concurrently with an Open Studio available to qualified users. Open Studio users must register and pay the required materials fee for the Open Studio that is also held on this day. ----------------------------------
BARN will provide Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) for participants.
Participants who plan to weld must wear natural fiber clothing, long pants, long sleeves, closed toe shoes (natural fiber or leather), no stretch fabrics, and long hair tied back.
Received 5-21 via a calendar from Henry and posted on 5/2
Take the first steps toward mastering the art of sheet metal work and create a display stand in the process.
Learn personal, tool, and shop safety; then learn how to use most of the basic tools for your future sheet metal projects - pattern layout, cutting, bending, shaping, and even the spot welder.
Practice your skills by making a display stand.
This introductory class serves as a prerequisite for all subsequent classes, including Organic Shaping and Forming.
A metal display stand to take home.
All needed materials are provided.
David Albergine
This class offers about two hours of hands-on instruction in Tungsten Inert Gas welding, different types of welds, and torch and filler rod manipulation.
About this Class
Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) welding is generally recognized as the welding technique of choice for artisans and more exotic materials including aluminum and stainless steel.
TIG welding is more difficult to learn than Metal Inert Gas (MIG) welding since it requires greater hand/eye coordination and the simultaneous use of both hands and one foot (controlling the amperage pedal.) TIG welding is a precision process particularly useful in high-grade artwork and metal sculpture.
The class includes shop safety and hazard awareness and proper use of personal protection equipment.
Instructor Bio:
Patrick Clanton - Patrick is a professional welder with more than 30 years of experience. He participates in the artisan community on Bainbridge as a welder in support of other artists and as a sculptor in his own right. Patrick Clanton Email: [email protected]
In this class you will learn about basic metal cutting, and the tools in the BARN machine shop studio used for drilling, turning, milling, sawing and grinding. There will be a basic demonstration of what the drill press, lathe, milling machine, cut off saw, band saw, and surface grinder do. Throughout, there will be an emphasis on safety issues surrounding these powerful and potentially dangerous machines.
Cast your own pattern or use one of BARN's in this introductory class to metal casting.
Learn and advance your metal-art skills by casting bronze or aluminum into a mold you've already created, you make in the class, or one of our own patterns. Molten metal is poured into the mold you’ve formed in green sand (an environmentally safe mixture of fine sand, clay, and water), from a pattern of your own making, or one selected from our pattern library. After your casting cools, you’ll free it from the mold and experience the thrill as your artistic creation emerges.
Metal Casting is the second of three basic steps of the Foundry Arts:
No need to be concerned about attending this class before you’ve made a pattern. Attend the class for the first time, and when casting inspires your creative energies, take the Pattern-Making class, then attend the Metal Casting class again, as often as you like. Our instructors guide each student to help them advance, no matter their skill level.
BARN offers related casting classes including The Basics of Metal Casting (online), Pattern-Making for Casting in the Foundry where you learn how to make patterns used to produce a working mold, and Metal Casting in the Foundry where you make molds from patterns and pour molten metal into the mold to form the casting. A foundry casting event - Guided Open Studio - is available to those who’ve attended Metal Casting in the Foundry or who have demonstrated competency in the foundry. Our goal is to host this event each month, so check the calendar. Registration is required for all Foundry and Casting events.
After casting your piece, register to clean up, polish and finish it here.
Location: This is an off-site class. 9392 Wardwell Ave NE Bainbridge Island WA
Participants must wear natural fiber clothing, long pants, long sleeves, and closed-toe shoes (natural fiber or leather). No stretch fabrics, no hoodie ties, or dangling jewelry like bracelets that can get caught in machinery are allowed. Please tie back long hair.
This is the class you want to take for your first time at a metal-cutting vertical mill.
Gain an understanding of the three principle motions of the table in the X-, Y-, and Z-axes, how to make use of the DRO (Digital Read Out), how to control the speed of the spindle, using collets, and the different cutters used. You also practice layout, using the cut-off saw, “finding” an edge, facing and squaring on the mill, drilling, tapping, and filing a chamfer. This class dovetails with Make A Bolt (Intro to the Lathe) because the bolt you make in that class will thread into the nut you make in this class.
This class is suitable for both beginners and those who are fairly new to the shop and wish to gain experience.
You not only get a chance to gain confidence in using our shop tools, but you get to create a lovely square nut that will spin freely on the bolt you’ll create in the Make A Bolt (Intro to the Lathe) class.
Prerequisites: Machine Shop Orientation
Please wear closed-toe shoes in our studio. Tie back long hair, avoid loose-fitting clothing and jewelry and roll up sleeves. Wear hearing protection when warranted and safety glasses; bring your own or use BARN's.
Bob Mathisrud - Bob’s long work history in facilities operations has provided him wide ranging experience in the skilled trades. He helps at BARN in many ways, including by volunteering as a safety monitor in several studios.
Make your own handmade knife as you are introduced to traditional knife-making and basic blacksmithing.
Use a forge to heat pieces of steel red-hot and hammer them into the shape and edge of a knife. Repeat, again and again. Temper and quench. Then grind a final edge. You have a handmade utility (not kitchen) knife to fit with a handle.
Location: This is an off-site class. 9392 Wardwell Ave. NE Bainbridge Island WA 98110 ------------------------------------------------
Jeremy Loerch - Jeremy is a successful small- business owner of Monkey Wrench Fabrication, a studio focused on original pieces made from all types of metal. Expertise includes teaching and curriculum development for youth, as well as adult programming. Contact: [email protected] or (206) 992-8509
Further Contact: David Hays, [email protected]
Learn how to finish your rough casting with all of its unwanted gates, sprues, and runners.
Learn when to remove specific gates and sprues, and see how to finish the casting by grinding, texturing, and polishing to a desired finish (a separate class may be needed if machining is required). A media-blast cabinet may be used to get the desired texture. It’s also possible some blemishes will need to be filled using a TIG welder. Finally, you’ll learn how to apply a patina of your choice to achieve the finished look that appeals to you.
Finishing the casting is the third of three basic steps of Foundry Arts:
1. Make the pattern,2. Form the mold and pour metal to create the casting, and3. Finish the Casting
Make a basic Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) bead and progress to the techniques and practices needed for TIG welded joints.
The goal for this class is to feel comfortable operating the welding machine and with the TIG welding process in performing different welds.
From making a basic TIG bead to the techniques for TIG welded joints, the class focuses on how to perform different kinds of TIG welds – butt, lap, “T,” corner, and edge.
TIG welding requires more dexterity and practice than Metal Inert Gas (MIG) welding. Students are encouraged to use open studios to practice their technique and develop confidence.
This is the second class in the TIG welding series.
Patrick Clanton - Patrick is a professional welder with more than 30 years of experience. He participates in the artisan community on Bainbridge as a welder in support of other artists and as a sculptor in his own right.
Patrick Clanton Email: [email protected]
Create a pattern you can cast into metal and begin your casting journey!
Learn one of many ways to create a pattern of the casting you envision. Once completed, you can use the pattern in our Metal Casting in the Foundry class to create a mold for molten bronze or aluminum to produce your casting.
Making a pattern is the first of three basic steps of the Foundry Arts:
BARN offers related casting classes including The Basics of Metal Casting (online), Pattern-Making for Casting in the Foundry (this class) where you learn how to make patterns used to produce a working mold, and Metal Casting in the Foundry where you make molds from patterns and pour molten metal into the mold to form the casting. A foundry casting event - Guided Open Studio - is available to those who’ve attended Metal Casting in the Foundry or who have demonstrated competency in the foundry. Our goal is to host this event each month, so check the calendar. Registration is required for all Foundry and Casting events.
After completing your mold, register for our next metal casting class here.
