Maybe something like a chain lamp?
A lamp may be a bit boring, but they may think it's cool that you are using chain. Or make something else with chain. (chain isn't always cheap though)

 

Damn I was going to say chain lamp lol

I see Chain Lamp mentioned twice, here is one I made. http://weldingweb.com/showthread.php?t=94911

 

Stuff that makes loud bangs, moves fast, or stuff thatis plain annoying to adults. That's what hounded to look at.

 

You might look at some of Reebs science projects. While they might not be individual type things, his trebuchet, air cushion vehicle, pop bottle water rocket launcher and a few others ought to interest them and get them into welding a fab work. Build them as a team project and then go play.


Cheap and useful... Horseshoe stuff comes to mind, coat hooks and so on. Shoes are pretty cheap, especially if you get the small ones in bulk.

BBQ's and smokers, fire place tools, fire pits... Items that might interest them, but might be a bit material heavy unless you can find some surplus/ scrap. Pipe shorts, empty drums etc... Build something and then have a cook out.


Kids like to destroy things. You might find that projects that involve OA cutting or plasma will spike their interest, even if the project itself isn't that great. Knifing thru steel with tons of sparks is "cool".


I'm thinking about doing a bow press since I just got certified as an archery instructor for 4-H. I'll have to talk to the guy running the program, but I've got several welding related projects that cross over between the 2 areas that the kids might find interesting to help out with. I figure the kids already have an interest in archery, this might be a good couple of projects to introduce them to welding and fab work as well. Steel reactive targets for air rifle might be another idea, but you probably can't shoot at them at school the way things are today unless it's with maybe paintball.

 

Damn I was going to say chain lamp lol

 

Pulse jets -very cool! :cool2:
Do kids still have posters? Why not make some frames - round tube, square tube, or better, square on the diagonal (turned 45*) and challenge them not to have them "warp in"? Stepped corners are cool and a challenge too - like that frame in the background. All were 16ga or 14ga tube and cheap.

Cube, rectangle or pyramid frames, end table size, for display pedestals (furniture) are actually useful. Give them a chance to learn about finishing too - gun blueing, or maybe that old brown oil finish - maybe on their own time. Even a little step stool can be a "keeper".

 

I forgot about Reebs' stuff. I haven't had much time to get on here lately, so I must have missed most of them. The last one I remember was the levitating person one that everyone seemed to like the female teacher in better than the project. I like the science tie-ins, so his stuff would be good. My intro to welding class covers history and electrical theory, so I have a carbon arc lamp in the classroom and neon sign transformers to "play" with arcs outside of the lab.

Thanks for the ideas guys! Keep 'em coming!

 

If you are at all artistic, go for scrap metal art stuff. also for material, check with automotive repair, heavy equipment, 4x4 places etc. they scrap a lot of metal in interesting designs and shapes, cogs gears, chain springs etc. if you are connected with a college they will probably let you have it for free. provide a letter of donation from the college if needed. also cutoff scrap from welding shops

 

Yeah I know that cutting through a set of cyl heads, engine block or something with O/A is always cool. Try workin out a deal with a salvage yard to loan some steel that is not sellable for kids to cut on, they could then réclame it after cutting and still get scrap value for the stuff. the don't loose money snd you get kids intrested in metal working. It's a win win win type of deal. Have you thought about having them build boxes like the thread here has they appear to be fun to make, just come up with a creative way to use them. Maybe as a Pan to see how diffrent chemicals react it would give you a fire proof box to test things in.

 

Not welded, but I blacksmithed a ~14" crowbar back in the day in middle school shop class. I still have and use that crowbar to this day. I vote for something cool that they can take home and use.

 

Go to you local steel business and with the schools tax Id # and see if they would donate to the program. You get some steel and the get a tax deduction or tax write off. And David R's thread on buid a box is pretty cool for beginners.

 

I've always thought a nice desk organizer a simple project.. if they are good, make it out of aluminum diamond plate, if not, steel is real. If made of steel, spray paint silver or black, etc...Have a few 'containers' welded together.. pencil bin, note bin, slots for incoming mail, perhaps a holder for a stapler, place to store stamps, etc...

for hints, look on the shelves at your local office supply store. Lots of ideas there. ( do a google image sort on "metal desktop organizer" ) A couple of ideas:

Maybe have one seam oxy/acet welded, one seam stick, one seam MIG, add a braze joint or two, etc... Might be a good way to standardize the project so folks have to weld a multitude of different joints and techniques, and they have something to bring home. You could also have a few bent seams in there, give folks a reason to use a brake / bender, shear, etc...

the key is they have something to bring home..

--zip

 

Bistineau I think your actually where the idea came from.
Gonna be making one for myself here well probably this weekend. Just need everything but the chain.
I do have a thought for you though. I recall reading about one someone else had put together, or maybe a table (irrelevant anyway). Using something to wrap the chain around start with the base laying flat on the ground/table/whatever.
Tac/weld it all in place, and work your way up. Should be stable as long as the base is big enough.

 

Go back and re-read the post in the link I provided. I wrapped the chain around a pipe to make the base, then wrapped it around a wooden 2x2 for the upright portion. Kinda makes a spiral look, although it's not real apparent in the photo. Thinkin about making a table with chain later on.

Waiting now to see what you come up with this weekend, it might be something else to be added here.

 

First thing that came to mind was a nicely formed and welded slingshot made using tubing.

Downhill derby racer (no motor/propulsion, just gravity) would be cool if you could scrounge together parts.

High school students (especially guys) tend to be pretty excited about having their first crack at driving and in some cases owning a car. What about showing off replacing rusted out sheet metal with new sheet metal to inspire any of the kids hoping to turn their old hand-me-downs or seen-better-days muscle cars into cool rides.

 

More good ideas... Thanks! One of the areas I have been planning on expanding in my program is the ornamental iron worker certificate we offer. I just got a large roof built outside our shop, and am going to set up a forge and iron working area out there. I never had the covered space to do it before. What I really need is to find someone willing to donate a small power hammer - a little giant would be perfect! (Any takers?)

I do have some materials connections, but in this economy they're pretty tight with them. Most of what I get is drops from laser tables, or really damaged sheets from steel shops.

 

Need a power hammer? Build one. I know I came across plans for them several places. Overall they didn't look all that hard to build. I'll look around and see if I can't dig up a link or two later.

I forgot about the sling shot. I bent and welded one up in metal shop in Jr high. Not sure if you can do one now days with the ban on "weapons" in most schools.

 

How about a vortex cannon: http://www.wimp.com/vortexcannon/ Relatively simple to make, gets attention and is safe since there are no projectiles fired.

 

That is cool!

 

Teams of 3-4 kids each, building "soap box" racing type frames. Have a competition at the end for a shop made trophy that gets their names letter stamped into for all time. Or build trophies. One of the guys in my weld class made a trophy from a broken piston and gave it to the one that spent the most amount of their student loan on booze. It was the "Pi$$ed and Broke" award.
Swinging shooting targets.
Hunting tree stand.
Compressed air/water bottle rocket thingy that someone posted on here a while ago.
Rifle by-pod.
Tadpole trike( three wheel, recumbent bicycle, look up at www.atomiczombie.com)
Forged bbq tools.
Tool boxes.
Land yacht ( us a tarp for a cheap sail)
Mini canon ( shoot a 1/2" bearing)
Trebuchet
Catapult
Rolling ball machine
lounge chair.
Desk and chair.
sling shot
water bong(whoops.....inside voice......)
coffee table
candle abra
hunting or folding knife from old files or car springs
fishing downrigger or pot(fishing......) puller.
clay duck target thrower
electric scooter
bar stool racer

and this is just a sample from my "to-do" list.........:waving:

 

I am the welding leader for our local 4H, the kids in my group are younger than yours, but here is a partial list of projects over the last few years'
Bootjack, made of old horseshoes
Bootscraper, made from an old disc blade for the base, sucker rod and scrap flat for the scraper
Horseshoe napkinholders
Various "animals", horseshoe armadillos, rebar snakes, horseshoe butterfies/birds, etc.
Lawn ornaments, rebar tractors,hubcap flowers,horseshoe trees
Firewood rack made from a salvaged hayfeeder
Winebottle rack from railroad spikes
The common element I push is recycling/repurposing. In 5 years of doing this, none of the kids have spent over $10 for their project, and that was on paint. We dig through my scrap pile, and when we ask local farmers, farriers, and shops, they are more than glad to help the kids out. ALL comment "at least they are not on the computer/tv/playing video games." It has been my experience that any useful trinket will build confidence. Good luck!

 

do they ride bikes where you live? some places like at the beach bikes are still very popular with the young crowd. if so make some some custom bikes with small front wheels and ape handle bars and low slung frames

 

A lot of high school kids are into BMX. Designing and building BMX bikes might interest them.

 

I agree

 

how about a cold air intake system for a car?

 

I've got a project in mind, simple yet challenging. I'd like to make some simple lights for the gate entrance at my ranchita. I've got AC 110 out there and I'm thinking a piece of thin sheet material, plasma cut a design to let the light out, hand roll it up into a cylinder of maybe 8-9" diameter and about a foot long and add a base and fixture to attach it to the wall. I've not made any of these yet, but it doesn't look too hard... base could be a horseshoe or two Always add a horseshoe or two if ya' can.

 

Hello. using scraps materials to make an art piece or fixtures may help..you can visit my website to see some of my works at www.marmallari.com and some are attached photos for you reference,,hope it helps

thanks.

MARIO

 

You might be able to figure something out from this. Lots of ideas here. Some cheap, some not so cheap.
Cool welding projects

 

Was wonderin' when IronHeart, the KING of SCRAP was going to chime in! :jester: :jester: :jester:
Print ALL his pics and tape them to the wall - seriously(!) - who knows WHAT the kids will come up with!
Heck, he's even inspired ME! And I don't have any of that kinda scrap.

Bert has a GR8 list, but not enough pics to inspire.

And Rancher76's comment "... they are more than glad to help the kids out. ALL comment "at least they are not on the computer/tv/playing video games." is even true around here! Neighborhood kids ages 5-15 keep asking me to "play" with them with my "toys"! Love to make stuff!

 

Bert has a GR8 list, but not enough pics to inspire.

Aw, come on! Good for at least ':laugh::laugh:til grd. 10!!!!

As for pic's...... like I said, mostly on the to-do list, and I'm not going to spoon-feed him.....:laugh::laugh::laugh:

 

Simple..
E-Z..
No filler needed..

http://weldingweb.com/showthread.php?t=7643&highlight=dudes

...zap!

 

PERFECT!!!:drinkup: