Whetstone
Cast Iron
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2011
- Location
- Providence RI
I own a design+fabrication shop in Rhode Island - whetstone workshop. We've had quite a hard time finding experienced metal workers over the past 5-6 years. We're trying a different route this time, by offering an apprenticeship. Most of our work is within the architectural world, but large sculptural installations and furniture make up about 25% give or take.
The shop has a lot of older machines- manual benders, bridgeports, lathes. We don't use CNC/laser/water-jet and we specialize in abrasive finishes, patinas in stainless, bronze and brass mostly. There is a lot of care and detail that goes into everything - something that I've found is hard to train into when I'm pulling from the typical "welder" pool of people.
There's a lot of cross-over skills from people working as machinists, in the custom auto/motorcycle building community. Boat builders, can also have great attention to detail. So I am hopeful that this apprenticeship would allow someone just starting out, or already invested in another manual-trade to gain more skills in fabrication
The shop has a lot of older machines- manual benders, bridgeports, lathes. We don't use CNC/laser/water-jet and we specialize in abrasive finishes, patinas in stainless, bronze and brass mostly. There is a lot of care and detail that goes into everything - something that I've found is hard to train into when I'm pulling from the typical "welder" pool of people.
There's a lot of cross-over skills from people working as machinists, in the custom auto/motorcycle building community. Boat builders, can also have great attention to detail. So I am hopeful that this apprenticeship would allow someone just starting out, or already invested in another manual-trade to gain more skills in fabrication