wareagle said:
I really don't understand why more women haven't embraced woodworking, metal working, or the other predominantly male hobbies. There's really nothing about these hobbies that gender would disqualify one from. I guess it isn't a feminine activity, and society says that women can't get dirty.
Thankfully, this seems to be slowly changing. Gender roles are much less narrowly defined these days. I do remember feeling like something of an oddball (still do... sometimes) for bucking the stereotypes, but I also recall that my passion was such that I wasn't going to be dissuaded from pursuing it full force.
It was actually my older brother who first awakened my interest... <cue dreamy harp music and blurry images> One day he brought home a book from the school library: "The Boy's [sic] First Book of Engines, Motors, and Turbines," by Alfred Morgan, and mused how he might like to try building the small steam engine detailed in chapter twenty-two. He showed me the page, and I remember thinking how neat that would be to be able to turn a few hunks of metal into this marvelous working contraption! I looked forward to following his progress. Alas, he soon lost interest in the project (about the time that the book was due back at the library :-\). I forgot about it, too, untill several years later when I came across the same book in the library, and felt compelled to check it out for myself. After several more checkings-out of the book, I convinced myself that I could tackle the steam engine project. I wasn't sure exactly how I would accomplish it, with only the few crude tools in Dad's toolbox, but I was determined to try. Here is a picture of the little steam engine, from a copy of Morgan's book which I found on eBay (copyright 1946):
The tools I had at my disposal were: an ancient electric drill, a hacksaw (missing blade), several dull files, a huge (but dull) pair of tin snips, a soldering iron, plus a few assorted other common tools. The instructions specified a
brass pipe nipple to make the cylinder, and for the life of me, I couldn't locate one. I wound up using a galvanized one, and had a devil of a time trying to solder the "cylinder head" in place. I also couldn't find sufficiently thick material to make the flywheel, so I cut several disks of galvanized sheet metal (the kind used for heating ducts), and soldered the edges together. Excuse me.. I can't go on... it's too painful.
Long story short, I got the engine built, but it never did run. It was a hair-raising thing, quite unworkmanlike in appearance, and was unceremoniously relegated to the trash heap at some point beyond my rememberance. (Had I known then how far I would progress, I would have hung onto that homely thing.) But it was a start. It was a number of years before I attempted another one -- a "wobbler" made from brass telescoping square tubing, per an article in Popular Mechanics. This one worked! Needless to say, I progressed from that point to now. The thing I've learned is that the only firm quality required for success in this area (as in most others) is passion. From passion follows determination, and the acquiring of skill and patience.
Oh, by the way... I just received the latest issue of "Gas Engine Magazine", and there is an article about two young
women, Sarah and Bethanie Riffle (ages 20 and 18), who are quite active in the gas engine hobby. Both have acquired, and work on, their own engines! See? There is hope for us... ;D
Cheers,
Paula
