If I would have $100k...

[Sensei]

If I would have $100k... I would buy 50 lathe devices.
I have seen Metal Lathe for $1200 with VAT in our local Leroy Merlin shop this week (not the cheapest one available. The cheapest one was for $620).
Wholesale and export to 3rd world country (Africa,South America,Asia) would be cheaper.
Pay local homeless persons to build hall (after learning them how to work with concrete, bricks, if needed).
The rest of money spend on bricks,concrete,and buying land for hall.
And learn them how to use lathe devices, sheet bending, pipe bending, furnace, drill. etc.
They would bring beer Aluminium cans or other metal to hall, from the whole city, melt them in induction furnace, creating bars of metals.
Half of metal would be for us, half of melted metal they (homeless, unemployed, or simply workers could not afford to buy lathe) could do with it and lathe some new things for free for sale by them.
There would be several homeless/unemployed persons learned at the beginning how to use lathe tool, to learn further one coming to hall.

 

1) it's not business that has to bring money. If it's zero, it's fine.

2) It is suppose to learn these poor people how to use more advanced tools, like lathe, furnace, metal bending tools, pipe bending tools, etc.

Or even learn them that such tools exist and could be used.

 

I have seen plentiful documentary videos with European comming to Africa and finding out that these poor people buy used damaged plastic sandals with holes, melt them in provisionally made furnaces, and creating from them... wheels for barrow.. Then bend piece of metal found on scrapyard to barrow.. And producing from them wheelbarrows for local poor farmers.

with availability of lathe, and induction furnace, they would be brought to completely different level of metal work..

 

In the mean time they could polish their English.

Edited June 1, 2016 by Sensei

[imatfaal]

I do not know of a project like that - but it is a vision.

 

My Brother and my God-Father have both been involved in projects that took lots of tools (mostly very old and much more basic than those you envisage) to very poor, previously war-torn communities. These were immensely satisfying and rewarding from both sides - I think even my God-father (of a very long line of skilled carpenters/joiners) learnt more techniques than he taught. It is the old "necessity is the mother of invention" truism - Stephen had learned one simple but near perfect method which required the right tools which he (and his father, grandfather etc) had always had; but the guys he was there to teach had to improvise a new method each time as their tools were so inferior and kept changing.

 

Have you seen the film about the man who travelled South America installing old water bottles in the roofs of Shanty Town huts to provide daytime lighting? It is inspirational