Inuvik (Feb 02/04) - Nervousness is the first thing Ashley Blake and Alyssa Carpenter had to overcome before touching the two wood lathes standing at the back of John Lord's industrial education class at Samuel Hearne secondary school in Inuvik.

"I was nervous to try it the first time," said Blake. "I was trying not to get my fingers cut off."

Carpenter said the hardest thing about using the lathe is the beginning.

"(It's hard) taking off all the rough stuff and smoothing it out. You have to use steady hands or it will pop," Carpenter said.

The long metal machines often go for long periods of time without use -- partly because the machines are only available to students in Grade 9 or higher and partly because students aren't as interested in them.

But Blake and Carpenter, who've been taking shop since Grade 7, were attracted to the machines because they're different.

Wood lathes can be used to sculpt just about anything out of wood. Like a potter's wheel, the lathe spins the wood around and chisels are used to dig, scrape and form the wood into shape.

"It's cool," said Blake, who made a wooden bowl for her first project. "You can do different things with it and it's a challenge trying to get it right."

Carpenter's first project is a lamp stand. She and friend Leah Sulyma are making it together.

After gluing the scrap wood together, they will cut the column in half and each sculpt their own piece before re-attaching it at the end of the project.

Industrial education -- or shop -- is a required elective for students up until Grade 9. Both Carpenter and Blake enjoy the class enough to take it again in Grade 10.

"I'll probably take shop again. I like working with tools. My dad has lots of tools and I like to build stuff with them," said Carpenter.