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Skills Classes

Here are details of our current Skills Classes, where you can come and upskill yourself, or learn something new. We also have dedicated classes for you to come and practice your skills, with a bit of support. Also, see our 'Build it' Workshops page, where we take raw materials and fabricate them into something wonderful. 

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No matter your skill or confidence level, we'll have you metal-working in no time. Appropriate protective equipment is supplied, but please come wearing clothing that's not too loose fitting, No Mankinis allowed (at least during the class), and jewellery such as rings, or dangly chains needs to be removed, or safely tucked in.

If theres a class you'd like to do, but its not a time that suits you please get in touch and we'll try and accommodate you.

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Ian Hodge (Hodgetech)

A little about me, and who am I to be teaching you all of this? Well, I've been around cars, bikes, and boats for ever. When I was growing up, Dad always had a car project underway, and Grandad was into restoring narrowboats so I was always going to be into anything with an engine! I loved radio-controlled Nitro cars as a kid, back when you had to build the whole kit yourself. 

My career has been in the motorsport industry, including vintage rally and professional Karting (both roles involved hands-on building and tuning the vehicles). Now I work in the engineering sector, managing a small engineering and fabrication shop which produces motorcycle parts and accessories. I've gained years of experience in engineering and fabrication, and have also trained and taught a good number of apprentices and colleagues along the way.

I've lost count of the projects I've done over the years, but here are some highlights:

A 1970 Mk3 spitfire, with custom wide arch bodywork and a 200bhp engine.

 Mine and my wife's VW T25 Camper van, purchased as a rusty runner, and given a full resto-Mod, this one involved lots and lots of rust repair, as you can imagine! It now has a Subaru engine conversion, bling paint job, and custom camper interior.

A pair of 1950's Norton lightweights: one 350cc Navigator, the other a 250cc Jubilee. Both were purchased as a van full of bits, along with a large collection of spare parts, but not one bit bolted to another! This one was a big jigsaw puzzle along with a full resto, rebuilt engines and gearboxes, and a nice paint job, matched to original colours.

My current project is a 1949 Scott Flying Squirrel, which is more of a sympathetic recommission, only repairing as needed. It's lasted 73 years like this, so who am I to mess with it?

All of these projects have been accomplished in Dad's shed/garage, so I cannot wait to be helping you and sharing some skills in an amazing workshop.

So that's a bit about me. 

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