Bell Buckle TN, wow, I haven't been there in 40 years. Is the Webb School still open?
Anyway, one of the best resources for a beginner is the late Al Campbell's 12 part series on building a graphite rod. It covers everything in simple and easily understandable terms. I used to have a direct link to it but it doesn't work any more. Go to the FAOL home page. On the left side is a column of links. Go to Features, then Rod Building and there will be a link to Building a Graphite Rod. This link will take you to the first of 12 articles. At the bottom of this page are the links to the rest of the articles.
You don't ever want a crisis to go to waste... - Rahm Emanuel
Who is John Galt?