Dave Sharpe
10-23-2009, 1:54 AM
For those of you following the continuing saga of my attempts to teach kids to make sawdust without losing a finger, here's the latest update. The original two boys (ages ten and 11) have been joined now by three more kids - a 10 and 16 year old boy and a 14 year old girl. These new kids aare the children of another friend who heard about the woodshop classes I've been fumbling through and asked me to teach her kids as well. I decided not to have all 50 fingers there at one time, (too much to watch) so the three new kids come at a different time than the other two.
This week I went back to basics and gave a demonstration on how to use a handsaw and a plane (tools I don't use all that often myself), then gave each child the challenge of taking an irregularly shaped piece of pine and making it square - four 90 degree corners. Seemed simple enough but each of the kids discovered jsut how hard it is to accomplish precisely. The point of the exercise was not just to use a handsaw and a plane, but also to measure and mark their piece using various tools to get square corners, then to evaluate the finished piece against square reference tools. They used block planes to adjust the cut pieces to get them square.
My plan is to move on to simple joints from here - making simple boxes with butt joints at first, then more and more complex joinery to develop their skills, both with hand tools and simple power tools.
At the same time, I'm asking each child to come up with a "semester" project that they will develop from concept all the way through to completion. They may do their own drawings or may choose a project plan from the many books and magazines I have available to them. Of the original two boys, one has chosen a set of shelves from a book and is excited to make these, while his brother wants to make a nightstand but is resisting choosing an existing plan, and hasn't yet been able to show me a sketch of what he wants or measurements. (I'm a little frustrated by this, as he seems a little unfocused on the task at hand. I think he's more interested in the experience itself than in the completion of a project, so I'm thinking of skills he can learn to maximize this - perhaps focusing on sharpening chisels and plane irons. Could use some advice on this.)
I'm finding that I have to spend several hours each week prepping for class and planning what to teach each individual child, so I'm spending less time on my own projects. I'm a hobby woodworker, and I work full-time as an ER nurse, so my cherished shop time is being somewhat limited right now. But the kids are having a great time, the parents are very excited and supportive, and I'm finding the whole experience rewarding. (For those of you worrying about liability, I've spoken with my insurance agent - since I was in the process of changing insurance companies anyway - and told them frankly what I'm doing and why. I don't charge for the classes, so it's not a business. Every insurance agent I spoke with told me that the kids ARE covered as guests in my home, and I increased my bodily injury liability coverage to 500k just to be on the safe side.)
This week I went back to basics and gave a demonstration on how to use a handsaw and a plane (tools I don't use all that often myself), then gave each child the challenge of taking an irregularly shaped piece of pine and making it square - four 90 degree corners. Seemed simple enough but each of the kids discovered jsut how hard it is to accomplish precisely. The point of the exercise was not just to use a handsaw and a plane, but also to measure and mark their piece using various tools to get square corners, then to evaluate the finished piece against square reference tools. They used block planes to adjust the cut pieces to get them square.
My plan is to move on to simple joints from here - making simple boxes with butt joints at first, then more and more complex joinery to develop their skills, both with hand tools and simple power tools.
At the same time, I'm asking each child to come up with a "semester" project that they will develop from concept all the way through to completion. They may do their own drawings or may choose a project plan from the many books and magazines I have available to them. Of the original two boys, one has chosen a set of shelves from a book and is excited to make these, while his brother wants to make a nightstand but is resisting choosing an existing plan, and hasn't yet been able to show me a sketch of what he wants or measurements. (I'm a little frustrated by this, as he seems a little unfocused on the task at hand. I think he's more interested in the experience itself than in the completion of a project, so I'm thinking of skills he can learn to maximize this - perhaps focusing on sharpening chisels and plane irons. Could use some advice on this.)
I'm finding that I have to spend several hours each week prepping for class and planning what to teach each individual child, so I'm spending less time on my own projects. I'm a hobby woodworker, and I work full-time as an ER nurse, so my cherished shop time is being somewhat limited right now. But the kids are having a great time, the parents are very excited and supportive, and I'm finding the whole experience rewarding. (For those of you worrying about liability, I've spoken with my insurance agent - since I was in the process of changing insurance companies anyway - and told them frankly what I'm doing and why. I don't charge for the classes, so it's not a business. Every insurance agent I spoke with told me that the kids ARE covered as guests in my home, and I increased my bodily injury liability coverage to 500k just to be on the safe side.)