Words Dad Likes To Hear... "Dad, Can I Do Some Too?"

[Joe Scarfo]

Have no fears... the lathe was turning at about 25rpm and we were applying finish. I couldn't find gloves so we used a plastic shopping bag instead to apply the "velvet finish" we picked up at Woodcraft....

She also did a little scraping with the lathe running at 550rpm, but I was there helping her hold the tool so no one could get a pic....

I felt great... and it was fun too...

:-)

[Keith Westfall]

I'd be scared of using a bag even at slow speeds. If you got a catch on anything, her arm would be around a lot of times before you could get it shut down...

Nice to see kids at the tools, but safety first.

[Brian Brown]

It's fun to work with the kids, but I agree with Keith that that safety needs to come first. 25 RPM may not be a big problem, but why take a chance. She needs eye protection. Those eyes are way too valuable to take a chance. The bag is a scary one, and the sleeves of her coat should be pulled up, or even better, take the coat off. It may seem a bit over the top, but her hair should be pulled back in a pony tail also. Besides the safety issues, the piece she is making is looking good.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Joe it doesn't get any better than that.

[Pete Jordan]

She looks like she is really into it!

I made some tops with my boys last night. That might be a fun project to do with her.

[John Keeton]

Joe, great to get them involved early on!!

I would just note that 25 rpm is SLOW!!!! That is less than a turn every two seconds, so I don't see much danger in this pic.

Perhaps the comments on eye protection and hair at higher rpms are on point, but we don't know what Joe did in that situation.

[Paul Douglass]

I agreed with you and how great it is to hear those woods, in my case it's Grandpa. Last time my grand kids stayed with us we made pens. One of the greatest times I've had in my shop.

[John Beaver]

I love it when my girls come out to the shop to "work" with me.
By 12-14 they were pretty competent on the lathe.

Try to encourage simple small projects for her so she has quick results and that satisfaction should keep her coming back. We've had a lot of fun making simple ornaments and candle sticks.

[Ken Glass]

Joe,
X2 on Bernie's comments. It just is hard to beat when a child or grandchild wants to work with you in the shop. Way to Go!!