At the request of my 6 year old nephew

[Todd Crawford]

Apparently, I have become "the guy that builds stuff" to my nephew. My wife and all the girls in the family are going to see The Nutcracker in a couple of weeks. last night I told my nephew that we could go do something together that night if he wanted to. He gladly agreed so I asked him what he would like to do. "Build something in your shop!" were the first words out of his mouth. Then he whispers in my ear "Can we build my sister a jewelry box for Christmas?" So, I'm going to try to work on getting most of the pieces cut out and ready for assembly for when he comes over. Should be a good time, and I'm proud to know that he finds what I do fun!

[Linda Tetreault]

That's almost like a Christmas gift to you, lucky you!:)

[Andrew Gibson]

Sounds like a good time to me.

[Bill Edwards(2)]

Wow! That's as good as being a super hero. :cool:

[Charles Lent]

I have a 12 year old grand daughter that has been interested in building things in grandpa's shop for over 3 years now. I started her on sanding, then using the scroll saw and hand tools. I still keep her away from the table saw, band saw, and routers, but she uses the hand tools, drill presses, and sanders almost without help now. Right now we're making a 12"X 36" horse barn for her plastic horses, only she is now getting too busy with school, band, and church activities to do much of it herself. I'm building most of this project to get it done this year. Last year we made 2 lap desks and sent one to California for my grandson. Since she did so much work on them, I let her pick which one she wanted, but about the only difference between them was the woodgrain. The one that she picked for herself had a nice flame pattern in the writing surface. She knows and appreciates the wood grain.

Charley

[Kent A Bathurst]

And we have a clear leader for the "Uncle of the Year" award...............

[Russell Smallwood]

....So, I'm going to try to work on getting most of the pieces cut out and ready for assembly for when he comes over....

What a great idea. Kids loose interest quickly. Trying to limit the event to only a handful of operations that the kid would find the "neatest" while producing something tangible at the end of the evening sounds like a recipe for success.

The kid better start saving for tools.

[Todd Crawford]

What a great idea. Kids loose interest quickly. Trying to limit the event to only a handful of operations that the kid would find the "neatest" while producing something tangible at the end of the evening sounds like a recipe for success.

The kid better start saving for tools.

Part of my evil plan is to get him interested enough to pass my tools along to him so I can aquire new ones! :D

[Russell Smallwood]

Part of my evil plan is to get him interested enough to pass my tools along to him so I can aquire new ones! :D

"But honey, cant' you see it's for the children! I'm doing it for the child."

[Lee Schierer]

You can make really nice jewelry boxes from hardwood crown molding. The cuts are simple 45 degree bevels on the ends and a groove for the bottom board.
http://www.home.earthlink.net/~us71na/emilyjewel1.jpg

[Todd Crawford]

VERY nice Lee - I'll certainly remember that when I go to buy material tomorrow. Looks really good!

[Rick Prosser]

Gotta watch the young ones...

My sister-in-law was just telling me about how her husband showed their 8 yr old daughter how to use the drill press. Apparently, she (the daughter) understood the training to mean that she was able to use the tool at her pleasure. On Sat, she brought a broken drill bit to her dad to explain what she might have done wrong. The parents had no idea she was out in the shop using the press for a new project she had in mind.:eek: No injuries, but a very thorough explanation of only using tools with parental supervision was presented.:D

[Wes Grass]

Lee:

Yet one more thing on my list of things 'I never would have thought of'. Nice.

[Neil Brooks]

I'm envious. Truly.

Mine (10 y/o) just visited, for Thanksgiving. He wanted to "build stuff" with me :)

But his parents are neurotic, and ... well ... not kind people.



All I could think of was ... what sort of family grenade would erupt, if -- heaven forbid -- he got as much as a splinter.

And since I couldn't be sure I could keep even [i]minor things from happening, in my shop, I chickened out, and had to pass.

It's gotta' be a joy to bring in the next generations of woodworkers :)

[Chris Tsutsui]

It feels good to build something with kids because they really appreciate the small things and they will keep asking for more.

Even something as simple as a star or heart shaped piece of wood on the end of a dowel becomes a magic wand that my nieces can decorate and play with.