A Pleasant Problem

[Caspar Hauser]

If you were tasked with assembling a kit of hand tools for an earnest eleven year old what would you include?

He is about half way through building his bench (laminated spruce with housed splayed legs, to have a leg vice) about 20" by about 60" and is doing quite nicely.

I would like to supply a list of suggested tools for him. I have a fair idea of what to include but thought I'd ask here as I'm not sure that I wouldn't end up with a curtailed version of my own 'wish list'. I want to keep it simple so as not to confuse by choice, but to be actually useful, he already has a small set of Ashley Iles American pattern chisels. With the possible exception of saws I was thinking that everything would go into a Japanese style tool box which may well be his next job after the bench.

Cheers

CH

[george wilson]

He sounds exceptional. DO teach him chisel safety,to keep both hands BEHIND the chisel. Chisels are the most dangerous tools. It is easy to stick one right through a hand,severing nerves and causing permanent damage.

The big thing about kids is they can be impatient,and forget safety rules,so be careful with him.

[Caspar Hauser]

Thanks George, I have been quite careful in showing him how to use each tool as he comes to it, with correction as required. The challenge is to instill safe practice without frightening him, so far so good. I don't know about exceptional as I have no yard stick, but he does seem to be able to focus quite intently and doesn't shy away from work, he flattened the bench top with minimal assistance.

As for tools I was thinking along the lines of an egg beater drill and assorted bits, try square and spearpoint knife, adjustable bevel, a low angle block plane and a number 4 or 5?, a small tenon saw, coping saw and perhaps a panel saw or two, various screwdrivers, a warrington pattern hammer, we shall be making a mallet, pincers, sanding block. As for sharpening I'm thinking a dual grit (blue and red) diamond stone for simplicity.

What ought to be added or removed?

[george wilson]

Flattening the bench top mostly by himself seems pretty good!!

It is startling,though,what children learned to do 200 years ago. We expect very little of them today,compared to when they were considered another source of income for the average poor family. Those beautifully pierced round spring covers found in very old pocket watches were done by children. There are many beautifully done smaller objects found in old antiques that were actually done by children.

Dickens was put to work bottling black boot polish as a young boy. It marred him for the rest of his life.

The long clay pipes used in Colonial times had LONNNNNNG pipe stems that were pierced BY CHILDREN with long,thin wires AFTER they were molded SOLID. When the clay got "leather hard" children actually pushed these wires clear through those pipe stems. Today,repros are made by casting their stems around wires. Probably,back then,they saved the cost of all those extra wires,by making kids do it with a wire.

Children also put straight pins on paper cards by hand. They did a huge number of pins in a day. I forget how many pins they were expected to mount,but it was in the 5 figures. There is a contemporary description of pin making by Adams(or Adam),that describes the manufacture of dressmaker's pins .

[Terry Beadle]

I would recommend a ryobi saw or a dozuki. They are very flexible and will let him do stock prep. If he has to do manual ripping then a bow saw project would be cheap and a great help.

He needs a couple kanna. I would recommend him making his own jointer out of a Hock blade. He needs a LA block plane. He needs a good machinist square, preferrably one about 6 inches and one about 3 ~ 4. He should make his own marking blades and marking gauges.

He will need access to some water stones or other sharpening setup.

One of those barrel shaped hammers is very useful and a small plane adjusting hammer can be made by him out of rock maple or other tight grained hardwood.

That should get him out of the chute quite a ways. He'll be able to size and square stock. Plane to square both long and end grain. He'll be able to make dovetails and mortise/tenons as well as dado's and butt joints.

The only other major tool are clamps and plenty of them. He can make those himself but it would be better to have a few 12 inch Jorgenson like to get started.

Have him make his own twist sticks and bench accessories ( bench hook, shooting board etc. ).

It will be a real pleasure for you to help and walk him through adding all these arrows to his quiver.

Take care and enjoy the process !

[Caspar Hauser]

Thanks Terry, I was adding to my post when you replied, the bowsaw is a splendid idea. I'm not sure that he is ready for planemaking quite yet though when his feet are more firmly set on the path I can see it.

[Steve Branam]

This is great! You should post photos that show him doing real stuff. Adults aren't the only ones who think kids can't do this. Other kids need to see it as well to get over the preconception that it's not for them. They'll get more encouraged seeing another kid like them doing it than some adult telling them they can. You hear them say things like "There were kids doing that? I want to try it!".

[Jim Koepke]

Maybe it would be helpful to look at what he wants to build and see what tools will be needed.

If he flattened the bench top by himself, he must have access to some planes. Filling in toward a set of planes would be one thought. Every wood worker can use a good low angle block plane.

A good brace and a set of bits could be useful.

Try squares and bevel gauges are always useful.

I like my folding rulers. Funny how measuring with a little less attention to accuracy can actually make things go together better. Less thinking about actual numbers and fractions and more about better cutting maybe.

jtk

[bob blakeborough]

Flattening the bench top mostly by himself seems pretty good!!

It is startling,though,what children learned to do 200 years ago. We expect very little of them today,compared to when they were considered another source of income for the average poor family. Those beautifully pierced round spring covers found in very old pocket watches were done by children. There are many beautifully done smaller objects found in old antiques that were actually done by children.

Dickens was put to work bottling black boot polish as a young boy. It marred him for the rest of his life.

The long clay pipes used in Colonial times had LONNNNNNG pipe stems that were pierced BY CHILDREN with long,thin wires AFTER they were molded SOLID. When the clay got "leather hard" children actually pushed these wires clear through those pipe stems. Today,repros are made by casting their stems around wires. Probably,back then,they saved the cost of all those extra wires,by making kids do it with a wire.

Children also put straight pins on paper cards by hand. They did a huge number of pins in a day. I forget how many pins they were expected to mount,but it was in the 5 figures. There is a contemporary description of pin making by Adams(or Adam),that describes the manufacture of dressmaker's pins .

You are absolutely bang on George...

I would even suggest that it is not "children today" who specifically have very little expected of them, but more our North American children (and European to a large extent)...

Children all over the world are forced by necessity, and often the greed of others, to work harder than most North American adults do even today. By no means am I a proponent of child labour, but I definitely think children today are very capable, and would be better off, to start learning some skills and crafts at a younger age than we seem to have come to expect of them. Sparking both creative and practical interests can only be beneficial to all of us.

[Caspar Hauser]

He has the use of my tools (under supervision of course) for the time being and is using them to make his bench. He is making it from spruce for a number of reasons, ready availability, and importantly, ease of working. I have a small unsophisticated spruce bench which I can manhandle on and off the truck, he is echoing it. Being of spruce flattening the top wasn't too hard a task, I'm trying to balance effort, complexity and result, he is stretching himself a little with the bench but when it is complete he will use it to make his next thing, either a japanese tool box (I'd like one too, configured as a portable plane till) or a mallet, something smaller more contained than the bench, bench furniture and so on will follow. I'd also like him to make something useful for the house, a simple box for kindling or suchlike that will please his parents, any ideas?

[Trevor Walsh]

I'd suggest maybe a #3 over a #4 or maybe a junior jack with straight and cambered irons (#5 1/4) for the smaller size.