Teaching the grandson about using hand tools

[Bob Glenn]

After completing a small wall cabinet, I realized making it used most of the basic hand tool operations. It was then I thought making one with my 30 year old grandson, who has been voicing an interest in woodworking. The first session was measuring and making out a bill of material, then a trip to the lumber yard to buy materials. I've grown up around woodworking all my life and I have just realized how much I take for granted. Even though the grandson has a five year degree from Purdue, he lacks that basic background. As a result, we have spent a lot of time just talking about and looking at wood grain. That started at the lumber yard with wood selection.

The first operation was cross cutting a 1 x6. After scribing a line I showed him how to get a kerf started. Two inches into the cut, he was off the line by an eighth of an inch. He asked what he was doing wrong. I noticed he was lined up all wrong with his shoulder, elbow, wrist and hand out of line with direction of the cut. I asked him to stand where I was standing, then replicated his pose with an explaination of lining everything up correctly. His next cut was spot on.

We then went on to face planng, jointing, using a shoot board and a glue up, making a panel wide enough for the back board. Each new operation he struggled with was fixed by an adjustment of body position. Something we all do, but never think about. I think he's serious, he's been taking notes. After last night's session I warned his wife that I may have created a monster. She asked how so and I told she may not be so happy when the first 350 dollar plane shows up in a LN box!

[ken hatch]

Bob,
.
I’ve started at the other end of the age group. My grandson is four .

Still fun to do, I expect at any age.

ken

[Jim Koepke]

Teaching others in the family is a great way to have someone to take care of our tools after our time.

Mike on Lathe.jpg

So far my one of my grandsons has shown some interest. Hopefully he will be able to help me with a lot of construction type projects this summer. He will be 17 in a couple of weeks.

jtk

[Bob Glenn]

Jim, That's what I was thinking also. At 73 and four years into a battle with cancer, who knows how much longer I'll be using those tools. BTW, I was in the shop today sharpening some planes and flattened the water stones you sent me several years ago. Still working great and will out last me. Thanks again. Bob Glenn

[Jim Koepke]

Jim, That's what I was thinking also. At 73 and four years into a battle with cancer, who knows how much longer I'll be using those tools. BTW, I was in the shop today sharpening some planes and flattened the water stones you sent me several years ago. Still working great and will out last me. Thanks again. Bob Glenn

You are quite welcome and here is hoping you win your battle and get to flatten the water stones for years to come.

jtk

[Bill Houghton]

You've got the oldest shop rat I've heard of yet, but I bet he's glad he's still got you around to teach him. May the two of you have many years in the shop together.

[Bob Glenn]

Thanks for the thoughts. The real shop rats are the three great grand kids, the youngest just a couple months. The two year old boy is choppin at the bit to get out there also. I have to make sure what power tools I have are unplugged. The grandson has already cut himself handling one of the planes. I told him sharp fixes most problems........except for that!

[Frederick Skelly]

Enjoy the quality time Bob! It just doesn't get better than that.
Fred

[Stew Denton]

Hi All,

Our oldest is about 10, and they go down in age from there. Sometimes, when visiting us, they drive small lath nails in a 4X4 in the living room on the carpet, with Grandpa extremely close at hand watching to make sure nothing goes wrong. Ask if Grandma would allow Grandpa to anything like drive nails in a 4X4 in the house, unless doing a remodeling project or repairing something....nope....but with Grandkids it is just fine. (I have a small 8 ounce hammer that is just the right size for them.) Of interest to me is that the 4X4 is a piece of something like white pine, fairly soft, and it already has hundreds of blue lath nails in it...both sets of the grandkids mothers (wife and my own daughters) drove a whole bunch of those blue lath nails in that same 4X4 about 30 years ago. Two of the grandkids are still too small for lath nail driving, but soon all six will have driven nails into that same 4X4. The daughters drove the nails in the 4X4 when they were helping dad work on remodeling the first house the wife and I owned...they were great help....driving nails in the 4X4 that is.....some of the best money I ever spent on nails....they were happy and I was happy.

Last summer I cut out parts for a bird feeder, and one set of grandkids nailed it together in the back yard on my planks and sawhorses. They had to take turns of course and made sure they watched things closely so that they did not miss out on their turn. It took quite a spell to drive a small number of nails....Grandpa helped each one of course, and predrilled a ways into the lumber so that the nails got started in exactly the right direction. Great fun for all I think.

Bob's initial post made me think about things we all take for granted, as Bob pointed out. We don't even think about the way the grain runs, etc., any more. I forgot that the beginners don't know any of that. I should have, because a while back at the lumber yard when picking up some lumber which had to be cut to be able to fit into my vehicle, which meant they they ran the table saw. I was talking to one of the new hands at the lumber yard as he set up to cut the lumber, and I mentioned the way the grain of the lumber ran. He looked at me and asked "what is grain." Now I take a handsaw with me if I think any lumber may have to be cut.

Stew

[Jim Koepke]

I was talking to one of the new hands at the lumber yard as he set up to cut the lumber, and I mentioned the way the grain of the lumber ran. He looked at me and asked "what is grain."

Poor kid, for some reason or the other, his grandpa never showed him the finer points of driving a nail or making a birdhouse.

My grandpas were gone before my time. My father taught me a lot, but he was always a busy man having five sons while running a business with my mother.

My nail driving ability was not very good until a four volume set of Audel's Carpenters and Builders Guide came to me via ebay. The part on driving nails alone was worth the fifteen bucks or so it cost me. Now my nails are seldom bent or crooked.

jtk

[Bill Houghton]

...a while back at the lumber yard when picking up some lumber which had to be cut to be able to fit into my vehicle, which meant they they ran the table saw. I was talking to one of the new hands at the lumber yard as he set up to cut the lumber, and I mentioned the way the grain of the lumber ran. He looked at me and asked "what is grain."

It's what you feed horses, of course. I mean, duh.

[Bob Glenn]

Reminds me of growing up and driving nails in a board. We lived in a new housing addtion where lots of houses were being built. I just grew up playing in the houses in various stages of finish. There was always a pile of cutoffs laying around to be burned after the house was built, so that was my lumber yard for tree forts and go carts. I always had a board that I too drove nails in to. When Dad asked my what I wanted for my birthday, I told him a bag on nails. I still find driving nails extremely satisfying.

I used to be an eighteenth century re-enactor and made windsor chairs at events. As a side line, I developed a bird house that could be fashioned from a single Cedar fence slat. I would precut all the parts and predrill the nail holes and let the little ones at the event make their own bird house while mom or dad or I helped. This included driving about 12 nails for assembly then drilling two mounting holes with a period correct brace with gimel bit installed. I always learned their name while they were working and would call out to all those watching to give Johnny a big round of applause when done. You could just see how proud they were carrying off their first project that they made! Great, great fun for all.

[Stew Denton]

Bob,

Cool idea for the kids at the re-enactments! I have a bird house cut out and setting on my table saw for which ever set of grandkids is here and there is time for them to nail it together. That birdhouse is also made for a single cedar fence slat! (I did plane it smooth before cutting out the parts, however, of course.)

I didn't think about predrilling the nail holes in it however, but that is a great idea.

Stew

[Brian AdamsMS]

One of my first projects with my oldest grandson (he was 5 at the time) was a scrap piece of 2x4 that he wrote his name on in big letters. I predrilled holes along his writing then gave him a box of roofing nails to have at it. It took about 5 minutes of pounding before he would grow bored with it and move on to climbing a tree. The next visit he would pick up where he left off. Once he had outlined all the letters with nails, I cut out that section of the board. We drilled some holes with an old post drill that the kids love to crank the handle on. The holes where used to run some hemp rope through. Now it hangs in my workshop, a proud sign of our first project together. Next week my middle granddaughter will turn 5 and I think I have just the board in mind for hers.

[Jim Koepke]

One of my first projects with my oldest grandson (he was 5 at the time) was a scrap piece of 2x4 that he wrote his name on in big letters. I predrilled holes along his writing then gave him a box of roofing nails to have at it. It took about 5 minutes of pounding before he would grow bored with it and move on to climbing a tree. The next visit he would pick up where he left off. Once he had outlined all the letters with nails, I cut out that section of the board. We drilled some holes with an old post drill that the kids love to crank the handle on. The holes where used to run some hemp rope through. Now it hangs in my workshop, a proud sign of our first project together. Next week my middle granddaughter will turn 5 and I think I have just the board in mind for hers.

That is a great project for the young ones. It reminded me of something done when my son was little. We were growing pumpkins in the back yard that year. An idea came to me to scratch his name into the bottom of a pumpkin while it was still small. The scratch scarred over and when the pumpkin got bigger his name was slightly hidden but visible. He came running in the house one day all excited because a pumpkin in the back yard had his name on it.

If we can get our heirs excited about making things from wood, maybe our shops won't have to go through the auctions or estate sales for at least another generation.

jtk