I have a soon to be 7 yr old son that loves woodworking. To date it's mostly just drilling holes with a MF No 3 I restored for him and sawing with the Veritas Dovetail and Small Carcass saws I bought for him and his older brother. He's also done some work with my rasps and chisels (with close supervision). I bought a Stanley No 3 and put a Veritas chipbreaker and blade on it, but it seems too big. It could be I don't have a bench his size, but the No 3 seems too big (he's small). He uses my saw bench clamped to one of my benches for most of his work.
I'll be moving back to the states next summer, so I don't want to build a bench right now. Would I be wasting money on a No 1 or 2 since they would have to be new due to the vintage market (Lie Nielsen is my preferred, but a lot of money)? His soon to be 5 yr old sister also loves woodworking, so it would get some more use in the future. Should I just wait until next summer or find another option? I don't want him to lose interest.
I guess another option is let him use my block planes and/or specialty planes (plow plane, edge plane, etc.).
Opinions from those of you with young kids/grandkids would be great, but any are welcome.
thanks,
Rob