Encouraging budding w'workers

[Fred Voorhees]

Had the better halfs family up today for a Christmas/holidays dinner. Each time they are up, which is maybe every third season or so, I try to entertain my two nephews in the shop with a simple little woodworking project. Last time it was birdhouses. This time it was toolboxes. I think next time it might step up a notch and go for a simple whirligig type thingy.

[Bruce Shiverdecker]

That IS NEAT!!!!! Keep up the good work! When they get our age they will still remember where they learned the skills.

Bruce

[Dennis Peacock]

Most excellent Fred!!!! It's wonderful seeing various ww'ers take time to teach something about ww'ing to those much younger. Congrats on a lesson well taught.

[Matt Newton]

How old are your nephews? I want to get my son into ww. Do you have all the pieces cut out and they just assemble or do you have them go from scratch? Any advice would be appreciated.

[Jim Becker]

They build really nice ones, Fred!

[Fred Voorhees]

How old are your nephews? I want to get my son into ww. Do you have all the pieces cut out and they just assemble or do you have them go from scratch? Any advice would be appreciated.

You know, I'm embarrassed to say, but I'm not exactly sure how old they are. Billy, the older of the two is 11 I beleive and Shawn the younger is 8 or 9. Had it in "kit" form with everything cut to size, sanded and rabbited ready to simply glue and nail. The birdhouse project showed me that they didn't take to the hammering so well. This time, I held the PC nail gun with 5/8th brads and they pressed the trigger. They got a kick out of that. MORE POWER!!!!

[Roy Wall]

Fred -

That is just ROCKIN COOL!!!!!!!!!! Love it! The only WWer in my family was an Uncle........it kept me in the game til I had a chance to get serious!

[Teri McCarter]

My soon to be 5 year old son always has his own agenda when I go to the shop. For Christmas, we bought him his own toolbox and real tools, since ours kept disappearing. For the past 2 months he has been taking scrap pieces of trim and cutting them with a miter box. He would get a few cut and then try to nail them together and get frustrated (I end up finishing with the brad nailer). He says he is working on a rocket ship.

On Christmas day, father and son made kid sized saw horses from the metal brackets that Santa brought.

His first project with the new tools and saw horses was a plant stand for my mother. He sawed 3 2x4 legs and nailed them(himself) to a piece of plywood and painted it purple.

Like I said, he keeps me so busy making sure he doesn't cut off a finger that I don't get anything done .

Teri (Proud Mom)

[Fred Voorhees]

................he keeps me so busy making sure he doesn't cut off a finger that I don't get anything done .

Teri (Proud Mom)

Heck, you won't have to keep an eye on him forever. Once that is over and done with, it will be well worth it to have a hobby that you can both share.

[Don Bullock]

Super idea. Hopefully someone will buy them some tools for the boxes for their birthdays.

[Ted Miller]

Fred, That is great, this thread brings back some great memories. Some of my first workings with wood were helping my dad build his tools boxes since he was a contractor and had many of them...

[John Timberlake]

Terrific job. I was never able to get my sons interested in woodworking until they moved away - way away. Now they ask questions. Not many are getting it in school these days, so you are doing them a great favor and building a lasting relationship.

[john dennis]

When my son was five I gave him a real hammer, saw, pliers, ruler, nails, lots of nails...
When he started kindergarten, he made a car in school that the was so well done that his teacher sent a note home praising his work.
Now he's a super for a const. company, and makes furniture at home in his spare time.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Way to go Uncle Fred! They'll remember where and when they learned the skills.