Tool Ideas for 10 year old Boy

[bennybmn]

My dad told me when he was a kid his dad gave him a round stump of wood and a box of 10 penny nails and said have at it. A few boxes of nails and some months later the face of that stump was pretty much all metal nail heads. So Pop Pop flipped the stump over


My dad is pushing 70 now, and can fines a nail in with the best of them. Muscle memory is amazing...

I've started a small collection of kid friendly tools for my son (he's only two, all of his "tools" are plastic at this point), so I'll keep my eye on this thread. So far I have an egg beater and a short-throw brace. I'll happily give him my standard block plane and a back saw when he's old enough! Great suggestions. I also have an old small socket set, plenty of spare screw drivers, pliers, that sort of thing.

Someone mentioned layout tools, I think that's great, and layout is such a fundamental part of every project, I think it's important to emphasize it early so it doesn't get perceived as the "boring" part. I know that's how I felt about sanding when I was a kid...

[hbmcc]

A shovel, and the back yard to dig in. An enterprising parent can direct this endless energy to productive purposes--a new basement, septic drain field, garden and a great way to clean up fall leaves.

A hammer, a pile of scrap wood, and a ton of nails. (I hit the nail better then than now.) One of Rob Lee's cans of scrap nails is perfect. We recycled, several times. Then, roasted weenies when the scrap wood was beyond use. I remember sifting the ashes with a magnet.

I got a small panel saw when I was 5; I know because Dad used a wood burning set to mark my name, and date. I still call them kid saws.

Gloves and a tough pair of boots. "Work clothes". (This is a concession to adult understanding. We didn't run to the doctor over such "little" things. Good habits learned early.) 

A retrospective observation: Smashed fingers, broken toes, and rusty nails in feet are trophies. At 10, I was camping, fishing, and hunting for rattlesnakes--with friends my age. Television puts every child at a disadvantage because the most coddled-protected determines what all are shown to be capable of doing. And, studios are buildings. I was eleven when we got our first TV.

[Strokes77]

There is no doubt my 6 year old is already on to me... The cherry or bubinga handles work way better than the ones i tried to give him.  Good thing planes are made from iron that doesn't shatter nowadays... I can't get my LN Boggs spokeshave back from him...

As an aside, teach them proper workholding. Other day he was using an eggbeater with a brad point bit.  He was drilling into a piece and using his feet as the "vice"... well the workpiece tipped over and he stabbed the brad point bit in the webbing between his toes... Ouch.

After he calmed down he asked me if that's why we have rule #2, always hold your work in the vise...

[Steve N]

I would let the tools be dictated by what he would like to make.  A tool box to hold his tools might be perfect, but he can keep them in a shoebox.  
Steve

I had a shoebox for 2 years, then I graduated to a bigger, heavier cardboard box for several more. It wasn't until I actually needed to bring tools from home to work, that I actually got a metal and LOCKABLE box. I never got a new tool until I needed it for a project, and then only after I had passed either my Dad's or Uncle's tutelage, and inspection. Then after a while I was earning my own $$$$$$$ and went CrAzY

[Dave Diaman]

I started both my boys when they were 4 with a cheap Japanese saw, a 12v Dewalt cordless drill and a small hammer. They cut up all my wood scraps to start until they were proficient at sawing. With the hammer I would draw patterns on wood with dots and start a small hole on each dot. From there they would hammer in 16 gauge nails to make a picture with nails. I think everyone in my family and extended family has a board with their name written in nails. With the drill I just let them drill holes. Eventually they started pounding in dowels and cutting them off with their saws. Now my boys are 6 and 7. They both have a small tool set of their own now which they care for meticulously. They are also pretty good at using them. Both my boys can cut dovetails better than most of the students I teach.

[Skip J.]

.............. Now my boys are 6 and 7. They both have a small tool set of their own now which they care for meticulously. They are also pretty good at using them. Both my boys can cut dovetails better than most of the students I teach.

Those are some pretty good boys for that age there..... looks like a good future ahead...