Young people in the Shop

[wjt]

A couple months ago I read an article written by our local 4-H extension agent. She was looking for people to do half day workshops in a variety of subjects including woodworking. I met with her a week later and with the help of some of my Woodworking Guild friends the event will happen tomorrow.

Work in my shop is usually a solo exercise so this is something new. Too late to back out now. It is all hand tools using parts pre-cut roughly to size. The kids will layout the the final size, cut the parts and assemble the project with nails and glue. The project is a simple pencil box with a sliding lid. We limited the class to four which sounds a little cowardly but given my shop is a two car garage it will be full with a dozen people. (4 students, 4 parents and 4 Guild members).

We have two boys and two girls ages 10, 11 & 12.

A side benefit is that I did clean up the shop a bit.

All power tools are unplugged and will be off limits to everyone.

Bill

[meackerman]

I'm the project leader for our 4H Woodworking project.

Currently have 4 kids, ages 9-14 in the project.  Last meeting they got to use my SCMS and my table saw.  But I was right next to them guiding them the entire way.   i.e. for every cut on the SCMS my hand is also on the saws handle and for the younger kids helping them hold the board.  

for the table saw I built a sled that they use to miter cut the boards.  I made plenty sure where they were standing, where their hands were and I kept my hands on the sled along with there's.  I was actually kind of nervous about the table saw but the sled made it about as easy as it could be.

Ran it last year also, and didn't have any issues.  They do not get to use much in the way of any tools that cut without me standing right there with them.  About the only things I allow them to use relatively unsupervised are marking & measuring tools.

course I remember woodshop in junior high (7-8 grade) where we had the run of the woodshop with little to no supervision from the teacher...once he checked us out on the tools.

[YSU65]

Had the next door neighbor girl, just turned 13, in the shop to build a small A&C table.  I did all the TS stuff.  I had her do things on the BS, OSS,  and drill press close supervision.  I did the jointer.   For the planer, I had her start pieces and I caught them as they finished.  I set up the mortise machine and she did the mortises in the legs.  She did have to clean up the mortises with a chisel and I was very very close when she did this.  Made sure her hands were never in line with the edge.  She flatened the top with a random orbit sander, then with a 1/3 sheet sander.  I had her edge the legs and top with a trim router after instruction and careful control.  Very careful control.  Just about done.  I will post pictures when it is done...Tom

[Wood'N'Scout]

I do a considerable amount of work with young people in my shop.  I had my grandson, @ 6 years old, using the drill press and sanders earlier this week.  I've had multiple 15-18 year old Boy Scout doing their Eagle projects in the shop over the last couple of years.  Some rules are the same and some are different depending on the ages of the workers.

Some rules are always the same independent of age. 
1.  No more than one person can be using machines at the same time. 
2.  Eye and ear protection is mandatory.
3.  Dust collection is mandatory.
4.  Doing something stupid, against my orders, or dangerous is grounds for immediate ejection from the shop.

Some rules change depending on age.
1.  If one of the older scouts checks out as knowing what to do on a machine (tested by me), he is permitted to use that machine as long as he maintains safety standards.
2.  Rule #1 applies to all tools, if the Scout wishes to use that tool.
3.  If a Scout does not wish to use a tool they can suggest an alternative solution, or have me run the machine for them.

[BloomingtonMike]

I have had scouts in for bandsaw and sanding. My girls are in daily. Love kids in the shop. I dont unplug tools with my kids but almost all my big tools have lockouts so if i become more of a teacher they will be used more.

[Bibliophile 13]

What fun!  It can be a little nerve-wracking to have little kids in the shop, but if you're able to relax and gently coach the kids on the process, and if you don't worry too much about the end product, it should be a great experience for everybody.

I wrote up a blog post on this a few years back.  My little kids are a little older now, but they still like to putter with me in the shop.  Sometimes they even make stuff.  My oldest daughter, who's in college, makes spoons alongside me, and she's done some serious casework, too.  She's adopted, so she wasn't in the shop as a kid, but once she joined our family, she picked it up quickly.  

I wish you the best as you introduce kids to one of the best hobbies in the world.

[wjt]

Class report - Pencil Box build

We had 5 Guild members so had a 1:1 ratio of student to instructor + an extra hand when needed. All the parents assisted but let the kids do the work. Each of the kids went home with a completed project. One concern was from a young lady who said she needed some way to lock her pencil box as she has an older brother. Being all guys we failed to grasp the significance of this design fault.

After an introduction to the the tools we would be using I asked if they knew how to read a ruler. All the kids raised their hand. I took a ruler and a combination square to each work station and asked them to locate different measurements. I was pleasantly surprised when each one of them performed the task quickly and accurately.

When we planned this class I thought we might have a lot of extra time but three hours was just right. The kids started off shyly (they were surrounded by a bunch of old guys they had never met and were in an unfamiliar environment) but they grew more confident as the day went on. They were an attentive and courteous group which made the time go by quickly.

I was working with a young lady and showing her how to make a cut with a shop made miter box. One of our members had brought his ryoba saw which she chose to use. She started to make the cut and it seemed to be taking a long time which I laid to her lack of experience. After several minutes she finally cut through the 3/4" pine. At this point the owner of the saw came over and pointed out the fine and coarse tooth count on the saw. The young lady suggested to me that it may go faster if she used the coarse teeth. I slunk off in the corner after mumbling something incoherent. She let me come back and assist her as best I could.

One young man had been deer hunting with his Dad in the morning and came to the workshop but was clear that he would rather be in the woods. When he left he had a big smile as he showed us his completed project and said he had a good time.

Except for one cut with the tablesaw which I made (cutting the hardboard lid to final width) everything was accomplished with hand tools. I did not intend for the responses to focus on the use of power tools we simply chose not to use them for this class. Kudos to those who use them with kids.

We were told - not asked - that we will do this again. I already have parts ready for another class. This time a small bench.

One thing I would do is provide better lighting. It was okay but my lights are over my work areas and we spread the kids around in my two car garage and some of the benches were not as well lit as others. They did just fine and didn't complain. This was more apparent to my old eyeballs.

All in all a successful day in the shop.

Thanks for your responses.

Bill

[BloomingtonMike]

Great job and story Bill. Great on you. People have asked me why the entire new shed is as bright as I have done or why so many outlets. It is because of exactly what you experienced. I am not making one shop, I am making a dozen small shops each with its own theme!

For you - this was last night.