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#1 ·
Turn for the Troops

As I was tied up at a Craft Fair yesterday my wife and daughter went to the turn for the troops event at the local Woodcraft. They both turned a pen and added it to the package to be shipped. I am proud of both of, most especially my daughter.

Gesture Engineering Event Cooking Machine


She is now 7 and has done this event a number of times now. She is getting better on the lathe every time she uses it. Unfortunately there was no picture of the final pens this year. We have plans for a number of turned gifts for her teachers and some friends this year and I am looking forward to getting into the shop with her in the next few weeks to start on them. Be on the look out for them to be posted.

CtL
 

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#2 ·
Turn for the Troops

As I was tied up at a Craft Fair yesterday my wife and daughter went to the turn for the troops event at the local Woodcraft. They both turned a pen and added it to the package to be shipped. I am proud of both of, most especially my daughter.

Gesture Engineering Event Cooking Machine


She is now 7 and has done this event a number of times now. She is getting better on the lathe every time she uses it. Unfortunately there was no picture of the final pens this year. We have plans for a number of turned gifts for her teachers and some friends this year and I am looking forward to getting into the shop with her in the next few weeks to start on them. Be on the look out for them to be posted.

CtL
Awesome post!

Always a nice bonding experience with the kids…mine were never interested in woodworking, but I had more than my share of bonding through sports and other activities. Also, great to pass on the experience of hard learned lessons to the next generation of artists and enthusiasts.
 

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#3 ·
Turn for the Troops

As I was tied up at a Craft Fair yesterday my wife and daughter went to the turn for the troops event at the local Woodcraft. They both turned a pen and added it to the package to be shipped. I am proud of both of, most especially my daughter.

Gesture Engineering Event Cooking Machine


She is now 7 and has done this event a number of times now. She is getting better on the lathe every time she uses it. Unfortunately there was no picture of the final pens this year. We have plans for a number of turned gifts for her teachers and some friends this year and I am looking forward to getting into the shop with her in the next few weeks to start on them. Be on the look out for them to be posted.

CtL
I'll bet your daughter never heard of the expression "Paying It Forward"... but she sure is LEARNING to just that! Blessings to all of you for your good deeds!
 

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#4 ·
Turn for the Troops

As I was tied up at a Craft Fair yesterday my wife and daughter went to the turn for the troops event at the local Woodcraft. They both turned a pen and added it to the package to be shipped. I am proud of both of, most especially my daughter.



She is now 7 and has done this event a number of times now. She is getting better on the lathe every time she uses it. Unfortunately there was no picture of the final pens this year. We have plans for a number of turned gifts for her teachers and some friends this year and I am looking forward to getting into the shop with her in the next few weeks to start on them. Be on the look out for them to be posted.

CtL
Total envy. Never had any kids. Would have loved it.
 

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#5 ·
Turn for the Troops

As I was tied up at a Craft Fair yesterday my wife and daughter went to the turn for the troops event at the local Woodcraft. They both turned a pen and added it to the package to be shipped. I am proud of both of, most especially my daughter.

Gesture Engineering Event Cooking Machine


She is now 7 and has done this event a number of times now. She is getting better on the lathe every time she uses it. Unfortunately there was no picture of the final pens this year. We have plans for a number of turned gifts for her teachers and some friends this year and I am looking forward to getting into the shop with her in the next few weeks to start on them. Be on the look out for them to be posted.

CtL
I only wish I could share that experience. My kids, grown now, love what I do in the shop, but never had interest to learn.
 

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#6 ·
Tis the Season 1

Well it is that time of year again and my daughter is back in the shop with me to turn Christmas gifts for her teachers and a few family members this year.

Textile Table Wood Artisan Creative arts


She has I think a total of 8 projects that she wants to make this year. We started on Friday making pens for her teacher and 1 of her Girl Scout leaders who teaches at the same school so they each get school color Lanyard pens.

Engineering Gas Artisan Toolroom Science


Metalworking Automotive tire Bumper Motor vehicle Gas


I am so proud of the progress she has been making. I am still doing an initial start on the blank to knock the edges off, then she is turning it round and getting it very close to the bushings, I have been coming in to get it to the final spot, though I am thinking by the time we are done this year she will be taking it all the way down. We had a good discussion about the A,B,Cs of turning and she was repeating them each time she started the lathe.

We will finish the assembly of these two later this week when we work on some other projects. She has also asked to make an ornament for the ornament swap. So she and I will both be working on our ornaments. :) So more to come before the holidays.

CtL
 

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#7 ·
Tis the Season 1

Well it is that time of year again and my daughter is back in the shop with me to turn Christmas gifts for her teachers and a few family members this year.

Textile Table Wood Artisan Creative arts


She has I think a total of 8 projects that she wants to make this year. We started on Friday making pens for her teacher and 1 of her Girl Scout leaders who teaches at the same school so they each get school color Lanyard pens.

Engineering Gas Artisan Toolroom Science


Metalworking Automotive tire Bumper Motor vehicle Gas


I am so proud of the progress she has been making. I am still doing an initial start on the blank to knock the edges off, then she is turning it round and getting it very close to the bushings, I have been coming in to get it to the final spot, though I am thinking by the time we are done this year she will be taking it all the way down. We had a good discussion about the A,B,Cs of turning and she was repeating them each time she started the lathe.

We will finish the assembly of these two later this week when we work on some other projects. She has also asked to make an ornament for the ornament swap. So she and I will both be working on our ornaments. :) So more to come before the holidays.

CtL
Very cool. I wish I could have worked with my kids.
 

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#13 ·
Tis the Season 2- Quick Pen

So Thursday night my DW reminded me that my daughter's last CCD class before Christmas was Saturday morning. The problem was I was not home Thursday, had to work on Friday evening. So Friday night when I got home I got a blank drilled out and glued up. First thing Saturday morning we got up and started in on a pen.

Art Engineering Fashion design Table Artisan


Sophia did a portion of the roughing on this one but since we were a bit behind the eight ball I helped her get it to final shape. Also there was the issue that I had no idea how this wood would perform. The blank decided upon was from a recent purchase of Olive Wood. First time I have ever used it.

Artisan Engineering Wood Art Fashion design


Sophia then did all the sanding and polishing,

Table Wood Desk Engineering Art


and of course the assembly.

Smile T-shirt Engineering Eyewear Shelf


The pen came out great, she chose a fun clip for it. We packaged it up with the certificate that came with the blank and a postcard with pictures of her making it and had time to spare.

We will be back in the shop today with a number of projects and looking forward to it.

CtL
 

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#14 ·
Tis the Season 2- Quick Pen

So Thursday night my DW reminded me that my daughter's last CCD class before Christmas was Saturday morning. The problem was I was not home Thursday, had to work on Friday evening. So Friday night when I got home I got a blank drilled out and glued up. First thing Saturday morning we got up and started in on a pen.

Art Engineering Fashion design Table Artisan


Sophia did a portion of the roughing on this one but since we were a bit behind the eight ball I helped her get it to final shape. Also there was the issue that I had no idea how this wood would perform. The blank decided upon was from a recent purchase of Olive Wood. First time I have ever used it.

Artisan Engineering Wood Art Fashion design


Sophia then did all the sanding and polishing,

Table Wood Desk Engineering Art


and of course the assembly.

Smile T-shirt Engineering Eyewear Shelf


The pen came out great, she chose a fun clip for it. We packaged it up with the certificate that came with the blank and a postcard with pictures of her making it and had time to spare.

We will be back in the shop today with a number of projects and looking forward to it.

CtL
Chris, great to see you continue to keep your daughter involved. I hope to work with mine today and get a shaver done for grandpa.

cheers, johnl
 

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#18 ·
Tis the Season #3

Well Sophia had a number of Christmas Presents to finish this year on the lathe. She finished her last 2 up today. She is getting very good at the lathe and I am quite happy and thrilled with how she is doing. We have been going over the ABC's



I will post her projects in a Project post. She did much of the work on all of them this year. I am still assisting with wiping the projects off with a bit of mineral spirits and also some of the fine tuning. But she will be there soon.

Artisan Engineering Machine Loom Luggage and bags


My hope is to get my new lathe set up in the 2 to 3 weeks and once I get familiar with it to get her working on it at least once a month or so this year so there is not a huge gap between when she is using it. This will all of course depend on how busy we are. But time at home and together is one of our goals for this year.

Thanks all for looking.

CtL
 

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#19 ·
Tis the Season #3

Well Sophia had a number of Christmas Presents to finish this year on the lathe. She finished her last 2 up today. She is getting very good at the lathe and I am quite happy and thrilled with how she is doing. We have been going over the ABC's

Saw Tool Engineering Power tool Artisan


I will post her projects in a Project post. She did much of the work on all of them this year. I am still assisting with wiping the projects off with a bit of mineral spirits and also some of the fine tuning. But she will be there soon.

Artisan Engineering Machine Loom Luggage and bags


My hope is to get my new lathe set up in the 2 to 3 weeks and once I get familiar with it to get her working on it at least once a month or so this year so there is not a huge gap between when she is using it. This will all of course depend on how busy we are. But time at home and together is one of our goals for this year.

Thanks all for looking.

CtL
Nice that you got your little girl into turning, it's a lot of fun.

6 words- Full Face Shield, Dust Inhalation Protection.
 

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#24 ·
11 Months in the Shop Together- The beginning

Ok so as some of you already know my daughter enjoys working in the shop either with me and more and more on her own with little projects. I of course encourage here to do this for many reasons besides just spending time with me. It is helping her to learn problem solving skills, learn math skills, and learn physical skills as well that are helping her to use her hands more and get a bit more strength in them as well as improve motor skills.

Between the two of us we have decided to do (at the minimum) a monthly blog about her adventures in the shop. My goal is to work with her at least once month on a project for her or her shop space and teach her a new skill that she can use going forward. She seems to be very excited about this idea and we have already talked about a few projects ideas. May be starting with a new tool rack for her workbench area. I am still going to encourage her to come in the shop when I am working and work on her own projects. I will be posting one of them a little later on today, once she is finished painting it.

I am by no means an expert when it comes to kids in the shop, I am father that loves the fact my daughter is willing to learn and do. I learned many of my skills from my Grandfather and then on my own. The first goal is Safety! She already knows the rules of the shop having been working in it for several years now.

1. Shoes always on (she keeps a pair of Crocs by the shop in order to observe this rule, I am fine with them in the shop as they do protect the top and bottom of her feet)
2. Safety Glasses always on, especially if there is a tool in your hand.
3. Do not touch the tools you do not know anything about.
4. Ask for help if you are unsure about something. If you do not feel comfortable doing it then Don't
5. Have fun!


These are the rules that we have discussed many times. Please let me know if you have a set of rules for when your kids are in the shop with you as well. I would be happy to add to my list any good ideas.

I hope some of you out there will find some good information in our upcoming posts. I will post one additional part to this today which will serve as a little recap and history as to how we got to this point.

Thanks, All I am looking forward to the time we will spending together and sharing some of that with others here.

CtL
 
#25 ·
First of all let me say what you are doing is great. Sharing time together and teaching fundamentals of building things is priceless. My kids, now adults, spent very little time with me doing woodworking. The one thing I did teach them when working with any power tool was not to extend their body for a longer reach. Hope that helps a little.
 
#29 ·
11 Months in the Shop Together- History

A little bit of history regarding my daughter's time in the shop. Some of you may have already seen a lot of this but I wanted to gather it up a bit and use it to start the new blog series as it kind of shows how we got to this point.

For starters, my daughter is currently 7 year's old. She has been working with me in the shop since she was 3.



She helped with little things of course like putting screws in and of course some hammering. Before anyone says something, I know she was not observing a rule here, it is very hard to find safety glasses that fit and stay on a 3 year old. That being said I have since found some that are sized for a child's face. Right now she is using a pair of goggles.

With some excellent help and patience she turned her first pen at the age of 4 during a "Turn for the Troops" event.



She was super excited about it and has now turned at least one project every year for her teacher's holiday gifts. She is getting better at the lathe each time she steps up to it, and is now learning to use the new smaller lathe. We will certainly be including some lathe time in this blog.

If there are kids based woodworking classes in your area and your kids are at all interested, try to get them involved. My daughter took one over a summer for about 5 weeks and the class was great to teach her little things that I did not. Another option is the kids' project weekends at the big box stores. They have some fun projects and they are a great starting point.



If at all possible I highly suggest making a spot for your child to work in the shop that is just theirs. I gave my daughter her own workbench and space about 2 years ago.



This is great as it is her space to work. I try very hard not to pile stuff on it. She tends to but that is another story and something we are both working on.  I know in some cases there is barely enough room for you to work but even if you can build something portable for them to use it will give a great feeling of ownership. I also keep a large box of scraps from various projects by her workbench, these are the pieces she can use to do anything she wants. She has taken and painted some, drilled holes and written on them creating signs. All kinds of things, things that just might do nothing more than make you smile because you know who made it.

If you look at my projects for the past few years you will see a number of projects that we have worked on together. I will plan to be posting more of those in the next few months as we continue this blog series. Please feel free to comment and pass on ideas that you have done with the kids or would like to know more about. As I stated earlier I am no expert, but I am willing to look into it.

Thanks All!

CtL
 
#30 ·
Thanks for a Nice post, i hope you inspire more parents to bring their kids to the workshop. I started at 3 years myself, and in the periods when i have worked as a teatcher for kids, i see so clearly that the kids today miss out on a lott of knowledge because they dont have that practical experience in their lifes naturaly anymore. So a big thumbs up, if you ever travel in Norway contact me and il give Your daughter and you some free classes in woodcarving if you pass by.

I remember something my grandfather teatched me when i was a kid.I wanted to make cristmaspresants myself, and was little and out of ideas. So then my grandfather found some old wraping paper, you know the ones With big mothifs on them, be it cristmas or other themes. And he glued it on a finerplate. hmm im unsure of the English Word. a thin laminated woodplate of ca 3-4 mm thickness With the print on the front, then he took a pencil and drew criss crossing, wawing patterns, and i cutt it up on the bandsaw, or you can use a leaf saw, i was a bit early on using the bigger machines than what i would Call safe by todays standards :) They had to build me a Chair With stepps because i dint reatch up to the badsaw-table :) Anyway, when you have cut it up you have a Nice but easy to make jigsaw Puzzle that i remember i was pretty proud of giving away when i was a little kid.

He also made me a micey mouse figure out of the same type of thin plates, and if you put it on a slope it would walk by itself, i have to see if i cant find the drawings for that one again.

Live well, and enjoy Your time With Your daughter in the workshop.
 
#33 ·
Real simple= Real Happy

Well it was just another snow day here. I am sure a lot of you are familiar with those this winter. While I was working on a few things in the shop my daughter decided she wanted to do something as well. She is a big fan of the Doc McStuffins cartoons and decided she needs to have a clinic as well. For those of you not familiar it is on Disney Jr. and the character takes care of toys in her clinic in the backyard. Since my daughter's yard is more in the basement she decided to turn her playhouse into the clinic and she needed a sign to let toys know if she is working.

Wood Paint Floor Flooring Art


She is still working on actually writing in paint. But she did everything herself except for putting the string on as she could not get it through the holes she had drilled. She uses an eggbeater style drill with about 5 different bits.

Standing Shelf Child Retail Shopping


Shelf Toddler Table Child Shelving


The sign of course is two sided to either read "The Doc is in" or The Doc is out" She also decided she needed to glue some other pieces up in order to make a stage for her dollhouse family to have a show. I love that she just grabs scraps and comes up with ideas for them and I am trying to encourage more and more to come up with her own ideas and work on them, the sign was on of these.

I will have our monthly project coming in a few weeks.

CtL
 

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#34 ·
Real simple= Real Happy

Well it was just another snow day here. I am sure a lot of you are familiar with those this winter. While I was working on a few things in the shop my daughter decided she wanted to do something as well. She is a big fan of the Doc McStuffins cartoons and decided she needs to have a clinic as well. For those of you not familiar it is on Disney Jr. and the character takes care of toys in her clinic in the backyard. Since my daughter's yard is more in the basement she decided to turn her playhouse into the clinic and she needed a sign to let toys know if she is working.

Wood Paint Floor Flooring Art


She is still working on actually writing in paint. But she did everything herself except for putting the string on as she could not get it through the holes she had drilled. She uses an eggbeater style drill with about 5 different bits.

Standing Shelf Child Retail Shopping


Shelf Toddler Table Child Shelving


The sign of course is two sided to either read "The Doc is in" or The Doc is out" She also decided she needed to glue some other pieces up in order to make a stage for her dollhouse family to have a show. I love that she just grabs scraps and comes up with ideas for them and I am trying to encourage more and more to come up with her own ideas and work on them, the sign was on of these.

I will have our monthly project coming in a few weeks.

CtL
I consider you one of the luckiest LJs here. I will always wish I could spend time together with kids. Keep marching on.
 

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#42 ·
11 Months in the Shop Together- March

Well it has been a productive month in the shop for my daughter. She has tackled some pieces for her dollhouse that she wanted to make on her own. The first was a small easy chair and yesterday we worked on two beds.

The chair was her idea and came straight from the scrap bin, at this point the miter box is the easiest way for her to work on cutting the scraps she has been using and she is happy to be using it, just working on those muscles. :)

Yellow Workwear Engineering Wood Shelf


The chair consisted of just two pieces of wood she cut down and then glued together,

Wood Engineering Art Office supplies Bookcase


Nothing really special but a great learning experience, for her to be more confident with the saw.

I received a new book the other day. Woodshop for Kids by Jack Mckee which gives some great information about getting kids in the workshop and what they need to be encouraged and succeed. It also has 52 different projects that can be completed by all age groups from preschool to teens. Sophia and I sat one night at reading time and went through the the book to look it over. She immediately saw a number of projects she would like to try, dollhouse furniture was of course one of them.

So yesterday we tackled some beds, another scrap one and a bunk made from craft sticks. First issue was making sure grandma cat will fit in her new bed…

Table Wood Engineering Recreation Chair


We then decided to that it would hep to have a place to make plans… so a notebook for her was created

Wood Table Office supplies Shipping box Flooring


I see this as a good step to encourage kids to write down or draw their ideas as well as work on measurements.

then on to cutting…

Building sets Wood Toy block Engineering Shelf


The book encourages you to use hot glue for doing a number of the projects, which we tried yesterday still not a huge fan of this type of glue for joinery so we have decided if we are in the shop we will be using regular glue and giving it a bit of time to dry.

The bed turned out pretty nice, especially with the Zebrawood head and footboard.

Furniture Comfort Wood Window Couch


The second bed was created from craft sticks for the time being, I have the feeling we will be tackling another one with scrap wood.

Wood Flooring Art Shipping box Artist


Notice the paperclip clamps, these worked quite well. Craft sticks are a great way to introduce kids to building projects. My daughter has built a number of things with them.

We have a new lathe project to work on later on today and looking forward to it.

Hope you all have a good day in and out of the shop and maybe get some time to work with that child in your life.

CtL
 

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#43 ·
11 Months in the Shop Together- March

Well it has been a productive month in the shop for my daughter. She has tackled some pieces for her dollhouse that she wanted to make on her own. The first was a small easy chair and yesterday we worked on two beds.

The chair was her idea and came straight from the scrap bin, at this point the miter box is the easiest way for her to work on cutting the scraps she has been using and she is happy to be using it, just working on those muscles. :)

Yellow Workwear Engineering Wood Shelf


The chair consisted of just two pieces of wood she cut down and then glued together,

Wood Engineering Art Office supplies Bookcase


Nothing really special but a great learning experience, for her to be more confident with the saw.

I received a new book the other day. Woodshop for Kids by Jack Mckee which gives some great information about getting kids in the workshop and what they need to be encouraged and succeed. It also has 52 different projects that can be completed by all age groups from preschool to teens. Sophia and I sat one night at reading time and went through the the book to look it over. She immediately saw a number of projects she would like to try, dollhouse furniture was of course one of them.

So yesterday we tackled some beds, another scrap one and a bunk made from craft sticks. First issue was making sure grandma cat will fit in her new bed…

Table Wood Engineering Recreation Chair


We then decided to that it would hep to have a place to make plans… so a notebook for her was created

Wood Table Office supplies Shipping box Flooring


I see this as a good step to encourage kids to write down or draw their ideas as well as work on measurements.

then on to cutting…

Building sets Wood Toy block Engineering Shelf


The book encourages you to use hot glue for doing a number of the projects, which we tried yesterday still not a huge fan of this type of glue for joinery so we have decided if we are in the shop we will be using regular glue and giving it a bit of time to dry.

The bed turned out pretty nice, especially with the Zebrawood head and footboard.

Furniture Comfort Wood Window Couch


The second bed was created from craft sticks for the time being, I have the feeling we will be tackling another one with scrap wood.

Wood Flooring Art Shipping box Artist


Notice the paperclip clamps, these worked quite well. Craft sticks are a great way to introduce kids to building projects. My daughter has built a number of things with them.

We have a new lathe project to work on later on today and looking forward to it.

Hope you all have a good day in and out of the shop and maybe get some time to work with that child in your life.

CtL
I think it's great to get your kids working in your shop at a young age. Lots of life's lessons can be learned there from pride, craftsmanship, dealing with failures (ooopps design modifications), thinking on the fly, working safely with and respecting potentially dangerous items and of course another way of bonding with your kids.
 

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#52 ·
11 Months in the Shop Together- May

Ok, somehow I lost a month almost 2. I have not been around here much but I promise I have been in the shop and so has my daughter. This month she has been hard at work in the shop as she got herself orders for a total of 8 pens. She is working on a the 5 for one order now.

Satellite phone Hand tool Tool Eyewear Metalworking hand tool


As I have said before she is getting better each time she steps up. My goal is for her to surpass me in the future :)

She also has a possible client that would like to buy pens from her to sell at a local farm stand. This is going to take some skill on both of our parts to get them done before the end of the summer.

Besides the pens we did some work in April and constructed a very quick mini-raised bed planter box for her to set up a fairy garden in. She has been coming up with ideas for the garden and making some of them on her own out of craft sticks and her scrap wood bin. I will have to get a picture of the garden soon. She is now helping a neighbor build her garden.

Sorry for the lack of pics, I promise I will more next month. Hope you all stay safe in the shop and get to share some of that time with someone.

CtL
 

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#53 ·
11 Months in the Shop Together- May

Ok, somehow I lost a month almost 2. I have not been around here much but I promise I have been in the shop and so has my daughter. This month she has been hard at work in the shop as she got herself orders for a total of 8 pens. She is working on a the 5 for one order now.

Satellite phone Hand tool Tool Eyewear Metalworking hand tool


As I have said before she is getting better each time she steps up. My goal is for her to surpass me in the future :)

She also has a possible client that would like to buy pens from her to sell at a local farm stand. This is going to take some skill on both of our parts to get them done before the end of the summer.

Besides the pens we did some work in April and constructed a very quick mini-raised bed planter box for her to set up a fairy garden in. She has been coming up with ideas for the garden and making some of them on her own out of craft sticks and her scrap wood bin. I will have to get a picture of the garden soon. She is now helping a neighbor build her garden.

Sorry for the lack of pics, I promise I will more next month. Hope you all stay safe in the shop and get to share some of that time with someone.

CtL
Teaching responsibility is awesome. The fact that there is a clear reward for her efforts is even better. Keep up the good work.
 

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#61 ·
Entrepreneurial Spirit

I mentioned a few moths ago that my daughter got herself an order for 8 pens. She did a great job and the two clients loved them. We kind of dropped the ball on the farm stand thing but hope to pursue that again after the holidays. For the craft fair season this year my wife and I have two different weekends that have two smaller shows happening so we decided to split up. Since we can't have the pens that I normally make at both locations my daughter has decided to help take up the slack. We went to the local Woodcraft yesterday and she picked out a few of her favorite kits and a few pieces of wood to supplement what we already have on hand. we even stood in the store and discussed the cost of the items and figured out the total cost for products. I am very proud of since she can struggle a bit with math sometimes.

Wood Cuisine Wood stain Hardwood Varnish


I was able to prep all the pieces for her yesterday and this morning. So she is planning on tackling 5 Seam Rippers, 3 Multifunction Tools, and 10 pens. I am looking forward to working with her in the shop over the next few weeks. Should be fun sharing the lathe as I too have a few orders to deal with along with craft fair stuff. I will post these once she has some done as well as her teacher gifts which she is very excited about being able to do again.

CtL
 

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#62 ·
Entrepreneurial Spirit

I mentioned a few moths ago that my daughter got herself an order for 8 pens. She did a great job and the two clients loved them. We kind of dropped the ball on the farm stand thing but hope to pursue that again after the holidays. For the craft fair season this year my wife and I have two different weekends that have two smaller shows happening so we decided to split up. Since we can't have the pens that I normally make at both locations my daughter has decided to help take up the slack. We went to the local Woodcraft yesterday and she picked out a few of her favorite kits and a few pieces of wood to supplement what we already have on hand. we even stood in the store and discussed the cost of the items and figured out the total cost for products. I am very proud of since she can struggle a bit with math sometimes.

Wood Cuisine Wood stain Hardwood Varnish


I was able to prep all the pieces for her yesterday and this morning. So she is planning on tackling 5 Seam Rippers, 3 Multifunction Tools, and 10 pens. I am looking forward to working with her in the shop over the next few weeks. Should be fun sharing the lathe as I too have a few orders to deal with along with craft fair stuff. I will post these once she has some done as well as her teacher gifts which she is very excited about being able to do again.

CtL
Kids in the Shop.

I've been very impressed with the involvement, of you and your Mrs. development, of your daughter's progress and business ventures in the shop.
It is refreshing to see your investment in the future of your child, while I understand that all children may not be this interested in woodworking, it is still the parent's who lead their children to explore new possibilities.

Best Regards. - Grandpa Len.
Work Safely and have Fun.
 

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#68 ·
Virginia Woodturning Symposium

It's been a while since I posted under this topic. As some of you know my daughter has been in my shop with me working on things since she was about 4 years old and she turned her first pen at that age as well during a "Turn for the Troops" event. She is now 10 and not working as much in the shop but does find she like to have her workbench still and does still like to turn. She decided (with very little pressure) that she wold accompany me to the Virginia Woodturning Symposium this weekend. Now we had a great time but I was sorry to see that she met no other kids her age or any other age for that matter there. She was I believe the only attendee under the age of 15 and there were very few 15 to 21 for that matter.

Vendors and demonstrators alike were very happy to talk with her and help her. Special thanks to James with the Central VA Woodturners club for helping her turn her first top. This one will be donated to a group going to Haiti that will hand them out to children… A great cause for her as her after school program supports a group that goes to Haiti each summer.

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An even bigger thanks to Nathan "The Bodging Bigfoot" for helping her to work on the pole lathe, she worked on a captive ring and witha little help was able to get it done. She was extremely happy with herself for being able to work the lathe and get the piece off. We enjoyed talking with him and and really liked seeing the work that he does on this type of lathe.

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I encourage everyone if there is a child even remotely interested in working with you in the shop or learning more about woodworking of any type. Please take them with you to one of these type of shows or conferences. They may get a little fidgety or bored after a while of watching people talk about making things but there are generally opportunities for hands on projects and from what I have seen numerous times the clubs or mentors absolutely love working with the kids and passing on the skills they have learned to the younger generation. I thanks my grandfather for dragging me around when I was younger to help him fix stuff you just never know the seed that will be planted and how it may grow later.

Sophia got a number of pieces of wood and a few new skills from this weekend so I will be planning to get her into the shop in the next few months on a regular basis so she can sharpen those skills and work on things.
 

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#69 ·
Time Flies

It has been 4 years since I last posted a Blog in this series. Time seems to have flown by, my daughter is finishing up middle school and heading for high school next year, truly can not believe it. The good news is she continues to show interest in the hobby of turning and even some other woodworking. She is in the shop now working on pens for teachers and administrators that have helped here this year and the past few years. I am sure as in the past the recipients will be surprised at what she presents to them at the end of the year and delight in the fact that she took time to make them herself.

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As this series has always done I just want to encourage as many people as possible to get their kids, grand kids, nieces/nephews, neighbor kids, whoever in the shop and help them to build something and possibly ignite that spark. I am sure many here have more than enough projects that kids can be involved in at different ages, I am happy to chat with anyone about ideas.

Not much of a blog but too proud not to post something :). Watch the projects for her completed projects over the course of the next month or so.

Thanks.
 

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#70 ·
Time Flies

It has been 4 years since I last posted a Blog in this series. Time seems to have flown by, my daughter is finishing up middle school and heading for high school next year, truly can not believe it. The good news is she continues to show interest in the hobby of turning and even some other woodworking. She is in the shop now working on pens for teachers and administrators that have helped here this year and the past few years. I am sure as in the past the recipients will be surprised at what she presents to them at the end of the year and delight in the fact that she took time to make them herself.

Helmet Beard Personal protective equipment Eyewear Audio equipment


As this series has always done I just want to encourage as many people as possible to get their kids, grand kids, nieces/nephews, neighbor kids, whoever in the shop and help them to build something and possibly ignite that spark. I am sure many here have more than enough projects that kids can be involved in at different ages, I am happy to chat with anyone about ideas.

Not much of a blog but too proud not to post something :). Watch the projects for her completed projects over the course of the next month or so.

Thanks.
You should be proud Chris! It's rare in this day to find young people who are interested in crafts such as turning. That's awesome that she's still diggin' it after so many years :) And good for you for encouraging it and nurturing the seed.
 

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