Any woodworkers?

Debatable

 

Wait, thats an option? I'm doing it all wrong

Real talk though, you need to grow a pair I've seen your work. Not having tools is no excuse for someone with your skillset. You don't have to have the quality of tools that you have for your metal work to dip into woodworking. Considering you seem to be big into personal projects, and not necessarily selling at a global level, you have no need for industrial equipment. You'd be absolutely amazed what all you could do with a cheap circular saw and orbital sander. All the nicer tools do is speed up the processes. The biggest thing I've taken away from messing around with small wood projects is you've gotta be (and stay) creative. I tend to dream up big ideas that I can only poorly execute. So I improvise when I make big mistakes lol. My biggest issue is starting with crappy materials that aren't dimensioned anywhere near what they should be usually. But, I'm cheap and inexperienced; I'd rather build cheap crap out of cedar fence posts and pine box store lumber than mess up an expensive 1 of a kind exotic tree lol.

Barter one of your dinos for a table saw and sander!

 

When I was that age, the middle school paired me up with a retired machinist. The first project we made was a box. He supplied all the parts cut to size and perfectly square. It was to demonstrate that perfectly square and precision cut pieces made the job simple. He had me glue it up and nail it with finish nails then varnish it.
Next we made a table with 2 drawers. Again, he had all the parts pre-cut and just had me assemble and finish. Then we made a machinist toolbox with several drawers and dividers. I never even saw a tablesaw in all that time. After those projects, we went to the machine shop where he taught me how to mage aluminum gears on a Bridgeport milling machine with a dividing head. Oddly enough, he had me running that thing entirely!

 

I used to think that way. All I was capable was mediocre quality. I replace my contractors saw with a nice Delta Unisaw and was amazed at how much better work I could produce. Yes it makes work go faster, but it is also far more accurate and permits a much higher level of quality. I wish I'd realized that decades ago.

I never could have made this table with my old tools, but with the quality tools, it was pretty easy.

BTW, That was 50 years ago and I still have every single item we made together. They are highly valued possessions to me.

 

I have no experience teaching kids woodworking (I can't really even do it very well myself lol), but I'm all too familiar with that age group of kids. Every kid is different, and this kid may not be grouped into this, but kids these days (insert angry guy shaking fist memes) have super short attention spans, generally speaking. Their entire lives have taken place in our most tech-advanced society we've ever had, where everything is instant gratification. With that being said, woodworking or not, his hobbies will be things that give him nearly instant feedback. As useful as a workbench would be, it may not hold his interest right now, whereas something he's excited about potentially would, even if it takes more than a couple days to build. Ask him what he wants to build, ask what his other hobbies are (probably video games), and find ways to incorporate his other interests into woodworking. For example, if he's a gamer, build a simple headset stand, a desk for his computer (basically just a workbench), etc.

All the safety stuff/measuring/basic skills will happen naturally as you teach. Your biggest challenge will likely be holding his attention. Mom may be more excited than he is about it, depending on the day; 11 year olds are an interesting breed lol. Good luck to ya, and super awesome of you to be up for the task. It'll be something valuable to him that can't ever be replaced

 

I don't disagree. I just meant for someone with enough creativity, patience, and attention to detail (like Kwikvette obviously is), he could be a force to be reckoned with, with only a saw and sander. Give him quality tools, and he kinda just makes me sick.. lol.

@Kwikvette I'd love to see what you'd come up with, given a few pieces of wood, a sheet of metal, your machines, a saw, sander, and router.

 

lots and lots of

 

I also have no experience teaching woodworking to kids but I have worked with kids for 30 year. I would suggest a meet and greet before giving a commitment. That way everyone can make sure that everyone is on the same page and that everyone is comfortable with the "plan". I would insist the parent be there for the first session. Forgive me for what I am about to type, but it is the world we live in. I would make sure that you protect yourself if you end up in a one on one situation with the child. Have a video recording your time together if you are in a private setting. I would hate to see your good deed turn into a bad situation for you. The nature of teaching woodworking is that you have to be in close proximity to the child so you want to be aware of that and how you teach him.

I think what you are considering doing is wonderful and I would encourage you to help, but I would also encourage you to take precautions to protect yourself.

 

We were racing about the same time — me in the YMCA Indian Guides. The local Hobby Shop donated a bunch of stuff to
My kid’s cub scout pack when it went out of business, so we have semi-vintage stuff to work with too. Edit: I’ll see if I can upload a picture.

Get to know him and see where specifically interests him. Kids are all so different. I was pretty pliable and attentive and would spend all day with an adult that wanted help building something at that age. But my 12yo doesn’t have that type of patience. Make sure it’s fun. Gauge his interest and patience and aptitude. Make sure he wears an n95 mask to keep the dust out of his lungs, eye protection, and ear plugs when using loud tools, of course!

Some thoughts:
1. Dice. Introduce him to cutting cubes, sanding them square by taping sandpaper to glass and hand-truing them “going through the grits.” Drill holes and use thin stained or contrast-colored dowels, or burn in the dots with a burner tool, or just paint them.
2. Ask his favorite movies or shows and make a small-scale version of something from that show. A small sword or something similar for an action figure (if he’s into swords at that age — I was). Use a coping saw and a few other basic hand saws. Hand sand using different grits.
3. A box using a miter box and tape measure. Perhaps try to make a box that fits an odd space in his house so he has to measure—maybe something for his mom? This could include a sliding lid or a simple hinged lid OR the friction lids that nest in — think a matryoshka doll. This involves gluing and clamping and possibly glue theory (polyurethane v. basic wood glue). At that age I would have been blown away by how strong poly glue is.

The way a thin piece of wood reacts to water (bends counter to the rings of the tree) was fascinating to me at that age.

Make sure to have extra materials and show how errors are extremely common. You can always remake a piece!

 

Thanks for the input guys, it is appreciated.

A meet and greet will happen just so I can meet him and mom. If the "chemistry" isn't right, it would be forced and not fun for either of us.

I have had to deal with a couple situations between adults and kids that had huge potential to go sideways. And as a manager, we always had two managers present and a door open when dealing with reviews and disciplinary actions, so the caution to protect myself is built in. Mom is looking for an hour or two every couple of weeks from her post. So it is possible she could be around as well.

If the boy posted in the few pics on her page is him, he has an interest in hockey so I thought about a couple of crossed hockey sticks maybe across a hockey net shaped plaque. I could put some mesh lines though it to look like a net. Just spit balling at the moment because none of this matters till we meet.

Anything we do won't be complex as I'm just getting back into this after a long absence.

That being said, I've started to build a new top for my desk. Details to follow.

Thx again for the suggestions.

 

Could always build some wooden hockey sticks! May not be the best for actual use, but what kid wouldn't love to hang full-sized decorations of their favorite things all over their walls, especially if they made it and were proud of it! Your "making perfect circles" part of the course could be hockey pucks lol. Just simple and easy things to start off with and hold his attention while you dream up the big ideas together.

 

One of the things I do with my grandson, before we start a project, from changing oil, to something as simple as a haircut, find a youtube video.
It allows them to visually understand the process and the end project before you start.
You can point out different things that you would do differently, tool limitations or design differences.
Also, get feedback from him on a project or two he would like to build.
Let him learn skills that will help him complete that project.

 

Fyi: Wood glue doesnt fair well in -5° weather

 

Sent home early from work, no work. So I'm in the shop chopping out mortices, lol.

 

Made what I call a cute ass little step stool for the garage out of some spare 2x4 boards lol.

 

For teaching the 11 year old, I agree find his interests, there's a guy in our area that teaches wood carving, he gets some kids, but he stresses wearing hand protection. Showing them proper tool handling. A fun thing could be a mug. Or something that would be handy in his room that he can see.

 

Mid winter thaw and days of rain and snow melt. The ground is frozen except for around the basement walls. So where does the water go? In my woodshop. So I went down to my shop to do some work, it was dry. But while I was working it started to trickle in. It comes in this same spot everytime, and nowhere else. Either the wall is cracked or it comes in between the wall and the floor slab.

Everything in this corner is off the floor on rubber pads. It's just a trickle.

I mop it up and just put a fan on the floor to dry it up. It's just an inconvenience.