While both boys built cars for the race, only Jake, the youngest one, was actually allowed to race his car. Big brother, Joey isn’t a member of the scouts, so they didn’t allow him to enter the race.  He had made his car just for the experience of making it, which was just fine with me.

Jakes car didn’t do too well. He finished third in a group of four.  I was concerned that he would feel bad about where his car had placed, but he didn’t.  As I talked to him to make sure that he wasn’t too down, he reminded me in the way that only an eight year old can do, that he had fun making the car, and spending time in my shop, and oh yeah the race was fun.  This was followed up with, “When can we go back to the shop and make something”.

Building something new with the boys wasn’t in my immediate game plan.  In fact my shop time currently is consumed with building a cabinet for the boy’s basement.  But, and this is a big but,  since I had invited the boys into the shop and helped plant the woodworking seed in them, I can’t really tell them no, can I? Didn’t really think so.

The hard part of this whole adventure was keeping my hands off of their cars.  The lines were not cut as smooth as I would like them to be, nor were the cars sanded enough, and the paint jobs left a lot to be desired, but the looks on the boys’ faces when they showed Mom and Grandma what they had made, told me that I had made the right decision when I let them do the work, only offering advice when they were in danger of hurting themselves or my tools.

So I want to thank the cub scouts and the Pine Wood derby for proving me with an opportunity to spend time with my two favorite new woodworkers.

Related posts:

1. An Unexpected Woodworking Pleasure

The only other fascination my shop has held for them so far has been my dust collector system. For some reason that I can’t even begin to fathom, the large collection of sawdust is like Mecca to them.  They have spent countless hours dumping the sawdust out of the bag, and then vacuuming it back up again. I don’t understand or question the wisdom in this, for me it’s cheap entertainment.

Recently the purpose of those visits has changed. The youngest grandson has joined the Cub Scouts.  It’s his first year in the scouting program, and so far he appears to really enjoy it.   The scouts have help bring him out of his shell, while Jake never has been shy, he has always been more reserved then his older brother, Joey. At a recent Pack meeting, the scouts were visited by Saint Nick, and as a gift each of the scouts were presented  with a “Pine Box Derby Kit”.

The boys were delighted. However, some of the other parents stood there with looks of horror on their faces, as they had no idea on how to transfer the blocks of wood into a race car.  Me, I thought cool, something I finally understand, woodworking.

If you’re not familiar with the pine box derby, it’s an annual event that the scouts hold.  Each scout is given the same kit, that includes a small block of clear pine, 4 wheels and 4 nails that will act as the axils for the car, and told to go home, make a car and of course have fun.  As many of the scouts are quite young, this is a project that is intended to be done with the assistance of  an adult.  In our case, that privilege falls upon me, the family woodworker.

And that brings me to my unexpected pleasure.  Over the past two weekends Jake, Joey and I have been working on their cars. Joey isn’t a member of the scouts, but he got very excited when Jake and I talked about how we would build his car, so I made a trip to the local scout store and purchased a car kit for him.  He won’t be allowed to race his car, but he didn’t want to be left out of the fun.

When I took these young guys into my shop and turned them loose to use my tools, it was like I turned them loose in a candy store. Using some basic hand tools like the coping saw, they cut out the shapes of their cars.  Then they used files, rasps and sand paper to smooth out the surface of their cars.  They also used a Dremel tool to add some details to their individual cars.

Will their cars win any awards for beauty, not really.  Nor will they win any awards for the most detailed cars.  That’s not what’s important here. What’s important is the sense of accomplishment that both boys felt.  It’s also very cool that they were able to use their hands to build something.  Both were constantly beaming as they showed their handy work to me, their grandma and mom.  Their workmanship was crude, needed more sanding and more detail work was needed, But in all honesty I think that their cars are some of the most beautiful pieces of work I have ever seen.

Watching these two young guys having fun, doing something that I dearly love to do was priceless.  Being able to share my shop and its tools with them was another priceless event.  This wasn’t what I expected when I agreed to help make their cars. But I am so happy that it turned out as nice as it did.

In closing I want to thank you for letting me ramble. I also want to thank the scouts for giving me the opportunity to spend time in my shop with grandsons.  And of course I want to thank Jake and Joey for an unexpected pleasure.

No related posts.

It really doesn’t matter which avocation, or hobby you choose to aspire to, most people consistently try to do their very best at that endeavor. Having the right tools, equipment or supplies has never been considered to be a deterrent to achieving those goals. So why then why should craftsmen or craftswomen be held to a higher standard ? 

I have been a woodworker for over 30 years now.  Over that time my woodworking skills have improved.  With that 30 plus years of experience, comes the knowledge that there are times when your woodworking tools will define the level of workmanship.  For instance, if the knives in my jointer are not aligned properly, or are dull, these will have an adverse affect on my work.  Same could be said for a tablesaw that has run out in the blade arbor. With a tablesaw operating as such, there shouldn’t be any reasonable expectation of a smooth clean cut for that saw.

But I have been a woodworker for some time, and I also have had access to other skilled woodworkers, who have helped to develop my skill and knowledge sets. So I can now see that the tools, not my skill as a woodworker can be the cause for less than stellar workmanship.  But what about the new woodworker.

Many new woodworkers enter into to woodworking at what I consider a real disadvantage.   They’re new at this and don’t know if they really can do this.  And as such don’t want to spend a lot of money on tools and equipment, just in case they either do not have the skill set, or find out that they really don’t like making sawdust. Myself, I find the idea of not liking to make sawdust, almost criminal, but that is beside the point here. What is important is the guy or gal goes out and purchases what normally amounts to the cheapest woodworking tools they can find. 

Fast forward to the point that they begin using their new tools, and either because they haven’t developed the skills yet to do good woodworking, or the tool doesn’t perform as expected, they feel that woodworking is not for them, and they give up trying. Developing the skills to do good woodworking is just like every other avocation  in the world, but it takes time and practice to develop the skills.  The lack of experience normally prohibits this new woodworker from having the ability to determine if it is really them, or are they expecting something from there tools that just beyond the ability of the machines.

If this newly minted woodworker listens to the pundits, and their clichés, about never blaming their tools, they are truly then lost  and may give up on woodworking.  But if the clichés were changed to a craftsman is only as good as his tools, we might  all be better off.

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2. Craftsman NEXTEC Multi Saw
3. Woodworking Tools – Just How Important are Good Fences?

PBS has announced that they are planning to air a new woodworking show this fall, which features Thomas Mac Donald as the host.  Unlike the New Yankee Workshop that displayed only Norm’s work, this new show will feature the workmanship of Mac Donald as well as other woodworkers.   WGBH the network that brought us Norm is also broadcasting this new show, and according to the latest information from WGBH, the only thing missing is a sponsor for the new show.

So is Tommy Mac Donald the new Norm?  Only time will tell.  From early pilots episodes I have seen of “T Chisel”, he is an excellent and skilled woodworker.  The normally T shirt clad Tommy Mac Donald’s presentation is different then what we have come to expect from Norm, but that is to be expected.  Change is always hard, but maybe it’s time to move on.  I look forward to watching the new show this fall.  Maybe WGBH could persuade T Chisel to wear a plaid shirt; well maybe it would make the transition easier.

If you would like more information on Thomas Mac Donald, follow the following link.

http://www.woodshopnews.com/news/news-desk/498931-pbs-plans-new-woodworking-show-this-fall

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2. Woodworking Shop Safety
3. Stanley Tool Works Acquiring Black & Decker

My wife I visited a classic furniture store looking for night stands for our bedroom.  While my wife was talking to the salesperson, I began looking closely at one item that had caught our eye. I had overheard the salesperson tell my wife that the piece was first quality and made of all hardwood.  So taking a closer look at the piece I found two things that woodworker never wants to see.  First the piece was made of particle board with a laminate over it.  My first clue was the weight of the piece.  I could barely pick it up.  Real wood, oak in this case, wouldn’t ever weight that much. The second item I found was what really got me going.  Looking at the drawers of the night stand, I found what looked like dovetail joinery.  I thought this was really odd, why go to the trouble of making dovetails in a particle/laminate piece of furniture.  A real close look at the piece showed that the dovetails were imprinted into the laminate of the drawer.  They were not real, just a poor copy.  We left the store and the ” Real Wood Piece”  sitting there.

Or

I recently picked up a woodworking magazine that featured a really nice looking Craftsman style display as one of the projects covered in that edition.  The case was made of absolutely beautiful quarter sawn oak, the design and scaling of the piece were really great.  The workmanship that I could see in the pictures that accompanied the article was superb.  The problem with the project was in the through tenons that attached the top and bottom shelves of the case.  They weren’t.  Reading the article and looking at the cutting list, I found that the tenons were false, they were simply glued to the case of the piece.

Cutting real through mortises and tenons takes practice and the right tools, but why go to the expense of using quarter sawn oak, to fabricate the piece and then apply “false through tenons.  One of the joys of building true craftsman pieces is cutting the mortise and tenon joinery.  False or applied through tenons is another one of those things that a real woodworker doesn’t want to see.

Are these real issues or just my opinion?  That’s a question you will have to decide. For now they are strictly my humble opinion, but I think that these two items should fall under the “truth in advertising rules.  Painted dovetails and applied through tenons  are things that a real woodworker shouldn’t ever see.

Related posts:

1. Your Workshop – Things every Shop Needs
2. What makes a good woodworker?
3. The Forgotten Woodworker