Prepping and precutting wood for bird houses
Nov 25, 2022 14:19:15 GMT -5
Ralph, clarencebunsen, and 1 more like this
Post by Clipper on Nov 25, 2022 14:19:15 GMT -5
Heading to the shop to cut the pieces to build several bluebird houses.
There is a young lad that lives in a house on the hill behind us who always comes down to the fence to chat with me when I am out in the back yard working. We have become pretty good friends with his mom and dad. His name is Harrison, after his grandfather. He is a very personable and respectful young 10yr old. He loves to visit my shop and during the summer he came down a couple of times and I cut out the material to make the small trucks and cars I build to donate. He did all the sanding, painting and assembly while I worked on other things, and was proud as punch to take his truck and race car home to show mom and dad.
Harrison asked me a week or so ago if he could build something in my shop to give his mom and dad for Christmas. Well we looked through some plan books I have and he settled on bluebird houses like I have on fence posts in the back yard. He wants to make a bluebird house for his dad and for his grandparents and we are going to make a charcuterie board and an "oven shark" for his mom. An oven shark is a piece of hardwood that I cut to resemble a 10 inch shark with a belly fin designed to hook an oven rack to pull it out, and a notch resembling the shark's mouth to push it back in, with the long slender body and tail designed to be a handle. It avoids the chances of burning your hand when you use the oven.
Whenever he asks to come down I always clear it with his mom or dad so they won't think he has been kidnapped while he is busily working on his little projects in the shop. I supervise closely and only allow him to use the drill press, scroll saw, and electric sanders and won't let him near finger biters like the miter saw or table saw. He enjoys working with wood and I enjoy teaching him. Most schools don't teach industrial arts anymore and working with wood can become a worthwhile life-long hobby and way to relax. I have fond memories of working with my granddad making little holiday gifts for my mom and dad and I still think of him often while using some of his hand tools that I inherited when my dad died.
There is a young lad that lives in a house on the hill behind us who always comes down to the fence to chat with me when I am out in the back yard working. We have become pretty good friends with his mom and dad. His name is Harrison, after his grandfather. He is a very personable and respectful young 10yr old. He loves to visit my shop and during the summer he came down a couple of times and I cut out the material to make the small trucks and cars I build to donate. He did all the sanding, painting and assembly while I worked on other things, and was proud as punch to take his truck and race car home to show mom and dad.
Harrison asked me a week or so ago if he could build something in my shop to give his mom and dad for Christmas. Well we looked through some plan books I have and he settled on bluebird houses like I have on fence posts in the back yard. He wants to make a bluebird house for his dad and for his grandparents and we are going to make a charcuterie board and an "oven shark" for his mom. An oven shark is a piece of hardwood that I cut to resemble a 10 inch shark with a belly fin designed to hook an oven rack to pull it out, and a notch resembling the shark's mouth to push it back in, with the long slender body and tail designed to be a handle. It avoids the chances of burning your hand when you use the oven.
Whenever he asks to come down I always clear it with his mom or dad so they won't think he has been kidnapped while he is busily working on his little projects in the shop. I supervise closely and only allow him to use the drill press, scroll saw, and electric sanders and won't let him near finger biters like the miter saw or table saw. He enjoys working with wood and I enjoy teaching him. Most schools don't teach industrial arts anymore and working with wood can become a worthwhile life-long hobby and way to relax. I have fond memories of working with my granddad making little holiday gifts for my mom and dad and I still think of him often while using some of his hand tools that I inherited when my dad died.