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My neighbors have a kid who just turned 5 yesterday. He likes to come over to my house and "help" with projects. He really likes to work with woodworking tools, though at 5, there's still a lot of supervision necessary. He has a two-year-old little brother, so I think he really likes having something he can do that the little guy can't.

I built him his own workbench for his birthday yesterday. It was a big hit.

Toughest part was deciding how tall to build it. It's about an inch or two higher than ideal right now, but he'll grow faster than the bench will... 😉

#grownostr #woodworking

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Discussion

Steve 2y ago

That's awesome of you! He will remember these memories for the rest of his life -

I cant wait to do stuff like this with my own little guy.

Squeaky Frog 2y ago

I was lucky growing up, my dad was really handy and had all kinds of tools I could use. Lots of kids nowadays have no access at all to anything like that, and parents who couldn't figure out how to hang a picture on the wall, never mind actually build anything.

I enjoy teaching the little ones this stuff, but it's pretty exhausting sometimes! I forget sometimes how much energy kids have.

His mom sent me a picture of him this afternoon with his little workbench all set up with a stick clamped in the vise, just going to town on it with a sanding block. All in all, a pretty satisfying project.

Steve 2y ago

That's awesome I grew up learning a lot from my grandfather and have a small wood shop with many his tools in my garage.

Javier 2y ago

That is super cool! Way to go. I am building mine now. Not super pretty but focusing in it to be practical for now. Moving houses...when finally in a place with long term views will takle a more serious bench for sure. Long time waiting to do one.

Squeaky Frog 2y ago

Thanks! I've built myself several workbenches over the years, each one gets a little nicer than the last one. The first was just an old door with legs... It doesn't matter much what it looks like, as long as it's sturdy and flat. If you can manage that, you're doing pretty well.

Javier 2y ago

For now I went for plywood 😅 to keep it flat. But hope to do the edge grain counter top eventually and make it bigger and sturdier. The wheels do not help me much but right now the space is a constraint.

The farms pictures are awesome BTW.

Squeaky Frog 2y ago

Love the leg vise! Yeah, I've had to have benches on casters before for the same reason. Even locking casters want to slide around on smooth concrete. I ended up making some big blocks for each corner that I could slide under the lower crossmembers to elevate the bench just enough to get the wheels off the floor. That only works if your bench is light enough that you can lift each corner, though.

That bench looks like it's seen a few projects. I like the way well-used workbenches tell a story about all the projects they've been involved with.

Javier 2y ago

The blocks are a great idea. Yes, the bench has gone back with me 12 years and 3 shops😅. Was our first bench. But I just installed the vice and paint it. I was spoiled with a spacious shop for some years and with covid sadly sold and close it, but kept the hand tools and the bench to start using them more at home. Back then honestly was mainly power tools... now that it's pure hobby I am learning to use my handtools more. Still a long way to go, it's very humbling and slower haha.

Fun to find all kind of makers and interest on nostr. This is a great project and really hope to see more built on this protocol.