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This weekend we went to a little street fair in downtown Cincinnati to see some art, eat some Belgian waffles and , unbeknownst to us , consider the question of raw material selection in building furniture.
As we made our way through the vendors on Main Street, we heard that the Contemporary Art Center had a booth where kids could build “little furniture.” Katy, my 7-year-old shop helper, tugged at my arm and said she wanted to check it out.
So we strolled to the other end of the fair and found the tent in question. And indeed, there were about 10 kids there making miniature chairs, beds and shelving units using 2″ x 2-3/4″ Formica samples and masking tape.
There were a lot of boxy Bauhaus chairs made from “Porcelain Grafix” samples and a dollhouse-sized rug made up of Formica samples of “Natural Figured Maple.”
As soon as Katy saw the Formica samples she stopped dead in her tracks. I put my hand on her shoulder and asked if she wanted to give it a try.
“I don’t want to do this anymore,” she said, turning back toward the bandstand.
“Why not, honey?” I asked.
“I thought they would be using real wood,” Katy said.
So we skipped the Formica and fabricated some people and dogs from pipe cleaners instead. Looks like I’ve been raising a wood snob without knowing it.
Here are some supplies and tools we find essential in our everyday work around the shop. We may receive a commission from sales referred by our links; however, we have carefully selected these products for their usefulness and quality.
Next time you’re downtown, stop in the lobby of the US Bank building and check out the inside walls of the elevators. Not sure what wood they are, but they are beautiful. It’s the building connected to the Westin on the opposite side of "ingredients".
John
Scarey what they pick up when you don’t think they are listening!
Any tips on teaching woodworking to little kids? My own daughter is a little young for tools yet (8 weeks), but a friend’s son is a tool lover since birth, and he absolutely loved building a little bookshelf last weekend. Of course, he’s just 4, so he has limited patience, and isn’t quite ready for a lot of the tools, but he’s got loads of enthusiasm.
One thing I have learned is that I need to design future projects to use as many different tools as possible!
I don’t suppose you know of any companies that sell good quality kits for children’s furniture? He wants to do another project, but with an infant of my own, I don’t necessarily have the time to do the necessary prep and design work right now.
Chris,
I think kids remind us why we do what we do. My son Tucker, who is almost six, likes to work in the shop with me. He currently has a LN #3 bronze smoother, a Stanley #5, type 11 (which requires dad’s hand to help him use), and a LN small block plane. He asked for chisels and I bought a set of Woodriver butt chisels (thinking they would fit his hand better). We spent time learning how to flatten the backs and properly sharpen the bevels. He then went to work on a piece of Basswood. As he dulled the fourth chisel in less than a half hour he commented that my LN chisels don’t dull! He then looked a the Woodriver chisels and said, "these are JUNK!" I subsequently bought him a LN and two Japanese chisels. He is in hog heaven! He has learned the difference between buying good quality tools and junk, and is learning to use them properly under my supervison. Your daughter, too, seems to have been raised in the proper manner and recognizies the "right stuff!" Keep up the good work!
I await Katy’s next words of wisdom…
"Dad, I asked for a carcass saw for Xmas, not a tenon saw!"
We should all be as discerning as Katy.
Gary
Good for her. Finally there will be a kid raised to never buy furniture from Ikea!
Way to go, Katy! I’ve a feeling we’ll be reading her woodworking blog someday. By the way, that’s a fine depiction of a wire-haired terrier.
Tape, smape, it was the formica ! Good on you Katy ! ! !
If that’s snobbery, then call me uppity! Way to go Katy!
In all fairness to Katy, I suspect the tape was an issue, too. I mean, the kid has been around the shop enough to know a little about quality construction. And masking tape doesn’t compare to glue and traditional joinery.