May 7th – Might be genetics…

My son is taking a woodworking class in high school and now that the school year is all but over, they are finally allowed to do something involving the lathe.  The “official” project is to make a screwdriver, which in all reality, is pretty boring.  Nothing like sparking an interest by having the kids do something really mundane, with only a scraper and 80 grit sandpaper to use for tools.  Well, I’ll just say that’s a casualty of the public school system and try something at home.  We can certainly do better than that.

I took my son to my friend/mentor’s shop for this introductory lesson.  I figured Bob could stress the basics and since the message was coming from someone OTHER than me, the odds that he would actually listen had to be higher.  He did pretty good!  His first lesson was to turn a sweet potato.  MUCH safer and more forgiving than wood and didn’t really make that big of a mess.  Next was a piece of softer wood to practice making beads and coves.  Q didn’t make any finished projects that night, but he did make a mess and lots of woodchips!  When we got home, we decided to make something a little more “free form” that he could keep.  What he came up with is a little cup made from a piece of plum.  Not sure it has any practical use, but for a first piece, I think it turned out pretty good!