Assistant Update

As I headed down into the dungeon to kill some time before dinner was ready, my assistant soon followed. I was showing her some of what I was working on and she said that she wanted to make something. After a bit of glancing around trying to decide what tools might be appropriate for a 5 year old, I decided that it was perhaps time to introduce her to the lathe.

Well let me tell you that girl is a natural! After getting her setup with a face shield to protect her pretty little smile, I showed her the proper way to hold the turning tools and how to approach the wood to turn it. I started out by holding her hands as she began to turn the wood. After a couple of quick cuts I had her shut off the lathe so she could see and understand what she's doing to the wood. By the time dinner was ready, she only had time to round of a couple square pieces of Bird's Eye Maple. She proudly carried these upstairs to show her momma.

After dinner though we headed back down to complete the project. After seeing her get a little more comfortable with the tools I stood right next to her as she worked the wood herself. She shaped her piece of wood to the design she wanted sanded and finished the pieces before we assembled it. I wanted this to be something that she did, so I kept my help limited as much as possible. The only thing I did was to taper the ends of the pieces to the proper size. What did she make? Well at 5 years old she made her very own pen!

Let me tell you how freaking proud and excited that I am! I can't wait to bring these pictures into work tomorrow to show what me and my little assistant worked on! check out these pictures...