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When we finished, and were closing up the workshop for the evening, D hugged me.
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“Thanks, Nanny, for letting me use your tools and workshop today. Dad won’t let me do anything in his shop. He’d never take the time with me like you did.” (Dad lives in Maryland.)
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What a good kid he is, hunh? Sure knows how to melt his grandmother’s heart. I hugged him back and told him he had done a great job with his car, and that I was proud of how he handled himself with the tools.
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“Does that mean you’ll let me come out here on my own, without your supervision?” Un-hunh. Should have seen that coming.
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Not on your life, kiddo. Maybe when you’re thirty or thirty-five, then we’ll talk.
Break time. Lots of dust on the bench.
Shop glassware, Mason jar.
The jigsaw of his dreams.
At last, power tools!
Not finished, but making progress.
(C) 2009 Martha McLemore
13 comments:
Such a happy face! Lucky kid, lucky grandma!
I think you're right. There are many adults who'd be a menace to society with an unsupervised jig-saw in their hands. I never owned one but was once lent one under emotionally charged circumstances. Blogged about it during the early days but failed to communicate the event's significance. The lad's holding what I'd call a scaled-down template; in the Workshop, Part Two, you called it something else. I went back to check the word, returned back to this comment only to discover what I'd originally posted had disappeared and I'd forgotten your word. The profile (Was that it?) suggests an ambitiously streamlined shape. With curves, yet! Straight lines are hard enough for me. But what kind of wheels? And how will they be attached? Or are you keeping all this secret from the other competitors?
That there is pride in that last shot, as it should be.
Marja-Leena:
I am, indeed, a very lucky grandmother to have such a child in my life. We had a great time in the workshop, once I got out of his way and turned him loose with the tools, which I suspect, for him, is the best part of making this car.
:)
BB:
We used a template Donovan designed to draw around for placing the design on his blank. "Blank" might not be the correct word, but that's what my woodcarving instructor called rough-shaped decoys in our class. I may have used the word pattern interchangably, which comes from my dressmaking/home sewing days.
I tried to convince Donovan that his first project should be something a little less ambitious, until he got a feel for the process and for the tools to which he was being introduced. However, if he is anything like me (and I fear he might be), he'll have to learn from experience...not always the worst way to learn. (His first design was a Chinese-style dragon on wheels, with spindly horns, sharp fins along its spine and fearsome looking carved-out teeth. Glad he settled for this design.)
He wants to build a car with high, thin fins, like Batman's car from the movie of the same name. We talked about not making them too thin, to avoid breakage. The curves were roughed out using the coping saw and the jigsaw. We'll use the miniature drum sanders with the Dremel to finish shaping the fins.
Before we do that, though, we have to address the lead weights and the wheels problems. I think graphite powder in the wheel axle slots might cut down on the friction. We'll try different solutions on a practice piece of wood before doing anything to his car.
I think I might be having as much fun with this project as he is, though for different reasons.
:)
WiaW:
Yes, he is proud of his work...as he has every reason to feel, as you say. He's a great kid, and I'm glad to know him.
:)
He's the kind that needs proof. Sounds like that's what you are giving him, the opportunity to see for himself. Clear, concrete goals, very motivating.
Wonderful accounts of your times together, what a smashing grandma you are!
That jigsaw's a handsome beast...
Zhoen:
You are so right about that. He must be convinced, sometimes more than once, that I know what I'm about. But once he understands a concept, he's off and running, needs very little input from, except gentle reminders about the power tools. Even so, he catches on quickly. He's fun to work with.
:)
Lucy:
Very nice to hear from you. Hope your visit with your sister was all you both hoped it would be.
Donovan is the smashing one; I'm along for the ride, but thank you.
:)
PS to Lucy - that jigsaw is the bomb, as Donovan says...I think that means it rocks. Cuts beautifully, variable speed and orbital cutting for making curved cuts like a hot knife through butter.
I love tools. Power hand tools especially.
Lovely being a Grandparent innit.
I never realised how joyful it could be until I experienced it.
Yes, John, it truly is lovely.
:D
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