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Hi,
I would very much like to do a woodworking project with the 5 boys in my Cub Scout den (one is my son). I'll outline what I have in mind here, and then any suggestions for improvement or simplifiying it would be very welcome.
The project is a cutting board, and I aim to have them make it specifically as a gift for their mother or other relative. I got some cutoffs from the cul bin at my lumberyard that are cherry glueups about 12x12". These are the basic blanks, and I have enough for 1 per boy and several spares.
For a finish, I got some Salad Bowl Finish from General. It's nice in that it's a wipe-on, and doesn't overwhelm you with a solvent smell. And it's non-toxic when dry, a definite plus. (I know that other finishes are possibly non-toxic when dry, but this one is conclusively.)
So I figured I'd run the boards through my planer to clean them up, just take a 32nd off each side. Then I'll let the boys sand them with some sanding blocks I'll make ahead of time out of MDF scrap. Here's woodworking lesson #1, sand with the grain.
Then I'll have them wipe on the finish, wearing gloves to keep it off their hands. And here's lesson #2, getting the general idea of how and why to finish wood. The drying time required by the stuff will make it necessary to do finishing on two nights (at least part of the second night).
I'm considering several enhancements to the program as outlined above, but those are the things I've pretty well committed to (i.e. bought the materials). Some of the ideas I had to enhance the project:
1. My drill press is portable enough I can set it up and let them drill their cutting boards, then insert a piece of dowel in a contrasting color (I have a walnut dowel) to give the thing some interest. Pro: drill press is reasonably safe, quiet, and not terribly messy. Con: sanding that dowel flush with the surface may frustrate the little guys, and will certainly add to the time.
2. I could make handles (probably walnut again) ahead of time that they then apply to the boards with glue and dowels. I'm having a hard time figuring out how to register the dowel holes reliably without drilling all the way through the handles. I suppose I could drill through the handles, but then use a plug to conceal the hole that shows. Pro: easy to register the handles by clamping them to the board blank and then drilling for the dowel. Boys can do some actual assembly. Con: I'd have to scare up some plugs, but no big deal there.
2a. A variation on the above where I notch the ends of the boards to make it easy for them to align the handles, which would just be glued on. Done this way we'd have to wait for the glue to dry before handling the boards. The tother con is I have to cut a bunch of accurate notches!
3. Route a profile into the edge of the board. I can bring a router table to the meeting, but I view this is really too dangerous for the kids to do, so I'm leaning toward doing this to the board blanks before I give them to the kids. I'm pretty convinced I should hand them boards with no sharp edges. If there's a reasonable way to let them see what that involves, I'm interested in doing it.
4. Get their name on it by pyrography. I think this is cool. but I'm a little skeptical of their penmanship under ordinary conditions, let alone holding a hot iron. I think this is probably out for safety reasons, although I remember doing it at that age.
5. Drill with a 3/4" Forstner bit and inlay a new penny. I think this would excite them and make it a little more special than just a board. Plus the supplies are cheap.
Pros: it gets them using the drill press, teach them about drilling a blind hole, makes some sawdust (I actually think this is a big deal), relatively safe with supervision. Cons: might take too much time, I'd need help managing the rest of the den while one boy uses the drill press.
6. Inlay a strip of walnut or other contrasting wood. I'd have to route the inlay, I'm not giving a router to a kid. Doing it on site would be noisy and messy, but I could let them decide where to put the strip, which would give them a little say in how it looks and kind of individualize them. I could pretty easily rip inlay strips ahead of time to a known thickness and then set up the router to get use real close to minimize the sanding needed. By doing a stock bit width like 3/4" or 1/2" I'd make it pretty easy. Pros: it would add a lot to the project, and give them more hands-on, plus some design say-so. Cons: even if I bring the M12V it's likely to be loud.
6a. I could pre-route the board banks so they just had to glue in the inlay and sand. We'd have to trim up, but a hand saw would be fine there I think. Pros: I could make sure there was no wacky grain mismatches. Cons: they probably will all look pretty similar.
I did a project like this as a kid. We had crudely crosscut foot-long pine 1x12 cutoffs (that were cupped like nobody's business) and we sanded them silly and rubbed olive oil in before screwing rubber feet to the bottom.
Trivia that may help: we meet for an hour every two weeks; we meet in a church so noise and mess are concerns (but I can handle the mess); I have loads of walnut scrap that can be put to good use for this; I own a jointer and planer; I do not own any hand planes; I do have a big set of Forstner bits; I don't mind doing necessary precision work in the shop ahead of time.
I care a lot less about the boards coming out looking gorgeous and more about the kids having fun, staying safe, learning a few things and just possibly getting sawdust fever. Your suggestions are most appreciated.
I would very much like to do a woodworking project with the 5 boys in my Cub Scout den (one is my son). I'll outline what I have in mind here, and then any suggestions for improvement or simplifiying it would be very welcome.
The project is a cutting board, and I aim to have them make it specifically as a gift for their mother or other relative. I got some cutoffs from the cul bin at my lumberyard that are cherry glueups about 12x12". These are the basic blanks, and I have enough for 1 per boy and several spares.
For a finish, I got some Salad Bowl Finish from General. It's nice in that it's a wipe-on, and doesn't overwhelm you with a solvent smell. And it's non-toxic when dry, a definite plus. (I know that other finishes are possibly non-toxic when dry, but this one is conclusively.)
So I figured I'd run the boards through my planer to clean them up, just take a 32nd off each side. Then I'll let the boys sand them with some sanding blocks I'll make ahead of time out of MDF scrap. Here's woodworking lesson #1, sand with the grain.
Then I'll have them wipe on the finish, wearing gloves to keep it off their hands. And here's lesson #2, getting the general idea of how and why to finish wood. The drying time required by the stuff will make it necessary to do finishing on two nights (at least part of the second night).
I'm considering several enhancements to the program as outlined above, but those are the things I've pretty well committed to (i.e. bought the materials). Some of the ideas I had to enhance the project:
1. My drill press is portable enough I can set it up and let them drill their cutting boards, then insert a piece of dowel in a contrasting color (I have a walnut dowel) to give the thing some interest. Pro: drill press is reasonably safe, quiet, and not terribly messy. Con: sanding that dowel flush with the surface may frustrate the little guys, and will certainly add to the time.
2. I could make handles (probably walnut again) ahead of time that they then apply to the boards with glue and dowels. I'm having a hard time figuring out how to register the dowel holes reliably without drilling all the way through the handles. I suppose I could drill through the handles, but then use a plug to conceal the hole that shows. Pro: easy to register the handles by clamping them to the board blank and then drilling for the dowel. Boys can do some actual assembly. Con: I'd have to scare up some plugs, but no big deal there.
2a. A variation on the above where I notch the ends of the boards to make it easy for them to align the handles, which would just be glued on. Done this way we'd have to wait for the glue to dry before handling the boards. The tother con is I have to cut a bunch of accurate notches!
3. Route a profile into the edge of the board. I can bring a router table to the meeting, but I view this is really too dangerous for the kids to do, so I'm leaning toward doing this to the board blanks before I give them to the kids. I'm pretty convinced I should hand them boards with no sharp edges. If there's a reasonable way to let them see what that involves, I'm interested in doing it.
4. Get their name on it by pyrography. I think this is cool. but I'm a little skeptical of their penmanship under ordinary conditions, let alone holding a hot iron. I think this is probably out for safety reasons, although I remember doing it at that age.
5. Drill with a 3/4" Forstner bit and inlay a new penny. I think this would excite them and make it a little more special than just a board. Plus the supplies are cheap.
Pros: it gets them using the drill press, teach them about drilling a blind hole, makes some sawdust (I actually think this is a big deal), relatively safe with supervision. Cons: might take too much time, I'd need help managing the rest of the den while one boy uses the drill press.6. Inlay a strip of walnut or other contrasting wood. I'd have to route the inlay, I'm not giving a router to a kid. Doing it on site would be noisy and messy, but I could let them decide where to put the strip, which would give them a little say in how it looks and kind of individualize them. I could pretty easily rip inlay strips ahead of time to a known thickness and then set up the router to get use real close to minimize the sanding needed. By doing a stock bit width like 3/4" or 1/2" I'd make it pretty easy. Pros: it would add a lot to the project, and give them more hands-on, plus some design say-so. Cons: even if I bring the M12V it's likely to be loud.
6a. I could pre-route the board banks so they just had to glue in the inlay and sand. We'd have to trim up, but a hand saw would be fine there I think. Pros: I could make sure there was no wacky grain mismatches. Cons: they probably will all look pretty similar.
I did a project like this as a kid. We had crudely crosscut foot-long pine 1x12 cutoffs (that were cupped like nobody's business) and we sanded them silly and rubbed olive oil in before screwing rubber feet to the bottom.
Trivia that may help: we meet for an hour every two weeks; we meet in a church so noise and mess are concerns (but I can handle the mess); I have loads of walnut scrap that can be put to good use for this; I own a jointer and planer; I do not own any hand planes; I do have a big set of Forstner bits; I don't mind doing necessary precision work in the shop ahead of time.
I care a lot less about the boards coming out looking gorgeous and more about the kids having fun, staying safe, learning a few things and just possibly getting sawdust fever. Your suggestions are most appreciated.
Loring in Katy, TX USA
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