Our son will be turning 11 this year, and he has shown an interest in woodworking. So I’m going to build a workbench in the barn and mount some woodworking tools on it.
I was thinking of purchasing the following:
Bench top drill press
Bench top sander
Bench top band saw
I already have electric hand drills, Dremel tool, C-clamps, measuring tools, lots of drill bits, etc.
Is there anything else I should get?
I was also thinking about getting a small compound miter saw, something like this. But I am concerned about safety. I’m thinking the drill press and band saw should be pretty safe for an 11 year old to use, but am not sure about a miter saw.
They’re all potentially dangerous, but a bandsaw should do the job. You may want a decent size standing bandsaw, better quality is going to be less dangerous to use. You might think about some form of jigsaw instead of the bandsaw like the Rockwell Bladerunner. For a sander one of the combination disk/strip sanders should be all he needs.
There’s just no way any saw is “safe”. I know a (supposed) professional woodworker that sliced off two fingers with a band saw. My dad, years of experience, sliced a finger but good on a table saw.
Trouble is, a good shop needs some kid of saw. You can say “never use the saw without me around”, but one day…(I know. I was that kid. Still have my fingers, though.)
Craftsman tools, at least I know, have safety interlocks for the switches.
I’d vote for a band saw. For small hobby projects, I use the band saw much more than even the cutoff saw. This is the one I have, for example, but other brands of a similar size would work:
Nothing wrong with hand saws, either. It’s not a bad idea to gain skills with hand tools. Sometimes they’re a better tool for a given job than setting up a power tool for a quick task. One of my go to tools for boring big holes is my grandfather’s old brace and bits.
Hand saws, bench planes, hand drills all help develop good woodworking skills. You can still get hurt with them, but usually not as bad as power tools.
I also think the hand tools is a good idea for a 11 year old.
Maybe see if the local middle school offers shop- that’s how I learned a lot of good power tool safety practices and how to use tools that my dad didn’t have (table saw, jointer, planer, router, etc…)
But that’s not what I was saying. Power saws are way more inherently dangerous than bikes or little league. With saws, there is the Whirling Blade of Death right there. We don’t have to get into SD nitpickery, or “and, butt”-ery. I would never let an 11 year old use a saw unsupervised, but I would let him ride a bike unsupervised.
And the saw supervision would be pretty tight. Even adults loose fingers in saws, or get hurt from saw kickback.
having hand tools allow you to understand procedure and process. it also allows you to see the action better so you are more aware of the danger areas and functional areas before faced with a high speed blur.
I started out using my father’s** hand tools**. No power tools at all. Hammers, screwdrivers, wrenches, hand saws, a brace and bit, etc. Best he learn how to crawl/walk woodworking than give him any keys up front so he drives right away.
A LOT depends on the 11 year old. I’ve seen some that are very “aware” of what’s going on, and pay attention. And I’ve seen others that within a day of working with a bandsaw would look like they’d had a bad run-in with the Yakuza
So you will need to assess the “danger” in relation to how “conscientious” and “aware” your 11 year old is/would be when working with tools.
The second consideration is just what kind of projects you think will be tackled.
I also think there is nothing wrong with handtools for starting. For one thing, you gain an appreciation for things like “measure twice, cut once” when there’s a lot more effort involved. So they are a good means of learning overall skills and practices.
From your list, I think the drill press and sander are fine.
Though perhaps a bit trickier to operate, I would lean toward a miter saw over the bandsaw (unless you had projects that would best be done with a bandsaw). With the miter saw, you usually have to be holding a button for the blade to be spinning, and you need to be pulling the blade down to the wood. So the miter saw is a much more “involved” act with cutting.
With the bandsaw, the blade is going until you turn it off. I have seen too many “reach acrosses” with bandsaws going - people just forget that that blade is still whirring.
As said above they can all be very dangerous. A lot depends on the child. With proper training a 12 year old could possibly be trusted with those tools but 12 would be where I drew the line. I would also insist on proper training either fro yourself or someone else. All those tools need to be set up properly for safe use and each time a belt of blade is changed. I knock my nuckles off on the belt sander quite regularly because I get too confident.
I just bought this Jet bandsaw not long ago. Heavy enough not to wobble around on you, and easy to set up. It has a 14" throat, so works for most home projects. It gets high marks by both pro reviewers and consumers. It draws about 12 amps, so is good for home shops. I also got the mobile base so that I can move it as necessary in my very small shop.
More recently, I bought this DeWalt portable table saw, along with the table extensions. Very easy to put together, and easily set up and stored by one person. When it’s standing on end, it takes up very little space against the wall. Again, it gets very high marks from home users and contractors alike, even better than the comparable Bosch portable. The only downside that I’ve found is that the top is not ferrous (to cut down on weight), so magnetic finger boards won’t work with it.
Safety is always paramount around any power tools, of course. Kickback is a common problem for table saws, but if you develop and follow a strict mental checklist for operation, it’s as safe as most other tools.
I now see that you’ve got a youngster involved in all this. I’d highly recommend a hand tool class for him at a local woodworking school, or do it yourself, if you’re competent with blade tools. Learning how to use planes, draw knives, scrapers, chisels and the like will serve him well and teach him respect for all things sharp.
You might want a lathe as well, depending on what you might want to make.
A lot of my friends told me not to get a home gym, because eventually our child will get curious about it and might get injured.
My wife was also very much against having a firearm in the house for pretty much the same reason.
My response to both was the same- I’d rather have them learn to use the equipment properly and safely here at home, rather than seeing it outside and not knowing what to do. At home, you have control over what they learn and how they learn it- once they leave the nest, not so much.
Yeah, get the dust collector. Safety is up to you. Teach your son well, but keep supervising him for a few more years. I like the lathe idea too. My kids weren’t that interested in woodworking at all until we started turning things. We didn’t do anything fancy, it’s just fun to do. Get some sanding drums to use on your drill press. Besides sanding you can do a lot of decorative stuff with those by sanding out crescent shaped and half round sections of wood, plus easily putting a radius on edges.
Another vote for starting the young man on hand tools, first. Not that you can’t hurt yourself with them - my right index finger still has the scar where I sliced my finger down to the bone with one stroke of a hand saw. On the other hand, if that had been a power saw I wouldn’t have a finger anymore. It sure taught me respect for anything with a blade, teeth, or a sharp edge.
If you do opt for power tools you might consider some sort of lock mechanism so he simply can’t use them unless you unlock them first.
I’ve gotten by fine without a band saw as an amateur, but I love my table saw. Add a cross-cut sled and it’s magic. I wouldn’t want to break down a sheet of plywood on a band saw.
