Well I had an interesting weekend with my grandson, Christian age 12. For a school project he wanted to build a boat out of scrap wood. This is for a craft trade program where kids make something then trade for something that another kid has made. He had permission to have an adult use power saws. Christian can use a coping saw better than most adults. We talked a little about the design and he had a few books. I suggested that he make a rubber band powered boat and that is what he finally decided. I first took a piece of 1x6 pine and cut a point on the one end. In the back he cut out a part 1 1/4 inch wide and 2 1/2 inches long. He then used a mallet and chisels to cut two notches a 1/2 inch long and 3/8 inch wide and deep for the motor. I cut a thin piece of wood a little over 1/8 thick 3/4 inch wide and about 4 inches long. I then had Christian take a wood rasp or file to make a spot to hold the paddle halfway in the 3/8 dowel rod. When the paddle was glued in place he cut the rod to fit in the grooves that he chiseled in the back of the boat. I then left him use my bench sander to round all of the points around the boat. When he was ready to put the paddle in place I gave him two electric cable straps and some small screws to put over the top of the dowel rods to keep them in place. He then inserted two screw hooks right in from of the paddle. Now a rubber band would be placed over the hooks and around part of the paddle. By winding it a few turns when released it gave a pretty good spin to the paddle. I then cut a strip that he would glue to the bottom to make a rudder. Again he used the sander to shape the front of the strip and glued it in place. I took a small piece of 2x4 and using the chop saw made the top of the boat. He then used the drill press to drill a 1 1/4 hole to hold a medicine container. This will both represent a smoke stack and hold a lot of extra rubber bands. He got to use quite a few tools. A bench sander, drill press, hand drill, coping saw, wood rasp, wood chisels and a mallet and a sanding block. He is quite proud of the boat. He now has to paint it and have it ready for next week. Christian, like me, also has RP. I want him to learn to use as many tools as he can while he has some vision. We have become very close and projects like this are wonderful. --- Please visit my home page; it is motivational, inspirational and humorous with many resources for the blind. http://www.geocities.com/lenny_mchugh/ Lenny
------------------------------------ Send any questions regarding list management to: [email protected] To listen to the show archives go to link http://www.acbradio.org/pweb/index.php?module=pagemaster&PAGE_user_op=view_page&PAGE_id=33&MMN_position=47:29 Or ftp://ftp.acbradio.org/acbradio-archives/handyman/ The Pod Cast address for the Blind Handy Man Show is. http://www.acbradio.org/news/xml/podcast.php?pgm=saturday Visit The Blind Handy Man Files Page To Review Contributions From Various List Members At The Following address: http://www.jaws-users.com/JAWS/handyman/ Visit the archives page at the following address http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ If you would like to join the JAWS Users List, then visit the following address for more information: http://www.jaws-users.com/ For a complete list of email commands pertaining to the Blind Handy Man list just send a blank message to: [email protected]! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/blindhandyman/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/blindhandyman/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[email protected] mailto:[email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
