my 9 year olds first tool box

[mikevango]

made this tool box up for Daisy's christmas present. she is going to love it. she is out in the garage with me all the time and she ain't no slouch. she can remove, clean and replace spark plugs. work the jack as i guide the 8 3/4 center section in the axle housing. i've had her in some tough situations that i couldn't do by myself. so i thought id start to put together a box for her.
16 inch craftsman box (should of went bigger) with a mix of good and cheap tools. check it out.

 

[mikevango]

a couple more. the thing weighs about twenty pounds i hope she can lift it.

 

[Bull]

As the father of a young girl, that is making me smile broadly. Nice work, dad!

What wrench rack is that?

 

[Joe B.]

As the father of a young girl, that is making me smile broadly. Nice work, dad!

me too

 

[fatboy99]

What a great tool set she will love it i like the pink paint in the wrench lettering !

 

[mikevango]

i still have two screwdrivers on the way. also need to get a new craftsman sticker on the front of the box since the one i removed wasn't reusable.
i wanted to get her usa sockets and wrenches. most of mine are craftsman and i didn't want hers to get mixed up with mine so i choose the kobalt. all the tools at home depot seem to be imports.
bull the rack came with the wrench set.

 

[Bull]

How long did it take you to source all the pink tools?

 

[mikevango]

How long did it take you to source all the pink tools?

it wasn't too bad. maybe a week or so. some from ebay some from amazon and some local. i found a two drawer pink box but it was $200. so i thought i could just paint a craftsman box pink. my bud paints cars so i had him help me. it's basecoat clearcoat. it took us a couple stores to find the lace to paint the top. two dudes in a fabric store buying lace
i have over $200 into it but it was fun.

 

[Bull]

Damn, well, once again I think it is just great. My girl is only 4 months, but someday...thanks for the idea.

Oh, and the wrenches...what did you remove the excess paint with while leaving it in the letters?

 

[ihredo4]

Great idea my friend. I should have done the same thing for my daughters. At least it gets them a good start for the rest of their lives.

 

[mikevango]

Damn, well, once again I think it is just great. My girl is only 4 months, but someday...thanks for the idea.

Oh, and the wrenches...what did you remove the excess paint with while leaving it in the letters?

just some steel wool. still a little paint on them where the wrenches were really textured.

Great idea my friend. I should have done the same thing for my daughters. At least it gets them a good start for the rest of their lives.

thats what i was thinking. thats why i got her some pretty nice wrenches. the pliers are china but they seem pretty sturdy. should hold up unless she turns pro. i would've of loved to get her channellocks and remove the blue and dip them in pink. that'd been awesome. oh well we can upgrade from here.

 

[Cameronl]

What wrench rack is that?

I'm curious, too. Looks like something I've been looking for.

And yes, that set is awesome. The extra effort to customize it shows a lot of care.

I've started to put a box together for my son, who's 12. He hasn't expressed much more than a passing interest, but I think his seeing me always working on stuff around the house will make him appreciate the need for a decent set of tools. The only difference is, I'm preparing it for the day he leaves home (or actually becomes more interested in having his own tools before then). Rather than plunk down a fortune at the time, I'm picking up things here and there when there's a good deal on. It'll be mostly Craftsman because that's what he sees me use, but it'll all be decent homeowner stuff.

 

[Lookin4'67Galaxieconv]

Very nice, Mike. But are you sure she's going to like the pink?

She may think that's too girly?!

 

[T56 Impala]

Very nice!

As a 9 year old, I rebuilt my first engine, with dad's help and supervision. At 13 I was doing it solo. Nothing wrong with getting her started the right way! 20lbs might be just a little heavy though.

 

[wakeboarder311]

nice work! i have been thinking about doing the same thing. my 3 year old wants her own tool box.

 

[mikevango]

here she is hard at work

 

[lbgradwell]

That is just awesome!!!

Cudos to you on such a thoughtful gift; I'm sure she'll be as proud as can be.

 

[expatriated]

Absolutely awesome. I think that is great.

I recently bought a large 260 piece Craftsman set on sale even though I was only planning on using about 30% of it. The rest, I split up for my 5 year old and 3 year old.

For you guy that have kids, please take the time to teach them this stuff at a young age. I never got any of it growing up so I'm learning stuff in my 30's I should have learned as a kid. I'm taking great pains to make sure my kids learn to work with their hands and the importance of acquiring good tools and taking care of them.

So, great job, Mike. Very impressive.

Where did you find small mechanix gloves? I can't find any sizes under Large around here. My son wants a pair for Christmas and he's a small or extra-small. I saw on the site I can order them but I'd prefer to find them locally.

 

[ihredo4]

That smile makes everythign you are doing worth while doesn't it. Personally I dont care what my kids are doing just as long as they are happy about it. I hated my job...no loved the job just not the A-HOLES I worked for and with.

 

[le6920]

Great job

 

[tatra]

good stuff......and the smile on her face is priceless...........i'm sure it wll be even bigger when she get's her gift..........make sure ya got the camera ready for that moment............

 

[Mickey O]

Very nice and thoughtful, post some more pics after she stickers up the box. I wonder what type of stickers a girl would put on her tool box?

 

[CarCrafter]

This is great, I guess I'll be doing this in about 9 years. Great work !!!!!!!

 

[RLRRLRLL]

i can see her opening it..and jumping around and giggling like crazy...well..thats what id do if i got a gift like that lol.

 

[jeepnut24]

Awesome project. Can't wait to do something similar for my daughter in a few years. Mine already LOVES working on my car at 2. I still have to toolbox my dad gave me many years ago. A metal craftsman much like the one you used.

 

[jamesemery728]

Great gift, she will appreciate the fact that you did this for her as much as she will appreciate the tools.

 

[nw2571]

Great thread and a great project idea. There's nothing like being able to share something you love with the ones you love. You're very lucky that your 9 year old daughter has an interest. I really hope my 4 month old feels the same way when she gets old enough to help.

I'm trying to get her started early!

 

[RLRRLRLL]

well...shes already drooling over the tools...

 

[tatra]

drooling.....good ...

 

[nw2571]

well...shes already drooling over the tools...

That's why I stay out of the pictures. I'm usually drooling all over the 'Vette or the tools too!

 

[D.J.]

Really sweet! I wish I'd started both mine out younger! Ones now 22 and the other is 16, and I even tried to make the youngest one a deal a couple summers ago, that I'd buy a brand new zero turn is she would run it and mow yards in my small town. We'd split the profits 50/50. She wouldn't do it. now she's putting apps in around the bigger towns 30 miles away. Enjoy while shes young shes 9 going on 30.
________
IPAD GUIDE

 

[Garage_Mahal]

Very cool. My princess wants a pink drill now, where did you find yours?

 

[nw2571]

How did Daisy like her tools?

 

[mikevango]

Very cool. My princess wants a pink drill now, where did you find yours?

i was ready to buy it on ebay for $99. then seen it on amazon for $48

How did Daisy like her tools?

she loved it. she used the utility knife like ten times on christmas morning. she also got a desk we had to assemble so we used the drill and screwdrivers to put it together.

 

[Cryptic1911]

hahah thats awesome

 

[xstubsx]

i really like what u did with the wrenches. what technique did you use to paint the letters?.

 

[mikevango]

i really like what u did with the wrenches. what technique did you use to paint the letters?.

you can see it in my first post. taped off most of the wrench sprayed it and then removed the excess with steel wool.

 

[illmatyk]

I don't have any kids at the moment but that is an awesome project!

Now I know what to do if I have a daughter.

 

[Lookin4'67Galaxieconv]

Nice job, Mike!

 

[xstubsx]

you can see it in my first post. taped off most of the wrench sprayed it and then removed the excess with steel wool.

ah. ok gotcha thanks