medinacaver
Member
- Joined
- Oct 14, 2009
- Messages
- 15
Questions regarding the proper way to teach young kids how to use tools safely.
Ok, let’s start by saying that this morning is the first day of my young sons Christmas holiday break from school. As normally occurs with the young, curiosity, little supervision and a slight bend to the mischievous and they will come up with some really outstanding ideas.
I’ll backtrack a little. Yesterday, we went to the Flea market on the south side of San Antonio and I picked up the usual assortment of tools and he headed for the guy that sells fireworks year round. His choice was what we call “Pull Aparts”. They are a firecracker that has a string attached to both ends. They explode when you pull them apart. The possibilities are endless.
Well, my son decides to create some gifts for his Mom’s boss. An exploding pen is just the thing to ensure a large yearend bonus, don’t you think? But just one pull apart won’t work if you can stuff twelve in the same space, right? And of course he has to make sure it will work properly by trying it out.
Hang on. I promise, this is ‘Tool’ related.
Anyway, after he carefully packs twelve of these suckers in the pen, he tells me about his diabolical plan. “Well, what do you think, Dad? “Awesome”, say I. “Let’s go try it out. But first we need to get some personal protection gear on, and maybe modify the technique used to test the ‘Exploding Pen’”. You see, His first idea was to just run outside, hold the pen in one hand a pull the twelve strings with the other.
Here’s where the ‘Tool safety’ comes in.
I say, “There has got to be a tool that you can use to protect your hands.” So he grabs a Craftsman ½” deep socket ¼ drive and shoves the pen in with the strings coming out the drive end. And he uses a no name pliers for pulling the string. His idea he had was that the socket would protect his hand should the pen truly explode rather that just blast out the fat end. I should mention that the final design pen was to be loaded with a little wadding and a few nails. Thankfully there was nothing in there during this trial run. But the pen’s end cap was on.
So with safety glasses on, his experiment goes for its first trial run. He holds the socket in his little hand, points the pen towards the neighbor’s house, grabs the strings with the pliers and pulls. But as often happens, he flinches at the possible explosion and doesn’t pull hard enough. It’s Kind of like his first shots with the rifle. “You do it Dad, it won’t work for me”, he says.
Well, I can’t back down now can I? Remember, his hand is considerably smaller and the ½ deep drive socket fit better in his than my hand. So I am holding the socket with embedded exploding pen in one hand and wrap the pliers around the twelve string and yank real hard.
Success! The sound was extraordinary load. And the socket protected my hand holding the whole apparatus. However, the pain in the hand holding the pliers was fierce. Apparently, a considerable amount of force escaped the drive end and smashed into my hand. The pen blew into many pieces, some shrapnel embedded in my hand. Laughing uncontrollably and wincing in pain is something I have developed a talent for.
As I am typing this with one ****** hand, I thought I would ask the professionals on this board if they would pass along some of their vast experience with the proper use of tools.
Did we use the right size socket? Would an impact socket be better than a chromed one? How about an extra deep? Maybe extra long pliers so the hand is not in the blast zone.
Anyway, gotta run. I see a potato cannon in the making and don’t want to miss out on the fun.
Merry Christmas to all,
Medinacaver
Ok, let’s start by saying that this morning is the first day of my young sons Christmas holiday break from school. As normally occurs with the young, curiosity, little supervision and a slight bend to the mischievous and they will come up with some really outstanding ideas.
I’ll backtrack a little. Yesterday, we went to the Flea market on the south side of San Antonio and I picked up the usual assortment of tools and he headed for the guy that sells fireworks year round. His choice was what we call “Pull Aparts”. They are a firecracker that has a string attached to both ends. They explode when you pull them apart. The possibilities are endless.
Well, my son decides to create some gifts for his Mom’s boss. An exploding pen is just the thing to ensure a large yearend bonus, don’t you think? But just one pull apart won’t work if you can stuff twelve in the same space, right? And of course he has to make sure it will work properly by trying it out.
Hang on. I promise, this is ‘Tool’ related.
Anyway, after he carefully packs twelve of these suckers in the pen, he tells me about his diabolical plan. “Well, what do you think, Dad? “Awesome”, say I. “Let’s go try it out. But first we need to get some personal protection gear on, and maybe modify the technique used to test the ‘Exploding Pen’”. You see, His first idea was to just run outside, hold the pen in one hand a pull the twelve strings with the other.
Here’s where the ‘Tool safety’ comes in.
I say, “There has got to be a tool that you can use to protect your hands.” So he grabs a Craftsman ½” deep socket ¼ drive and shoves the pen in with the strings coming out the drive end. And he uses a no name pliers for pulling the string. His idea he had was that the socket would protect his hand should the pen truly explode rather that just blast out the fat end. I should mention that the final design pen was to be loaded with a little wadding and a few nails. Thankfully there was nothing in there during this trial run. But the pen’s end cap was on.
So with safety glasses on, his experiment goes for its first trial run. He holds the socket in his little hand, points the pen towards the neighbor’s house, grabs the strings with the pliers and pulls. But as often happens, he flinches at the possible explosion and doesn’t pull hard enough. It’s Kind of like his first shots with the rifle. “You do it Dad, it won’t work for me”, he says.
Well, I can’t back down now can I? Remember, his hand is considerably smaller and the ½ deep drive socket fit better in his than my hand. So I am holding the socket with embedded exploding pen in one hand and wrap the pliers around the twelve string and yank real hard.
Success! The sound was extraordinary load. And the socket protected my hand holding the whole apparatus. However, the pain in the hand holding the pliers was fierce. Apparently, a considerable amount of force escaped the drive end and smashed into my hand. The pen blew into many pieces, some shrapnel embedded in my hand. Laughing uncontrollably and wincing in pain is something I have developed a talent for.
As I am typing this with one ****** hand, I thought I would ask the professionals on this board if they would pass along some of their vast experience with the proper use of tools.
Did we use the right size socket? Would an impact socket be better than a chromed one? How about an extra deep? Maybe extra long pliers so the hand is not in the blast zone.
Anyway, gotta run. I see a potato cannon in the making and don’t want to miss out on the fun.
Merry Christmas to all,
Medinacaver
