Want to learn something? - Let the kiddos in the shop

[wareagle]

My little boy has been my shadow ever since he started walking. That fact has made for some difficulties in working in the shop uninterrupted and unimpeded. But, that is just a part of being a dad. I enjoy every moment we share, and wished there was always more.

With our weather that we have experienced this week, there has been a lot of time spent together working on his Pinewood Derby car (he is a cub scout) and he has been watching me do various things with the Crusader project. As he gets older, he obviously has been trying to understand the hows and whys of the work I do. (okay, I am also trying to figure out the same thing! )

Today, he was watching me very intently while I was doing a facing operation on the lathe. When I got done with the part, he asked what all of the handles did. I spent about ten minutes walking him over the machine (power off!), and amazingly enough he has a grasp of what each one does and now knows the different parts of the lathe (chuck, tail stock, carriage, compound,cross slide, etc.).

Safety was also discussed, and a thorough explanation of what the dangers are were detailed. Basically in short, stay away from the moving parts, stand to the opposite side of the tool post, always wear glasses, never ever operate the machine without permission and supervision, etc. (as a side note, the machines all have lockable disconnects to keep the power off when not in use - and they are used in my shop to keep Mini-me safe!) We ended with him facing off a piece of scrap aluminum under very close supervision. He did very well.

After we were done, he asked about the marks on the dials and what they meant. How do you explain a thousandth of an inch to a first grader? I did my best to explain how an inch is divided by ten, then a hundred, and then a thousand, drew pictures, showed him different measurements with a feeler gauge and dial indicator so he could see what .010 looks like.

After I stumbled through the explanation and demonstration, he interjects and says, " Okay, I think I got it. It is just like money, and we study money in school." Duh! It sure is like money! Why don't I have him explain this stuff to me. : Anyway, he looked at the ruler marked off in tenths, and understands that each is a "dime". An inch is a "dollar". On the dial indicator, he knows that each major graduation (10, 20,30, etc.) is a "penny". The concept of the thousandth was a bit much for him.

In about fifteen minutes time, he now knows how to use a dial indicator, and can tell you what the measurement is down to a hundredth. He knows what that equates to on the machine handles, and looked at a dimensioned drawing and had the "ah ha" moment. I gave him a simple dimensioned drawing (square plate with nine holes in a square pattern) that happened to be scaled 1:1, and he has been measuring it any way you could imagine and studying it intently.

It looks like he is taking an interest in machining. My poor kid...

One thing that came out of this today for me (he teaches me, too!) was another way of helping a non-machinist someone understand how we measure and dimension things. The dollar, dime, penny comparison is something that almost everyone understands (not our politicians) and can easily be demonstrated. It has probably been done that way for eons, but for me today, it was that "Ah Ha" moment!

I thought I would share for those that have kids and grandkids (or and inquisitive friend, neighbor or spouse) that may ask a seemingly difficult to answer question.

BTW I never have once said that I was smarter than my kid!

 

[Tin Falcon]

if you stared out with $10 =1 inch then on thousandth is a penny.
Tin

 

[bearcar1]

And to think that alot of us were that smart at that age and look at us now. We grew up and left that part behind. At least I did. I remember my Grandfather attempting to teach me the same when I was a 2nd grader. Adding and subtracting thousands of an inch (3, sometimes 4, decimal places) Are you kidding me? Hell I was having a hard enough time just getting normal numbers down. No wonder I never was any good at math. Good onya WE for at least taking the time and explaining things to such an inquiring lad. They say a child's mind at a certain age is like a sponge. It can't seem to get enough information. It must have been a very proud moment for you to see that the lights were on and the party was underway. Thm:

 

[dsquire]

Casey

Glad to hear that the young lad is taking to the shop like a duck to water. Let's hope that there are many more years of working together in the shop and learning together. I think back to my kids and grand kids at that age and those are treasured memories. :bow: :bow:

Cheers

Don

 

[steamer]

Hi Casey,

I've had some similar experiences wth my kids. The concept of .001" was very difficult....so I got my micrometers out. I sat down next to my daughter, pulled one hair out of MY head ( that's OK...I'm root bound, could use the room ;D) and using the micrometer measured the hair....they can see that even if my eyes can only barely. There my hair is .003" ( 3 one thousands of an inch) and show them on the micrometer....then hold the mic up to the light and they can see the little sliver of light coming through the anvils.....so they got a tactile sense of it.

However.....they do understand money very well! We'll try that approuch for the writing down stuff.

Dave

 

[b.lindsey]

Time well spent Casey, and I expect he will remember it from now on. Now if I can just get college engineering students to remember the proper direction of rotation for tightening and loosening screws...lol. Somehow "righty tighty, lefty loosey" just doesn't seem quite technical enough :big: I think unfortunately, someone didn't spend that kind of quality time with them back in the first grade...so good for you!! And good for him too for taking an interest.

Bill

 

[Tin Falcon]

In my observations folks have a hard time with fractions and converting to decimals.
I worked with a guy in a steel fab shop that "NEEDED" a construction calculator to add fractions. I would do it in my head and check with soapstone on a piece of steel. The guy was a smart as they come 4.0 GPA all through school inducing medical school. Yes the guy was a Dentist. but could not do grade school math without a calculator.
And folks have a hard time understanding .06 pounds is one once. (approx.)
Tin

 

[wareagle]

Thanks for the kind words guys! The kid has a mechanical mind, and I am thrilled that he has decided to inquire about the machining to the detail he has. Mrs. Wareagle told me this morning that she had to take his drawing away from him last night so he would go to sleep.

It won't be a whole lot longer before dad won't be so cool. The teenage years aren't that far away, and hopefully the bonds we are building now will break through when it counts. However, once he discovers girls it will all be over! ;D

And to think that alot of us were that smart at that age and look at us now. We grew up and left that part behind. At least I did. I remember my Grandfather attempting to teach me the same when I was a 2nd grader. Adding and subtracting thousands of an inch (3 sometimes 4 decimal places) Are you kidding me? Hell I was having a hard enough time just getting normal numbers down. No wonder I never was any good at math. Good onya WE for at taking the time and explaining things to such an inquiring lad. They sat a child's mind at a certain age is like a sponge. It can't seem to get enough information. It must have been a very proud moment for you to see that the lights were on and the party was underway. Thm:

I hear you! At his age, I probably was the same way. But as you say, that has been left behind. If only we had that back (as well as the energy)!

I’ll feed him everything I can when he wants it. Probably would take less than twenty minutes, though!

Casey

Glad to hear that the young lad is taking to the shop like a duck to water. Let's hope that there are many more years of working together in the shop and learning together. I think back to my kids and grand kids at that age and those are treasured memories. :bow: :bow:

Cheers

Don

Don, I can remember my dad teaching me how to weld like it was yesterday. I think I was 11 at the time. There are enough other special times that we shared together over the years that a series of books could be written. It makes me happy that I am building some of those same memories with Mini-me these days.

Hi Casey,

I've had some similar experiences wth my kids. The concept of .001" was very difficult....so I got my micrometers out. I sat down next to my daughter, pulled one hair out of MY head ( that's OK...I'm root bound, could use the room ;D) and using the micrometer measured the hair....they can see that even if my eyes can only barely. There my hair is .003" ( 3 one thousands of an inch) and show them on the micrometer....then hold the mic up to the light and they can see the little sliver of light coming through the anvils.....so they got a tactile sense of it.

However.....they do understand money very well! We'll try that approuch for the writing down stuff.

Dave

Dave, hopefully that will help. When my boy said it was like money, it was like being knocked over with a feather. It is funny how kids will do that from time to time! For something that is so obvious, I had never thought of it that way before.

He doesn’t get the .001” yet, but he will in due time; probably sooner than later. I was really surprised at how easily and quickly he picked up on the concept of hundredths, and then started looking at dimensions on a drawing and putting two and two together.

Put this kid to work! Maybe I ought to load CAD and CAM on his computer so he can teach me some stuff!

Time well spent Casey, and I expect he will remember it from now on. Now if I can just get college engineering students to remember the proper direction of rotation for tightening and loosening screws...lol. Somehow "righty tighty, lefty loosey" just doesn't seem quite technical enough :big: I think unfortunately, someone didn't spend that kind of quality time with them back in the first grade...so good for you!! And good for him too for taking an interest.

Bill

Bill, it is sad to see some of the kid’s situations that go to school with Mini-me. Parents are divorced, living with a grand parent or aunt/uncle. Some are left to entertain themselves while their parents are doing their thing. Video games, computers, and TV are the things that are raising those kids. Truly a sad thing for them! No wonder so many of them struggle with such mundane things as putting a bolt and nut together.

I have not pushed any of my interests off on my kid. True, I would dearly love for him to follow in my footsteps, but he is his own person, and has his own interests. As he gets older, his interests are falling inline with mine, and that has been fun!

At the very least, my boy will understand how to do some mechanical things and have had a childhood of growing up as a part of family, not just with.

In my observations folks have a hard time with fractions and converting to decimals.
I worked with a guy in a steel fab shop that "NEEDED" a construction calculator to add fractions. I would do it in my head and check with soapstone on a piece of steel. The guy was a smart as they come 4.0 GPA all through school inducing medical school. Yes the guy was a Dentist. but could not do grade school math without a calculator.
And folks have a hard time understanding .06 pounds is one once. (approx.)
Tin

Tin, I have seen the same thing myself more times that I care to remember. Mrs. Wareagle does accounting work. She can do decimal math in her head lightning fast. Give her a tape measure, and it is like handing kryptonite to Superman. Trying to add or subtract the 8ths, 16ths and 32nds throws her for a curve. She is far from being stupid (well, maybe a little... she did marry me after all ), it is just that her mind hasn't been trained to think that way. Given enough time and practice, she would be measuring things like a champ.


Guys, thanks again for the kind words! Y'all are an inspiration!

 

[Dave G]

Hi guys, My son is 25 now and a very capable machinist and mechanic. He amazes me what he has picked up working in the shop with me and now with the increased technology in todays automobiles, he is way ahead of me. One thing that I found that he had to learn at an early age was that anything we did in the shop or at home was to keep it to himself. My son was labeled a liar and storyteller by his peers and also by some teachers that he had. In this day and age where very few people take the time to do anything constructive with their kids other than sports, people like us who like to get our hands dirty, aren't understood anymore. I encourage any one with a son or daughter who has an interest in machining or mechanics
to teach everything they know to them, It will absolutely help them in the long run. The only thing is alot of kids don't have this opportunity available to them and we all know how kids can be. My son not only got to learn alot about mechanics but also learned alot about people as well. When my son was in freshman shop class, the instructor was helping a senior who wanted to make something on an old bridgeport that the shop had. The shopteacher had no experience with machining and couldn't figure out how to remove the drill chuck from the spindle. My son walked over and told him he had to take a 3/4 inch wrench and loosen the bolt on top of the spindle then tap on it to release the taper and then it could be removed. The teacher followed his instructions and was successful in removing the drill chuck but the teacher wasn't to happy about the situation. Only after having a teachers conference did things ease up for my son. I'm not trying to discourage anyone from
spending quality time with their children it just creates some new challenges for them. Dave