The Next Generation

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AvgJoe

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There is a family that I attend church with whose 10 year old son asked his father to learn how to weld. His father is a bean counter and didn't have the equipment or knowledge to show his son. His father knew I had a hobby shop and asked if I could help out. When the boy saw all the equipment in my shop, it was literally like a kid in a candy shop. I showed him how to weld that day and told him to come up with another project if he wanted to learn how to use some of the other equipment in my shop.

He decided on a fidget spinner and I had him make a model and drawings in SolidWorks and he's been committing an evening/week to machine it. On his last visit, he inquired how much a mill and lathe would cost. It was terrible to see the disappointment when I told him approximately how much the equipment in my shop cost (as a point of reference). He has 3 sisters and they're a single income family - mom stays home and home-schools them. From his perspective, acquiring a lathe and/or mill would be a daunting task.

I thought if I could find a small lathe (ie: Atlas or Craftsman) and mill (ie: small Clausing or Burke) that were cheap (or free), that this would be a good way to keep him going in the 20180609_200947[1].jpg So if anyone has a lead on the aforementioned equipment (or similar) and would like to help pass our hobby on to the next generation, please let me know.
 
Welcome to the forum Joe.
Good for you to help this fine young inquisitive mind out.
My Grandson is almost 2. When he comes over he wants to go see Papa’s tools.
Since the schools don’t have machine shops any more, it’s up to us to expose these young ones.
 
Awesome to see a young person interested enough to try learning about building things. I'm curious to see his design for a fidget spinner, my kids like those things and I think I could cut one on the Bridgeport. Good on you for helping him learn. I'm thrilled that my kids have a little interest and I have been able to teach them the basics of running a lathe. I need to get some more hoods so I can show them welding.

Can't really help on locating equipment, it's difficult to find gear around here and even if I had it, getting it to Florida would be challenging. :)
 
It's funny, all my life I have been interested in tools and what they do. I have also been buying tools my whole life.
When my oldest turned 16, I bought him a Craftsman set of tools and a box. He thought that sucked.
Now, he is an electrician. He loves tools and has been buying them for the past 10 years.
My youngest is a teacher and could care less.
You never know what will influence younger folks.
They do have to have some exposure so the light will come on.
 
That is nice of you to help the kid out and introduce him to your shop. So few opportunities these days for kids to be around tools.

As far as equipment you might look at mini-lathes and mini-mills. Not sure where you would find free, but sometimes you can find used 7x12 lathes in good condition for as little as $200-300.
 
Thanks for all the replies.

I'll post a picture of his project - he should be done on the mill tonight, but I'm going to have him hand file fillets (it builds character).

Gloves - the latex gloves were to keep his mom happy... along with an in-depth conversation about safety (with a specific conversation on why we don't wear any other type of gloves around moving machinery). See the attached image of the safety rules tag that's on my mill.

20180614_170550[1].jpg
 
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