Dylan R Posted October 30, 2013 Share Posted October 30, 2013 Hello all. My 7 year old son has been hammering soft steel on an anvil I inherited from my grandfather. We realized that he was ready to move up, so I build a brake drum forge. this journey has been fun and we are excited to practice and learn more. We are trying to make all of our own tools, so this will take some time and I'm certain it will be more rewarding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
781 Posted October 30, 2013 Share Posted October 30, 2013 Welcome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DSW Posted October 31, 2013 Share Posted October 31, 2013 Hello and welcome. It's good to see young kids getting out and learning to work with their hands. Quality time with dad is a bonus. I would suggest a few things though. Number one would be some safety gear. At a minimum safety glasses. They do make kids size safety glasses, but they aren't the easiest things to find. I'm not sure where the 4-H picks up the kids size safety glasses we offer to the kids. They may have come thru a sporting goods store or the archery supplier, but they are available if you look around. I've had some luck with some standard safety glasses they sell at Depot/Lowes that are on the small side for the YMCA archery program. best bet is to have him try on a few and see what fits well. If you can't find a pair that fits decent, get one of the neoprene head straps that are used to hold prescription glasses on while playing sports. These at least help keep larger safety glasses from always falling off, though the over size glasses still may allow stuff to get by. Hearing protection would be #2. Having partial hearing loss from not using hearing protection years ago when I first started working with tools, I really regret it today. Of course back then most people really didn't bother with stuff like that. Have him get in the habit of using safety gear right from the start, Last and probably most important with safety gear is that it fits him well. Safety gear won't get used if it's uncomfortable. It only takes one time to ruin your life and it's too late to wish you'd used it after the fact. Last thing would be to either drop the height of your anvil down to his height, or build a small platform that he can stand on to raise him up higher. It's tough to do demos with kids when they are too short to reach the height of the anvil well. I've found some blocks can help along with setting the demo anvil lower than what I'd typically use for myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swedefiddle Posted October 31, 2013 Share Posted October 31, 2013 Good Morning, Don't go shy on safety!! We get one set of eyes and one set of hearing, period. No chance of a second set!! Enjoy the journey, PLAY SAFE!! Neil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan R Posted October 31, 2013 Author Share Posted October 31, 2013 Thanks for the reception. Working on a platform for him to stand on until I locate another anvil. He's got his boots, safety glasses, hearing protection,etc. I'm trying to either find him a leather bib online, or get the materials to make one. Since he doesn't quite have the guns, he'll have me as his striker for a while. This is a great father/ son hobby and I'm glad he initiated it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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