My first big project

I found a very helpful book at the library, Carpentry for Children by Lester Walker. It explains everything you need to know to go from being a regular person to becoming a carpenter who can build nice things. The first thing it talks about is how to use the book. Then it talks about the tools you will need and how to use them. The next section is on building your workshop. It teaches you how to build saw horses, a tool box, and a workbench.

This morning, Papa and I went to a hardware store and bought a saw, two large c-clamps, nails, and some lumber. A lot of the pieces of lumber were very big -- eight and ten feet. Papa and I measured the boards and marked them. An employee at the store used a machine saw and cut the large pieces into the sizes we needed.



At home, after my nap, my mother and father helped me build the frame for the workbench. Then while my mother was at a meeting, my Papa and I built the rest of the workbench. One of the legs was taller than the others and so we had to saw it down.



We nailed the top onto the frame and then nailed the legs on. This took a lot more time than it sounds like. At the end, we nailed on leg braces and attached a shelf. When we were done, I was amazed at what we had accomplished.