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Dose that mean at 13 your too old ?

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Audiences and dispensations on Thursdays ~ by appointment only.


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A reasonable response would be that it's all dependent on the child in question. In 7th grade, we were taking wood shop and using all the big tools. I'm not sure that all kids have the common sense to do that, but most do. Some kids made great projects, and others faltered to make anything resembling a project at all. I made three things which are all still hanging around my mom's house, except for the chessboard, which I have. I'm not sure I would have had the skills to make a guitar then at all, but as Filippo says, electrics would be great projects for kids. I say go for it if you have a child who is keenly interested.

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

Safety glasses!!

Does the Scarf-o-matic slice and dice as well as scarf the bajeezus out of a neck blank?

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http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC

Oh yeah. I need that €#%¥&@ thing!!


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http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC

I tried coaching a 12-year old through a build a couple of summers ago. It didn't work out. His attention span was much too limited. Another local luthier had turned him down, and looking back, I think that I was foolish to even try working with him. If it's your son/daughter, and you have unlimited time (and affection, and patience?), then by all means, give it a go! But otherwise, I'd suggest having the student wait a few years.

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Ken Mitchell
Durham, NC

Yes.

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Cambrian Guitars

"There goes Mister Tic-Tac out the back with some bric-brac from the knick-knack rack"

Safer hand position.

I think it's good to be realistic about a twelve year old's attention span, but I also think that attention span is something that can be developed. Building a guitar or learning to play an instrument are great span expanders. I think four is a good age to start.

Children can be very talented, such as skateboarder ryan sheckler and I have seen some children that are excellent at playing musical instruments. Talent will help but that is not to say that the average child cannot learn. In history where children worked, I am sure many were proficient at skilled jobs.

Sure, why not.

BUT, keep him the hell away from the power tools.

The adolescent brain has not made the neccessary connections yet to realize the long term implications of a foolish or reckless moment.
I built my first guitar at age 16 (in 1966) but the table saw was strictly verboten to me and my dad insisted on doing those operations for me.

The kit suggestion is an excellent one in that as his skills develop he can back into the deeper process on subsequent (if there are any) projects.

I second this! The best single thing you can teach a young woodworker is to ALWAYS think ahead... "what am I doing & what can go wrong" before every task. Or, as I like to say, "WHEN (not if) this tool slips, how will it plunge into me?" (This can apply to removing a stuck screw with the free hand at risk, or almost anything else.) Training them to think like that will train them to avoid potentially dangerous situations. The rest is just getting more skilled at doing things.

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Dave
Milton, ON