What was the first thing you remember making??

[Dodge]

You may well have read Allen's (Blisters) thread in the woodturning section about "what is the favourite item you have made" well whilst I was at my parents with my son today my mother produced an old box and said "do you remember these?"

Pictured below are some of the contents which are some of the first wooden items I ever made when I was about 7 years old - all done with a swiss army knife, an old file and a coping saw

I carved these small animals from odd lumps of wood I found and whittled away at - the gun I made was because all my friends were playing with toy guns and I wasn't allowed one so I made my own. When my mother saw this she confiscated it as she disagreed with playing with guns and from that day I hadnt seen it until today - despite her disapproval she had kept it all these years.

So come on can anyone else show us examples of their early work??

 

[Hudson Carpentry]

Not got it any more but a lift off bread bin. Gave it to my Mother who used it for years.

 

[cambournepete]

You were clearly talented even then.

First I can remember was a cassette shelf that included dovetails and brazing metal at Diss Grammar School when I was 13 or so.

 

[Dodge]

You have mentioned Diss Grammer School before Pete- Dare Iask if you remember my sister Sally who went there??

 

[deserter]

The first thing I ever made was a ladder out of 2x1 softwood it was about 8' tall and made entirely with nails and timber, I was so proud to of made it at 7 years old until I tried it out one foot on the first ring was fine, the second held too on the third the whole thing gave up the fight and collapsed with me under it.

 

[foxhunter]

My very first "O-Level" in 1956 was in woodwork at Wisbech Grammar School. I think I remember making a table lamp. A tapered stem planed as round as possible by hand and set on a rectangular base. It was about ten inches high but I can't remember how I drilled along the length for the flex. Needless to say it was used at home for a number of years and I left home a year later without it to work in London.

 

[dickm]

We were lucky in primary school as the teacher was an enthusiastic woodworker and there were tiny class sizes of 12 to 15 to a year - this was the 1940s-50s in a rural area. I think he also felt that woodworking was a useful skill for farm lads, so we had a lesson every week. First proper thing I can remember making was a cutlery tray, with open mortice and tenon corners. It was going nicely until another lad thought (a) that the upper face of each tenon should be rounded to match the upper edge of the box, and (b) thought one piece of my tray was his. So to this day we have a cutlery tray with a very funny M&T on one corner.

 

[Melinda_dd]

I think i was about 12 or 13 and I made one of those steady hand buzzy games?

The buzzy bit was given to all the pupils in our class and we had to make the base for it to sit on.

I oppted for a jenga sort of looking base made from rectangular blocks stacked in precarius ways they were nice and smooth, pyro'ed and varnished...

It got an A because the teacher "never gives A+'s but if he did he would of to that" !!!
I was gutted when he said that... Dam you Mr Cox!!! :evil:

 

[humblewood]

I remember making a 'baronial style' (as my ww teacher called it) coffee table, from a (rather fancy) 1/2" pine packing case.

Mr Thomas (ww teacher) put it on display in the school's main entrance - boy, did I ever get it in the neck from my fellow pupils

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Elfin safety--who gave a swiss army knife and a coping saw to 7 year old?

 

[monkeybiter]

Elfin safety--who gave a swiss army knife and a coping saw to 7 year old?

I've had a penknife in my pocket every day since I was about that age, never hurt or been hurt with it, despite the being restricted to the less safe non-locking in these marvelous times.

Back on topic, that's a cracking Luger for a seven year old, as are the animals.

I whittled a small balsa propellor that was a push fit on a 6V motor. Don't know what for.
The first decent woody thing I remember making was a small table lamp in woodwork at school ~1975. Still got it somewhere. Never done so much hand-sawing and planing since! Thank satan for machines!

 

[Blister]

First things I made were these 2 copper ash trays

All beaten out by hand and then hand stamped to put a flat on the bottom

It was great as we were allowed to make noise and hit things with big hammers

I gave them to my Mum as she at the time was a smoker

Dad had the job of polishing them once a week along with all the other brass

50 years later Mum left them to me in her will ( miss you Mum )

 

[Benchwayze]

First thing I made? A 'model' destroyer!

It was in 1950, at Birchfield Road School Perry Barr, in Brum. (The school is now gone, replaced by a 'University' that was a humble Polytechnic.

We were each given a piece of rough sawn 3 x 1 about 15 inches long (375mm) We had to dimension it with hand-planes. (A No. 5 and a half and a No. 4. ) Cut a housing joint across it. Cut a small piece from the end to fit the housing to make the 'bridge. Shape the bow end with coping saw and spokeshaves. Round off the stern with downward paring. Sand all the pieces. Then drill a sloping hole, using brace and bit, for a chunky piece of dowel to make a funnel. It was glued and assembled and then painted as we wished, (As long as it was grey 8) ) Happy Days!

A simple project that dealt with a good range of basic skills, as an introduction to using the tools. (hammer)
.

 

[OPJ]

Mine was a simple maze, which you tilt to direct three small, steel balls in to the centre. It's sat right next to me now and it looks horrible! :-D This was back in a DT lesson at school when I was thirteen, I think. Only fourteen years ago but, I feel my woodworking has come a long way since then, even if I didn't touch a hand tool for another four-years or so. ;-)

(I'll update this thread later with a photo).

 

[dickm]

First thing I made? A 'model' destroyer!

It was in 1950, at Birchfield Road School Perry Barr, in Brum. (The school is now gone, replaced by a 'University' that was a humble Polytechnic.

We were each given a piece of rough sawn 3 x 1 about 15 inches long (375mm) We had to dimension it with hand-planes. (A No. 5 and a half and a No. 4. ) Cut a housing joint across it. Cut a small piece from the end to fit the housing to make the 'bridge. Shape the bow end with coping saw and spokeshaves. Round off the stern with downward paring. Sand all the pieces. Then drill a sloping hole, using brace and bit, for a chunky piece of dowel to make a funnel. It was glued and assembled and then painted as we wished, (As long as it was grey 8) ) Happy Days!

A simple project that dealt with a good range of basic skills, as an introduction to using the tools. (hammer)
.

You were obviously more advanced in Brum than us out in the sticks to the West - we didn't get to do that till Grammar School!

 

[McGill]

First year high school woodwork class, we had to make a wee foot stool, sides open dovetailed to the top and a through mortice and tenon strut for support. Teacher said that we weren't allowed to use any glue at all, the dovetail joints should be strong enough on their own.

I made a right hash of it, the dovetails were way too narrow for the pins so I used a shed-load of 'plastic wood' as filler. The M&Ts were much more snug, though.

My mother's still using it now 30 years later, as it's the perfect height for her for cleaning the top of the venetian blinds.

 

[Benchwayze]

I don't think we were more advanced Dick!

I failed my eleven plus. That's why I went to Birchfield Road, the Boys' Secondary Modern School. (Or as colloquially known, 'Senior School'; as opposed to infants and juniors that is.) I was 11 at the time.

So if I'd been able to pass the 11 plus, I would have done my first woodwork at Grammar School. (I got my GCEs late, in the Royal Navy, although I sometimes wonder how I managed it, not being able to understand Trig! (At the time.) :mrgreen: